# My new 2.5 planted nano tank!



## ming (Dec 6, 2003)

Home to just 2 killie's for now
Thinking about adding cherry shrimps
just a single 10W CF in there from walmart with a DIY hood from home depot 
I'm thinking I need a black background or something 
Currently in there is dwarf hair grass, java ferns, and Xmas moss


----------



## Mavvy (Aug 15, 2004)

That is REALLY sweet-lookin'! I completely redid mine..and the hairgrass is actually taking off. You can see the runners along the glass sides. It's really cool! I'm waiting for some java moss to show up at my doorstep.
Anyway, back to yours...make sure you keep us updated. roud: Any filtration going on there other than the plants? (Black background would look really cool...I'm gonna do a metallic blue on mine.)


----------



## ming (Dec 6, 2003)

O yeah, its filterless
Pondering the possibility of getting a small filter


----------



## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

One alternative to a stick on background, is just to keep a wall of plants back there. I usually use baby's tears grown vertically in the back of my small tanks as a curtain effect to hide the filter intake and the little C02 diffuser plate. They seem to be fine in any reasonable amount of light, they just grow slower in lower light. Plus, I think they look really good. 
-Aphyosemion


----------



## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

Nice indeed.


----------



## DaAverageJoe (Sep 7, 2004)

Really good tank! One suggestion: try a black background.


----------



## ming (Dec 6, 2003)

Update: 








Added a red sea nano filter, removed the killies and its a shrimp tank


----------



## justinh (Oct 31, 2004)

I've got a very similar set up to yours. 2.5 gallon, 18 watt Mini-Aqualight, Red Sea Minifilter. I've grown a dense carpet of hairgrass. Some slate rock on one side, and a lone Japonica shrimp. Also i'm using distilled water due to bad tap water. I've had little to no algae growth, and i attribute that to the distilled water. I'll post pictures soon. roud:


----------



## scrimp (Oct 20, 2004)

I have the same type of set up i love these little 2.5 tanks. I too use the red sea filter and lamp. The plants take off and i do at least a 50 percent water change once a week everything grows its best in that tank. Wish I could get a bigger variety of plants to grow in it and make it look like a amano tank.


----------



## Inzeos (Sep 10, 2004)

What are you using for a the lamp? I was looking at some odd sort of air pump powered Hagen filter unit rated for like 2 to 8 gallon tanks.


----------



## Darks!de (Oct 19, 2004)

I'm using a 15w screw-in fluorescent and DIY hood on my 2.5g. I'm not using a heater, but the bulb heats up the water to about 80F during the day, and at night it falls to about 70F...is this ok? Can i minimize the heat transfer to the water somehow?


----------



## Inzeos (Sep 10, 2004)

I bought a ~$6.99 heat from walmart, isn't glass heater has no temperature controls but supposedly is sized for 2 to 5 gallon tanks. Need to see how well it does.


----------



## ming (Dec 6, 2003)

I also have a DIY hood and have a 10W screw in CF bulb.


----------



## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

For A heater I am using a 6 inch mini heater, I think it might be a hagen. I buried in the substrate at the back of the tank making it invisible. So far it has worked great for about 4 months. I also have a redsea nano filter and a miniaqualight. I love my 2.5, it is my cherry shrimp farm. Even with feeding them 2-3 times a day I only get a little bit of green algae.


----------



## Darks!de (Oct 19, 2004)

Urk- on the packing of heaters it tells you not to let the heater come in contact with the gravel, let alone burying it...is there any truth to that?

The 15w bulb is my heater, holding the temp. from 70 at night to 80 during the day...that seem alright? I have 4 dwarf frogs in it atm...will probably transfer them to my 20g tank when it's cycled, and then start a cherry farm or something cool like that...


----------



## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Darks!de said:


> Urk- on the packing of heaters it tells you not to let the heater come in contact with the gravel, let alone burying it...is there any truth to that?
> 
> The 15w bulb is my heater, holding the temp. from 70 at night to 80 during the day...that seem alright? I have 4 dwarf frogs in it atm...will probably transfer them to my 20g tank when it's cycled, and then start a cherry farm or something cool like that...


I never read that, maybe if it was already hot and touched the gravel it would cause a problem.


----------



## Darks!de (Oct 19, 2004)

interesting...i would really like to hide my heater like that...looks ugly just sitting there in the back...


----------



## scrimp (Oct 20, 2004)

Urkevitz said:


> For A heater I am using a 6 inch mini heater, I think it might be a hagen. I buried in the substrate at the back of the tank making it invisible. So far it has worked great for about 4 months. I also have a redsea nano filter and a miniaqualight. I love my 2.5, it is my cherry shrimp farm. Even with feeding them 2-3 times a day I only get a little bit of green algae.



With these little tanks i have thought about using one of the reptil heating pads to stick to the bottom of the tank. Anyone else try this and see if it works? It would also kinda follow the amano style wouldnt it with the heated substrates. LONG LIVE CHERRY FARMS!!


----------



## Mavvy (Aug 15, 2004)

scrimp said:


> With these little tanks i have thought about using one of the reptil heating pads to stick to the bottom of the tank. Anyone else try this and see if it works? It would also kinda follow the amano style wouldnt it with the heated substrates. LONG LIVE CHERRY FARMS!!


I'm waiting for a pad to show as we speak.


----------



## fishfry (May 9, 2004)

Great little tank, I am planning on setting up a 2.5 soon too as a little shrimp tank with moss. I was wondering if you could show some pics of your diy light/hood. I was contemplating buy the 9" 18w minimight light for $25, but I was curious what your light is like. 

Thanks!


----------



## scrimp (Oct 20, 2004)

Mavvy said:


> I'm waiting for a pad to show as we speak.



