2.5 gallon tank
 

i just received a 2.5 gallon tank for christmas with a heater and filter. i have plenty of live plants to store in it. i am trying to find something to put in it. the only things i have seen on other websites are bettas and goldfish. i do not want either of these in it. i was wondering if anyone has suggestions as to what i could put in such a small tank. i also have a 29 gallon that i could transfer the fish to after it got too big. I really want to get some kind of invert to put in it, are there any that would survive in such a small environment? if not ho many tetras would fit?

Re: 2.5 gallon tank
 

You don't have alot of options in a 2.5 gallon tank. You could try a 2 or 3 guppies. Would go with the males only that way you wont have to worry about babies. A betta would work also. I really wouldnt go with a goldfish as they are heavy waste producers and they can get fairly large. A couple of small shrimp would be fine, personally I like the glass/ghost shrimp we have two in a ten gallon for over a year now. Bamboo shrimp are nice also altho they get larger than the glass/ghost shrimp.
As far as tetras I am not too sure as they are schooling fish. I believe its best to have 6 or more. But I am not positive of that, maybe someone has better info on the tetras for you. :)

Best of luck

I'm going to be using Barbus sylvaticus in my new 2.5.

i would reccoment a betta. i have one in a 2 gallon tank with some fake plants. i wouldnt get a goldfish because they get rather large and would quickly outgrow the small tank, even your larger one. my opinion would be the betta, but thats me i love bettas. you should go with what you like.

Re: 2.5 gallon tank
 

I miss pointing this one. Lots of ads just place goldfish as a perfect example for small tanks.:sarcastic: Very disappointing.:shake: This simply encourages other people to do the same. Buy a goldfish and place it in a tank under 5 gallons or a fishbowl which is impractical.:blink: :sob:
Bettas will work as I previously mentioned otherwise you can have small species of shrimps.:)
For the 29 gallons tank, tetras, cories, danios and rasboras will do.:)

In 2.5 gallons, with 2 ghost shrimp (after the tank has cycled) OR 2-4 cherry shrimp (after cycling), there are a few options you could work with... glolite tetras, rasbora het, borneo sucker (only 1 of these), white clouds, dwarf honey gourami (would be the only fish), coral platys, male fancy guppys, sphenops molly, gold dust molly (male only for mollys), dwarf frogs...
Or, I have one other idea for you, but it would mean redoing the look of the tank and taking the live plants out.
You could go brackish, use crushed coral for substrate in place of the gravel, lots of rocks with small holes in them (honeycomb rock works great and looks cool), and put a few bumble bee gobies in there. Silk plants would look almost real and give you the planted look, and you'd have colorful and cool fish with some personality.
Stocking limits, regardless of which fish you choose, would be a limit of 1 - 2 fish for a tank that size, with regular small water changes (weekly, 20%) and easy on the feedings.
I have a bunch of 2.5 gallons, and each has something different. In one I have 4 small sparkling gouramis, growing up for my 55 gallon... 1 holds a betta, and one has a dwarf frog in it with a mystery snail.... the small tanks can be fun, but they can also be more work.

Never put goldfish. At the minimum goldfish need at least a 29 gallon tank with double the filtration, the most popular bowl fish is actually the worst fish for a bowl.

But wait! You dont have to raise fish, the best things for that small of a tank are shrimp or snails (personally i find shrimp better looking). Shrimp love a well planted tank where they can hid in between the plants. If it does get too big you can place it in your 29 gallon tank as long as you dont have any carnivorous fish that love the tast of shrimp

There are a couple species of really tiny rasbora out there. Microrasbora maculata is the one I can remember off the top of my head. Thy top out at just over half an inch. You could probably keep a small shoal of these in a 2.5 gallon.

One Dwarf Puffer. 2.5 is the smallest they can do. It's not ideal, but no worse than for the betta. Needs good filtration, though.

Dawn's idea for bumblebee gobies is good.

Or just run it with plants and a couple of shrimp for a couple of months and let the algae build up on the back and sides, then put a couple or three ottos. You'll need good filtration for that too.

Two male Endlers Livebearers.

thank you all very much for your replies. i think i am going to go with a couple cherry shrimp in there along with a lot of Real plants. i will probably end up moving the shrimp to my 29 gallon after a while but i'll see how they do in there. once again thanks for the help