2.5 gallon ideas needed!

jrury

I have a recently empty 2.5 gallon and would like some suggestions on what can live in it or what i should do.

It used to house some ghost shrimp and a male betta but it looked sad keeping him in a small tank so i moved him to a ten gallon with a school of tetras which he loves and doesn't seem bothered by them or even realize they are there.

the tank has a light and filter just not sure what to do. any suggestions are welcomed!
maybe thinking of even trying a nano salt water tank but not sure yet.

thanks
jacob

Aqua Jon

I think there are a couple books on amazon or borders (if they still are around) that Discus micro aquarium setups. I have a couple of them, but not currently at hand :\ I'll take a peek at them this weekends when I am home and throw some ideas up here other than betta/shrimp. I'm also in the spot to retry a 2.5 gallon tank. I was thinking a oto haven, but it may be too small for housing 6 of them.

emeraldsky

Discus would get much too large for a 2.5 gallon, each one getting around 6 inches long.

It sounds like it would be too small for Otos as well since they seem to be rather frail, but I'll wait for someone with more experience to answer that one. I have a few in my 20 gallon long and they tend to be all over the tank so personally, Id have them in a tank no smaller than a 10 gallon but thats my own opinion.



As for the tank, Bettas and Shrimp are the standards for a tank this small. You may be able to put an African Dwarf Frog in one I think? You're limited on choices since the space is so small.

Dont sell shrimp short though, I have 2 shrimp colonies and they are FANTASTIC to watch!

Aqua Jon

Rofl... I got autocowrecked. Meant to write discuss as in discussion haha
Posted via Mobile Device

jrury

otos would not be good in a 2.5, i have 2 in my 10 gallon and they zip back and forth all the time and never leave each others side might do a dwarf frog or maybe do a dry set up for a green tree frog.... theres to much to decide i just can't stand it being empty

jrury

i tried to start a shrimp colony but it didn't work out and they ended up in my 10 gallon.

What kind of filter would i use for shrimp? do you have build three i could look at? i would love a shrimp colony!

emeraldsky

haha, Im glad Im not the only one who gets autocorrected to fish related words :P



If its shrimp only and a planted tank, you dont really need a filter provided you keep up with maintenance. Im pretty sure you can use almost any filter though, i have a HOB on both my shrimp tanks with a prefilter sponge over them to keep it from sucking up shrimplets ^^

jrury

i really just want it to keep a constant circulation going. so just a small filter will work, i guess the 15 gallon filter currently on it is too much still (just to keep the bacteria in filter from dying) and how about a light? i have a table lamp with a compact fluorescent in it right now is that good to keep plants alive? plants include Wisteria, Java Fern, Anubias, microsword, and a mirimo... so far. seems like i buy more plants at least once a month haha

emeraldsky

Ah, Im afraid youre asking the wrong person on this, I'm terrible with lighting X)
I know there are stickies in the plants subforum on here and there should be one specifically for lighting that you should look into!

jrury

yea me too! but they have lived for 5months on the light with its ups and downs and looking like its going to die then exploding with growth, so i will probably just stick with it. thanks for the help!

how many shrimp is a good number to start out with?