suggestions for inverts in a 2.5

[cjm033]

ok now that my 2.5 is about half way through cycling i am reall starting to plan out whats goin in it so far im having my bumble bee gobie for sure since hes in there i was thinking a peppermint shrimp ,an emrald crab ,turbosnail, feather dusters ,zoos,shrooms,candy cane coral,maby a buble coral a real small one , and any other softie frags id probly get i was just looking for suggestions on some inverts to get for my tank thanks,Chris

[tufty711]

2.5 GALLONS ARE VERY HARD TO MAINTAIN . if you think u can then try but for the first 6 months i wouldnt add any expensive inverts just incase the system crashes and i would only go for very easy to keep inverts.

[tinyreef]

i'd pass on the crab and shrimp and go with snails instead. a margarita, bumble bee (to matchup w/the goby), ceriths, and astrae gives a nice visual mix to have them motoring around imo. pass on the hermits, of course.

 

i'd wait on the stonys also until you see the snail(s) showing new growth. keep the length of their sweeper tentacles in mind.

 

i'd actually pass on the shrooms as well (unless you're talkin' ricordia) because they'll just overgrow the tank.

[OscarBeast]

I have had a 2.5 gallon tank for several months now, and it is actually easier to maintain than my 10 gallon tank.

 

I put a small heater in it, a divider on the side with a pump in it, an almost air-tight lid, and a 13-watt PC over it.

 

When I started it, I went to my LFS and they let me scrape all of the nasty grime full of life that was at the bottom of the LR tank. I mostly used that as my substrate along with some SD sand. Then I traded my LFS large leather for about 6 Lbs of LR to go in the tank.

 

So far I have two mushrooms, a cabbage leather, some xenia, a mushroom leather, a single snail that hitchhiked in on my LR and a hermit that was sold to me for my 10 as a blue leg but isn't. I had the hermit for about a year and no growth so that is why I put him in. My blues got a lot bigger. The xenia is reproducing like crazy. It is not only doing well, but it is thriving, as well as the mushroom leather.

 

I have had the tank for around 6 months, but I have only had livestock in it for 3. I let it cycle for the first 3.

 

I set the tank up as an experiment and only use frags out of my 10 gallon. So far I have changed the water 3 times and never do top-offs because there is almost no evaporation.

 

Originally I was going to put a neon goby in it, but no I don't think I am going to put anything like that in there. I am only going to keep some softies in it, like I am because it is so freaking easy to maintain. I am surprised that it hasn't crashed because of nutrient buildup or lack of gas exchange, but it hasn't.

 

Now my tank is doing well but I am sure as hell not promoting what kind of stuff you want to cram in a 2.5 gallon. I would skip out on an emerald crab, turbo snail, feather dusters, candy cane coral, and bubble coral.

[Guest AbSoluTc]

How did you fit 6lbs of LR in a 2.5 gallon? Even if you did, there would be room for nothing else.

 

I have a 2.5 up as we speek. It has been up for several months but I have yet to add anything but a piece of live rock (rather big) and some SD sand. I wanted to see what kind of evaporation it had. ALOT! If you do not add water to it daily, you will have problems. Perhaps its just me, but 2.5's are not that stable. Maybe its because I really havent paid any attention to it. I don't know. But it does evaporate ALOT!

[cjm033]

if i get the candy cane which i probly will end up getting it will be after the tank is up for a while i do a 20% water change each week but during the cycle only top offs im gonna have to do a water change beacuse of a bad "red hair algae" problem ill pass on rhe feather duster and the emrald i think im probly gonna do now some zoos,polyps,shrooms,the candy cane later on, maby the buble not sure yet, a peppermint shrimp,ifi can find margarita snails and bumble bees ill get 1 of each of those, but m still open for coral and invert suggestions thanks,Chris

[cjm033]

ive had this tank running in brackish so far for about 3 months salt for about 3 weeks with no ls or ne thing cept a ghost shrimp a clam and my gobie i converted the shrimp was eatn and the clam died and probly about 2 weeks now with ls and im gettn lr in the next week or so. it evaporates probly a inch or half inch each week i do top off daily the tempis at a constant 80 degrees im gonna get my test kit this week (i havent really had time ot go to the lfs lately) and i do my 20% water changes every week its easy to maintain so far i know its eaisier to make a mistake in this size tank but its also eaiser to fix it with bigger water changes and so on there are ups and downs to this size tank,Chris

[Dave ESPI]

AbSoluTc came out of the closet to say..

How did you fit 6lbs of LR in a 2.5 gallon?  Even if you did, there would be room for nothing else.

 

I have a 2.5 It  has been up for several months,

but I have yet to add anything but a piece of live rock  

 

Perhaps its just me, but 2.5's are not that stable.  

 

Maybe its because I really havent paid any attention to it.  

??? WTF?

 

nervermind X)

her is a pic of my 2.5

yall can speek fer yerselfs... 2.5's are cake walk.

[OscarBeast]

Originally posted by AbSoluTc

How did you fit 6lbs of LR in a 2.5 gallon?  Even if you did, there would be room for nothing else.

 

Density of live rock varies. Weight is not = to volume. Not to mention the area that I sectioned off is almost full of live rock rubble, and the rest macro.

 

And there is plenty of room for the items that I have listed, though the tank only holds about 1 and 3/4 gallons with sand and LR.

 

But I don't really care if you believe me or not to be honest.

 

Put a partial or full cover on the tank to reduce instability cause by evaporation. Keep in mind that limiting gas exchange could cause problems.

[cjm033]

im gonna have to move the tank in 3 weeks ill probly have my lr by then but im not gonna get any inverts or livestock ect. until after so should i just get a few gallow jugs and trasport the fish in a bag or sumthin? then leave like an inch of water in the tank with the sand and put the lr in a small rubber maid bin? the move is only like 25 min away thanks,Chris

[printerdown01]

Personal opinins here: 1) I woudn't do the turbo! Go for something smaller... I would suggest ceriths, margaritas (small ones), and astrea if you are willing to keep an eye on them. 2)Ditch the emerald crab. I have a feeling that your bumblebee gobie will turn into a quick snack. 3) Bubble corals will engauge in chem warefare, to a greater extent than will your zoos and even shrooms. I wouldn't add 'em to a 2.5. If you do make sure it's small, and keep it up-stream. 4) I don't think these things are as hard as they are cracked up to be! My nano seems to be just as stable as my old 55 gallon. It is true that it requires less to throw nanos off ballance, BUT you should be adding less to begin with!! Sure 5 ml of calcium will screw up the tank, but so would a gallon if you put it in a 55! Also I would throw in a bumblebee snail. He won't do much, but then again you don't have much to do in a 2.5 . He will be a nice "visual peice." One or two nass snails will keep your entire sand bet turned over. wish it was that easy in a 12 .

 

ALRIGHT OscarBeast!!! WOOOO HOOOO!! Way to scrape the crap out of the bottom of your LFS's tank! I love that stuff! I get all kinds of goodies everytime I do it! Cheap, instant, biologically diverse, live sand. How did it work out for you?

[cjm033]

today i got my test kit and my tank is cycled but im gonna leave it "cycling" for 3 more weeks until i move and get lr (i cycled it with ls) i think ill get some lr within the next 2 weeks so farit hasnt been hard to main tain water quality heres my stats on the water params

 

sg/salenity-1.024

nitrite-0ppm

nitrate 0ppm

ammonia-0ppm

pH-8.2

 

so far i do 20% w/c every week and scrub the algae off my walls of my tank if there is any with my algae pad before w/c's

 

post wat you think on the params and if u have ne other ?'s on maintenence feel free to ask,Chris