# No seahorses! But invertebrates....



## iheartfish:) (Jan 19, 2011)

So, no seahorses in a 2.5 gallon...
What about invertebrates, like starfish? I mean the kind Petco has: chocolate chip starfish. What do you think?
I think it would be cool. But the other problem is, would a 2.5 acrylic be prepare to take a beating from salt and corrosion? And what about its little power filter?

I need your guidance, funlad, TOS, and all you other amazing fish people


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## iheartfish:) (Jan 19, 2011)

*Additional questions *

So, time for funlad to yell at me some more:
I was on the Petco website (go here: http://www.petco.com/N_10876_30/Corals-And-Invertebrates.aspx) and found some more invertebrates that catch my eye . 

First question:
How do I make a saltwater tank and what do I need?
Second question(s):
Out of all of these, what is the combo I could keep in a 2.5 gallon saltwater, if any? A five gallon? (P.S. These are all from the above link )
*Camel Shrimp
*Sexy Anenome Shrimp
*Atlantic Condylactis Anemone
*Flame Scallop
*Chocolate Chip Starfish

Keep in mind that these are just the ones barely within my budget (not really  still too much lol) and I definitely wouldn't put them ALL in! Just one or two that would coexist. And what would I need to keep them happy(ish)? Ish because I know they would like a bigger tank :chair:


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Acrylic is scratchable, so you'd want to wipe up the salt with a wet, soft cloth. Keep it clean and the salt won't build up. Power filters are harder, every area where water and air meet will get encrusted with salt from evaporation. Moving parts like bio-wheels are esp. bad. You'd have to regularly disassemble and clean, esp. place like axles that could stop the filter from working right. It might be worth ordering spare parts or even a second filter to run on the tank while the first is apart and soaking in freshwater.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

The shrimp might make it with a LOT of work, but the other 3 things wouldn't stand a chance. 
Condys don't live in new tanks or in small ones.
Flames need dirty water to live
Chocochips are only good for feeding to harelequin shrimp; they don't live long enough for anything else. At least not in a tiny tank.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

I was actually going to recommend a pair of harlequin shrimp, but not in anything less than a ten gallon. But they're WAY expensive.


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## iheartfish:) (Jan 19, 2011)

Oh. Dammit saltwater! Stop bursting my bubbles!  haha oh well, no saltwater for me... Unless... Sigh, maybe you guys know of anything that would survive?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

look at cherry shrimp and amano shrimp. There are some neat FW inverts available now.


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

Blue pearl shrimp! They are the same as cherry shrimp, but a more recently developed color. I plan on ordering some. I have a tank set up that will be just for them and nothing else. Hopefully they will breed. 

Oh, but don't put blue pearls and cherries together. You'll get babies with no pretty color left.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I have some no color 'cherry shrimp'. How did they get them red in the first place? Breed slightly pink ones?


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

The red started out as a mutation.  I can't provide more detail. That would be pretending to be smarter than I am. 

And the non-colorful ones are probably hybrids. Most red cherry shrimp here are descendants of cherries shipped from Asia. And for whatever reason, they went through a spurt where they were only shipping females. So people started introducing the wild types to get them to breed. So now, the cherries that are descendants all have the wild genes in them. So it is possible for their offspring to not have the cherry color. Sad but true....

Also... I think they get more red as they age....


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