# 2.5G nano SW tank



## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

So I decided to make a journal for this. Only camera I have is my cameraphone, so picture updates will be slow, but I will try to whenever I can.

I had a 2.5G tank left over from a betta breeding experiment, so I decided to try my hand on a nano SW setup. I cleaned out the tank and went out to PetCo (ugh) and bought a 10lbs bag of bio-activ live aragonite. I put about 1/4 of the bag into the bottom of the tank, and ended up using the premixed salt water that petco has, for now at least.

The water was really really cloudy as expected, but hey, what else can be expected?

I currently have two powerheads going on it, an aquaclear 301 and an aquaclear 201 that I aquired for the undergravel filters for my 75G that I don't use. I bought a filter attachment for the 301 to try to remove the cloudyness, but I am going to experiment once the tank gets up and running with just using live sand and live rock filtration. If it doesnt work out, I will be making a fluge. The powerheads are staying.

I also put a 25W heater in the tank, and it's about 78F now. 

For lighting, I just went out and bought a white and a blue 15W 120V marina light bulb that plugs into any old light fixture. I don't know what I plan on doing for this tank, but nothing that needs high intensity lighting.

I'm going to pick up some LR tonight, and unlike most, I'm hoping i have a lot of hitchhikers. A really small mantis shrimp would be what I would ultimately want for this tank.

Pictures up soon!

Any suggestions? I can feel I will get critisism and comments on this tank, but I am open for all. I have never experienced SW before, and I know I am in for a big world of hurt with this 2.5G


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## wifishman (Jun 25, 2008)

i had a 5 gal nano for 5 years the best advice i can give is keep up on the top off so your salinity doesnt fluctuate. as far as hitchhikers go... a 5lb rock isnt going to give you enough mass to score an awsome aray of hitchhikers. ull get some little tiny star fish, some bristle worms, pods ect. 

you you want a masher or a piercer as far as the mantis shrimp is concerned?


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

pircer, but i dont necessarily want a pea**************** for friggin $50. i'm willing to pay $10 max for one. hopefully i can snag an unwanted one for free


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## wifishman (Jun 25, 2008)

i will just add this.... the enjoyment u get from watching the mantis do its thing is so worth 50 bucks


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

a peac0ck would get to big for a 2.5

u'd need a different kind


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2008)

A peac0ck isn't a spearer anyway, its a smasher.
http://www.stomatopod.com/

Look around there. I personally don't think many, if any, mantises would work long term in a 2.5 gallon...
Smallest commonly found mantis I can think of is wennerae, and even they get 3 inches...too big for a 2.5 gallon IMO.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

I was looking into a wennerae. My LFS said they could get one in for me, and since they really hate having them around, he'd just give it to me as long as i bought some live rock from his since his stuff doesnt really sell, they focus more on FW. Sounded like a deal to me.

So update.

The filter has completely cleared out the cloudyness from the live sand. Right now it's just a small ugly tank because the filter is literally taking up the whole tank since it's attached to a powerhead.

I talked to the guy from the LFS i deal with (Fintastic Fish in Plainville MA). He said that going with a 2.5G for a mantis is what they usually recommend for anyone wanting a mantis shrimp, since anything over 10G is just dumb if they happen to break the glass, which hey, it happens. We talked about different corals and mushrooms that would work well with it, and definately got me more excited than ever about this project. I'm going to start looking around for some really active looking LR, including craigslist as suggested by the guy at the LFS.

Pics up tomorrow.


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

yay! pics!

also Odontodactylus Havanensis stay very small


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## wifishman (Jun 25, 2008)

justintrask said:


> I was looking into a wennerae. My LFS said they could get one in for me, and since they really hate having them around, he'd just give it to me as long as i bought some live rock from his since his stuff doesnt really sell, they focus more on FW. Sounded like a deal to me.
> 
> I'm going to start looking around for some really active looking LR, including craigslist as suggested by the guy at the LFS.


once again i am confused.. so u getting it for free by buying lr from your lfs or are you going to be buying lr from someone else?


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

they're giving me the shrimp for free if i buy a piece or two of LR from them, but their LR isnt very lively looking, so i am still deciding. I told them i'd pay a few bucks for a mantis shrimp if I found some better LR somewhere else in the area


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2008)

Ask Boston Reefers if anyone has an unwanted hitch hiker. I see those threads occasionally on their forums.

I completely disagree with the lfs owner on the mantis tank information though. First of all, it is a huge rarity that any smasher mantis breaks glass, but when it does happen this is usually only with very large smashers like zebras and peac0cks and with tanks with thin glass. (Acrylic tanks make great smasher mantis tanks ) With a wennerae, you really don't have to worry at all, so down the line you should consider upgrading the tank. Really, I don't think a 2.5 gallon is large enough for one. They are fairly active, especially during feeding time.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

Update:

I beat the PetCo system haha.
I went in to get a small piece of LR, and found a piece that had a small pink tipped anemone on it (I know, tanks too small, etc, but hear me out). The anemone was in a different tank than all the others, and was gripped to the LR. I told the lady, who was new, that I wanted that piece, and when she brushed the anemone off of the LR when I ordered it, I told her if that wasnt included I didnt want the piece anymore, so she threw it in there.

To start/finish/whatever the cycle, I also bought a yellow tail blue damsel, and a red sea nano filter. 

The tank's clearing up well and it looks great right now, I'm excited for what's down the line!


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## nvsbandit (Jan 14, 2008)

your live rock probably started your cycle btw so the damsel was un needed.

at least your not gonna have a hard time getting him out.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

i figured the LR did, along with the live aragonite, but I got the damsel just in case.


