New 2.5 Tank

[xofinnocent]

Hello all. I came home for thanksgiving break from college, and i decided i wanted to start up a tank again- i have been an avid saltwater and freshwater tank keeper. First i got a 2.5 gal glass tank, made a nice display for it, and here are the specs and list:

Tank:

Custom Tank Display

2.5 All-Glass Aquarium

Lighting-

55watt AllGlass PC Lighting

55watt CSL PC SmartLamp Bulb*

Filtration-

Skilter 200 Skimmer/Filter(mod)

3lb Fiji Live rock

3lb Live Sand

Other:

Floating Thermometer

Ebo Jager 50watt Heater

 

These are things im looking to get- including coral and such:

 

Additives:

Sea-Lab#28 Blocks*

Sea-Lab#14 Blocks*

Eco-Sytem Reef Solution*

Kent Marine Lugol's Solution*

Livestock:

Orange Button Polps*

Green Star polyps*

Mushroom(blue)(ricordia)*

Yellow Polyps*

Anthellia Polyp*

 

If you have any suggestions or advice please reply

[tinyreef]

that there is one fine lookin' stand. i was wondering about your overhang with the 55w and 2.5g but it does fit in there perfectly. ???

 

how's the temp on that thing?

[xofinnocent]

Well i built the stand by hand- and i built it with my 55 watt in mind. It took me a solid 3 days to make the stand and all. But the temp stays a a good 79-80 degrees. mainly cause the light is 3 inches off the tank and the hwole back of the stand is open giving good air flow.

[glazer]

Wow, that's a lotta light, that's a lotta filter (water movement) and that's a whole heapin' chit load of heater! Hmmm, I think I like it!, hehehehehe.

 

You know someone is gonna ask so I wanna be first.... I assume you already had all the equipment... why a 2.5 gallon dood? Enquiring minds wanna know....

 

(mind the heater, one misfire and you got coral stew in a jiff.)

[glazer]

OH and by the way, so when Dave gets hold of ya you will already be pre-seasoned....

 

YOU shoulda posted this in the members section... 'TARD!

[xofinnocent]

well as far as a 2.5 gal- i wanted something basicaly cheap. i only bought hte live material- everything else was in my basement, so it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. If it really wokrs out ill go bigger but i like small

[ross76053]

i wanted something basicaly cheap

*Laffs*

 

I paid $8 for my 10-gallon tank.

[Nishant3789]

umm im not sure if i misreaed ure post but how the hell are ya gonna fit a 55 watt over a 2.5 gallon? the 55 watt bulb is 22 inches long and are usually meant for aquariums 15+. i think the 2.5 gallon aquarium is like what? 12 inches long right?

nishant

[NaNO ReeFiN]

I was wondering the same thing about the lighting..

[Nishant3789]

hehe good then its not just me. maybe he meant 25 gallon

[Nishant3789]

ehh i guess i better go lie down....it looks like a whole part came up ontop of it and that explains itall

 

nishant

[xofinnocent]

yah the tank IS a 2.5 but the way the canopy works is that the light is ontop (3 inches above the tank) and on the exes sides of the light i put reflectors to just reflect the rest of the light into the tank itself. Plus the whole top part (everything from the very top of the tank up) flips up providing easy access- should i post dimentions and plans for this diy display?

[tgrupert]

I realy want to see how you did this. you could have used two 27 watt quads?

[luv2jeep]

My only suggestion is to dump all the additives and just do weekly 10% water changes instead!

 

Chemicals = BAD! Water Change = GOOD!

[Mnesarchus]

Who cares if the bulb is longer than the tank? Why does everyone always freak out when someone advertises a 55w over a tank shorter than 22".

 

Nice stand, btw.

[tgrupert]

I'm not freaking out. it's not a problem on a ten gallon tank, but on a 2.5 it's just a major waste.plus 55 watts for a 2.5 is a lot of light. 22 watts per gallon! However if you ghot it hanging aroud why not?

[kimura]

Well I have 2x 96w PC over my 12. It hangs over 6" on each side. I'll use it untill I can get my 30g.

[kimura]

Man, I just read the rest. 22w per gallon! Man that's alot! You could keep alot of light lov'n coral in there, and maybe a small clam! That would be cool.

[xofinnocent]

I was thinking should i add more live rock or not? it looks kinda bair in there but im not sure if it will fill up once i put in corals and the such? Dont worry about the lighting. It might seem like alot but 25% of the light is being lost - and the temp is just staying at 80 so im thinking i could pull it off. Im thinking about getting a more condenced lighting system but for now ill stick with the set up i got and see how it works out for me . And i was thinking about getting a clam - thanks kimura.

[Christopher Marks]

In such a small tank I think you will find it to fill in fairly quickly once you have corals in there and growing. You have enough rock for proper filtration too, so from the looks of it there's no need to add more, imo.

[kimura]

Yeah you're right about the light loss. I realize that the bulbs do extend past the edges, and the light on top of the tank doesn't have the same intensity.

 

But Chris is right, once you do get all those corals in there, you'll end up filling that tank up quite fast. The best part is if you get a package deal you can have a completed tank in one day:D .

 

Do you plan on puting a small fuge inside that encasing? seems like you could put to use some of the extra light sticking out on each end.

[xofinnocent]

i would love to put a fuge in but i really dont know how im gonna work out that piping nightmare.- any suggestins or leads in the right direction?