Oh let me know If it works or not. The only thing I would worry about is if u spilt water and it flowed on it but im sure they can handle some water.


----------



## fishfry (May 9, 2004)

I have used those heating pads on the bottom of little tanks before, for surinam toads. They work decently for a small tank.


----------



## Mavvy (Aug 15, 2004)

scrimp said:


> Oh let me know If it works or not. The only thing I would worry about is if u spilt water and it flowed on it but im sure they can handle some water.


They seem to work fine for that-I've spilt water on one and the GFCI didn't kick, so that's a good sign, I think!


----------



## Darks!de (Oct 19, 2004)

where do you put them? underneath the tank or against it?


----------



## Mavvy (Aug 15, 2004)

Darks!de said:


> where do you put them? underneath the tank or against it?


Underneath, directly in the middle.


----------



## scrimp (Oct 20, 2004)

Do you think this is almost the same thing as the substrate heater concept that you see in the amano designs?


----------



## Mavvy (Aug 15, 2004)

scrimp said:


> Do you think this is almost the same thing as the substrate heater concept that you see in the amano designs?


May well be. Does the Master use a cable heater within the substrate, or a heat source outside the tank? (I've never had the pleasure of exploring his methods, or seeing a tank of his in realtime-only on the 'net.)


----------



## gnome (Mar 9, 2004)

Inzeos said:


> I bought a ~$6.99 heat from walmart, isn't glass heater has no temperature controls but supposedly is sized for 2 to 5 gallon tanks. Need to see how well it does.


Watch out with those things. I used one in my Eclipse System Three and the temperature shot up to 94F. Basically, the Junior Heater doesn't work on a thermostat, so it's always "on." 

If you have the tank indoors and your home/apt./room is heated and maintained at 65-75F, it may not be necessary to have a heater at all. Of course this depends on what sort of critters you choose. But most shrimp we keep are not tropical species and can take lower temperatures just fine. I have two 2.5-gallon tanks and no heater in either of them. One doesn't even have a filter. 

In the past, I've thought about using one of those reptile pads, but just never got around to it. I'd be curious to hear if they work!

-Naomi


----------



## fishfry (May 9, 2004)

does anyone have pictures of their lights for a 2.5 gallon tank? thanks!


----------



## Mavvy (Aug 15, 2004)

The reptile pad, she be a-workin' well. Steady 76 degrees F where I work, so the temp fluctuations on the weekends should be nil.


----------



## ming (Dec 6, 2003)

fishfry said:


> does anyone have pictures of their lights for a 2.5 gallon tank? thanks!


The 18W mini aqualight looks better then my DIY
Had I thought of it before, I probably would have gotten it
I'd go with that if you can, My DIY is nothing special, just a wooden enclosure with a bulb socket


----------



## fishfry (May 9, 2004)

okay, thanks ming


----------



## gnome (Mar 9, 2004)

Mavvy said:


> The reptile pad, she be a-workin' well. Steady 76 degrees F where I work, so the temp fluctuations on the weekends should be nil.


Good to know. I just emptied and cleaned out my 2.5-gallon tank (miserable algae-crusted piece of &#%+^!!!!  ) and am back in the planning stage for its future. I may consider putting it on a reptile heating pad when I go to set it back up, though I'm not sure. I'll have to find out if it causes any damage to the surface that it sits on. Is the temperature adjustable and on thermostat? I'm assuming so. 

Well, I'm glad to hear that the temperature is at least steady. 

-Naomi


----------



## Mavvy (Aug 15, 2004)

gnome said:


> Good to know. I just emptied and cleaned out my 2.5-gallon tank (miserable algae-crusted piece of &#%+^!!!!  ) and am back in the planning stage for its future. I may consider putting it on a reptile heating pad when I go to set it back up, though I'm not sure. I'll have to find out if it causes any damage to the surface that it sits on. Is the temperature adjustable and on thermostat? I'm assuming so.
> 
> Well, I'm glad to hear that the temperature is at least steady.
> 
> -Naomi


Actually, it's kinda weird-there's no thermostat. But it seems that no matter what the ambient air temp is there, the tank itself stays at a little +/- 76 degrees. Point being, it works THERE. Plants thrive (pruning weekly) and fish do well. I've checked a few times-no damage to my desk. Then again, it's MY desk-no guarantees on other surfaces-but it doesn't get hot enough (IME) to damage the hard surface it's on.


----------



## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Here is a bad picture of the mini aqualight. It is resting on a 1/4 inch piece of acrylic with a cutout in the back for the filter.


----------



## MentaldisordeR (Sep 30, 2004)

hehe yeah dont let a heater touch your gravel...my sand melted onto my heater after one year of touching, but who knows how quickly that happend


----------



## TommyBoy (Jan 7, 2005)

*2 thots*

1) *re. reptile heater:* a) I saw a post from a couple of years ago where someone used one of these pads ($15?) and a thermo-controller ($35?) on a 2.5. That seemed to work for them. b) I too tried a "jr" "always on" heater and had the same problem (i.e., where it got too hot). I then tried a cheap rheostat (light dimmer), but that still did not work. c) Last Fall Hydro came out with a different little (approx. 1.5"X2.5"), flat panel "always on" heater. But, I've had NO PROBLEMS so far (knock on wood) with it getting too hot. And, it does, in the directions, tell you not use use it above a certain room temp (something to look up again when Spring comes). :icon_idea 

2) *re. lights:* I too am using the 2x9W Coralights. I use a $0.97 Rubbermaid dish / shelf organizing rack from wal-mart. I then have it turned over on its end to hold the lamp above the nano-tank/bowl. 2 of its regular legs are under the nano-tank/bowl and the Coralights housing rest on the other 2. It seems to work well for me. just a thot. :icon_idea


----------