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

can we see some pics??


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

they're coming, the only camera I have is my phone, and with ym work schedule, by the time I get home, I just want to sleep. Tonight I promise.


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

yay!

if not imma yell at chu! 

how many lbs or LR do u have in all again?


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

right now in the actual tank there are about 2 lbs, I have a good 15/20 lbs, but I have to break some of them to fit in the tank since it's so small, so the pics wont have a lot, but it'll give you an idea. And I got a free anemone from petco


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

lolz. u nkow all 15-20 lbs wont fit, right?

what lighting do u have on this tank?


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

I have two 15W bulbs, one blue, one clear. Not sure anyting else, as lighting is new to me.

Only a few bad pics right now, as the others didnt save to my phone.

First is of the lighting I have so far for this tank. It's in a 10G hood because right now I dont have anything else.
The Second is the filter I attached to my powerhead the first day to get the dust out. that's long since gone.




















And then one of my HRP just for kicks


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## k-dawg- (Feb 2, 2006)

those look like incandescent bulbs to me. Not to rain on your parade but incandescent bulbs are very inefficient and i would say its a safe bet that anything photosynthetic on your lr will slowly die out, not to mention the nem


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

So I walked in my room today and it smelled like clams. Hmm...

Looked in my tank and realized that my powerhead was overheating because a certain anemone with pink tips decided to get sucked into it. Good thing he was a freebie.

Took the 301 Powerhead out of the tank, so now I'm running the Red Sea Nano Filter (works a-fricken-mazing for such a small filter), and the powerhead 201. Got some mushrooms, not sure which types, and something else that I forget the name of for about $15 total at my LFS. Small pieces. I also took back a lot of the LR I bought, and only ended up keeping two pieces out of it. I have maybe 10lbs total, and 5-10lbs of live aragonite.

3 Small hermit crabs and the tank is almost done.


HAH NOT.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

Oh yeah, I also updated my lighting fixture. There are 2 23W PC bulbs on top of the tank, and then a 24/7 15W actinic shining on the tank from behind.


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## guppyart (Jan 22, 2005)

your moving way way way to fast justin.
your tanks going to crash and burn,, you havn't cycled, you didn't listen to the advice about a larger tank which would = a tiny bit more stability.

and it seems you havn't spent all that much time researching and listening to good advice.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

The thing is, I may ask for help, but I take it with a grain of salt. I've always been one to try something different, go at my own pace, and learn on my own. I have researched, I have lsitened to some advice, but IMO, part of this hobby is that people need to figure things out for themselves, experiment, and just have fun, and not have people critisize their every move.


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

pics?
plz?


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

the ones I had didnt save, I have to wait until I get my camera back. They're coming I promise PROMISE.


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

ok 

i mean of the tank with the mushrooms


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

i figured haha


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## Guest (Jul 21, 2008)

When you're dealing with live animals, experimentation is not going to be taken lightly.  
We give advice because we have the experience, we've been there, and we at least know the basic ins and outs. You can tell yourself you're learning on your own, experimenting, trial and error, whatever, but you've already killed an anemone and bought more coral without even researching it. How do you know your coral will survive in your tank? You don't even know what the second species is or the type of mushrooms you bought. You need to slow down and take things one step at a time. Let your tank cycle and stabalize before you stock it. You'll save some headaches and some animals.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

Updated lighting to 2 50/50 PC.


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

i am getting VERY anxious for pics


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

I have to wait until saturday when my family comes back from vacation, they took all of the cameras 

I bough a glass cover for it today, but the realized thatit couldnt cover the tank completely because of the nano filter, so it's half hanging off of the tank. This is the most rag-tag tank I've ever had, but so far my favorite.

The damsel ate some frozen brine shrimp today. Pretty awesome.


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## Pac-Man (Mar 18, 2005)

Wow good luck with this tank. Your going to be on that thing like all the time haha.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

Long awaited photos of a complete tank. I decided against the mantis shrimp, I'm going to stick with the damsel, and my friend gave me a lawnmower blenny because he had a major malfunction with him tank, idk if it'll be permenant or not.


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

woot! pics!

yeah, i would get ridof the lawnmower blenny. they dont belong in a tank that size, and you should really only have 0-1 fish in a 2.5 gallon


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

I am not planning on keeping him, just an emergency take-in. what do you think so far though?


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

i think it looks good. needs some coral on the big rock though. remember that coral grows so dont be filling the tank with coral everywhere


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

I don't plan on getting too much more corals, but I did have a question about the big rock. How would I go about attaching the corals to it?


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

well there's 2 ways that i kkow of. you can either find a good ol' hole and stick the rock or frag plug its attached to into there, or you can get special glue for corals(get the jell kind) and glue the rock its on onto the big rock


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## Guest (Jul 27, 2008)

Nah, don't get the gel kind to attach small rocks to the big one. Get the epoxy putty. If the corals aren't attached to anything, then use the gel (basically super glue).


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## k-dawg- (Feb 2, 2006)

I do superglue gel then epoxy then gel. I like the epoxy but sometimes its hard to get it to stick especially if they aren't completely dry. This way things can still be a little damp and everything still sticks. For example if I have a frag on a small rock first i dab it dry, then put superglue on the rock. Then I get a dab of epoxy and put that over the superglue/rock. Finally I put some more superglue directly on the epoxy then stick to desired rock in the tank. It may be overkill but i just can't get epoxy to stick well to stuff underwater.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

Now having the coral out of water waiting for the epoxy/glue/whatever to dry wont kill it, will it?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

It sets underwater anyway, but even if it didn't, most corals can be out of water for quite awhile no problem.


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