# first nano 2.5gal



## lookin_around (Dec 18, 2005)

I think your hardscape is off to a great start, some great look rocks you've got there. That is a lot of HC, gonna add any other types of plants?

As for a filter I would definitely recommend one. Without some flow going through that tank, you will have some stagnant-water-algae-problems (S.W.A.P). <--I just made that up :hihi:

For my 2.5 I simply have a Red Sea Nano HOB filter which has been working well for me, but it is definitely just enough for this size tank. You may want to look into canister filters.

What are you looking at for Co2, Ferts, and photoperiod?

As for fish, I would say to go look at the nano fish list, there are plenty of choices there.

Can't way to see this thing develop!


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## GlassCat594 (Mar 20, 2009)

I use a Red Sea nano filter (Deco Art) ... its great...

http://www.petco.com/product/12148/Red-Sea-Deco-Art-Nano-Filter.aspx


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## Burks (May 21, 2006)

GlassCat594 said:


> I use a Red Sea nano filter (Deco Art) ... its great...
> 
> http://www.petco.com/product/12148/Red-Sea-Deco-Art-Nano-Filter.aspx


I have one of those, works great! Used it on my marine setup.

You could also do a big ugly sponge filter. It would provide some water movement.


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

I dunno if we're gonna get more plants, I think we might wait to see if these don't die first. (we always end up killing our plants, underwater and houseplants)

With so many recommendations for the red sea nano filter, I will definitely go out and buy one tomorrow night.

The people at the fish store said we didn't need co2. We put excel in the water...is that a fert? We don't have a timer on the light, so like, 12 to 14 hrs? (from when we get up til when we go to sleep.) 

Thanks for all the advice and responses!


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## dacrax07 (Jan 10, 2009)

I would have some taller plants in the back left, 2-3 banana plants in the front left, and anubias nana in the front right near and on the rocks.


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## fishydaze (May 1, 2009)

Go for as long as you can before adding fish: got to cycle the tank and build your ammonia tackling bacteria in the filter to get a consistent level of control in the tank, or fish will at least be very stressed and more likely to die. (hunt for cycle info on this site). Read some of the 'articles' (listed on top menu bar of the Planted tank site) there are several about starting up tanks. Many say true cycling could take up to 8 weeks....

Flourish Excel= CO2 in a bottle (great for plants, don't overdo for fish or for plants)
Suggest Flourish Comprehensive or other liquid fert or maybe undergravel pellet fertilizer that slowly dissolves for a month at a time?

Cheap timers available at target: 8 bucks, for consistency and when you are away (don't plug your heater into it though, learn from my mistakes) .

In the Nano Tank forum, the first thread listed is a 'sticky' that has bunches of suggestions for nanofish...not all are great suggestions (and the definition of nano for that thread was up to 10 gallons); so make sure to track down the adult size of each fish and whether they like to school (3 or more) for happy living...some say a nano tank is not kind to a true schooling fish, as you can't have a really crowd for them to feel safe in.

Probably top recommended fish for nano tank would be an otocinclus (3 or more  a small small catfish that stays small and that eats algae (bonus!) and is not disruptive to plantings; they like some cover, though (some bushy plant) if you don't have cover (taller plants, a driftwood piece etc.) they will really need their companions for happiness. Shrimp would rock in your tank: but again they would like a chunk of moss or two for hiding, and for coverage for their fry.


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## fishydaze (May 1, 2009)

Oh, looking at your planting, it will might thicken up quickly, so might be just fine for shrimp (although they do love their java moss)...


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## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

Great scape you have there! I totally dig the uphill slope. Can't wait to see this one grow out.


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## Eileen (May 31, 2009)

I have a nano tank that is 2.5 and 3 gal. I use a Azoo Palm filter from http://www.drsfostersmith.com Item # APD-14052 it's only $8.99 on-line
It's like a canister filter on a big tank. I put a bio sponge in front of where the water flows out. Works great. It's for a 2-5 gal. tank and the water flow is adjustable. The heater that I used is a Theo Heater 25 watt form drsfostersmith item # APD-18872 It is $14.39 and can be adjusted to the temp you want. It's 7" and is for a 2-7 gal tank size This works well in my tiny tanks.I would stock your tank with Red Cherry Shrimp or Yellow dwarf shrimp and some small endler males maybe 3 or 4 only as they are livebearers and can overpopulate you tiny tank or neon tetras They would look nice in your black sand tank or glow-light tetras in a school of 3 or 4. Nice tank!


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

dacrax07 said:


> I would have some taller plants in the back left, 2-3 banana plants in the front left, and anubias nana in the front right near and on the rocks.


Took your advice and added some anubias nana near the rocks. Will be adding something taller in the back too, but haven't decided what just yet. Also got the new nano filter going for some movement. I put a bit of my established 10g's bio filter in there to get things a'cycling.

Confession- I jumped the gun a bit on fauna and got 2 Celestial Pearl Danios from Skipton's today. I hope they can ride out any spikes, poor things. Had to though, they were just too great to pass up. Promise to wait awhile before adding more! Here's a pic, not great but best I could get.


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## fishydaze (May 1, 2009)

love the pointy triangle of your rocks, the tall right down to a point...

keep up consistent little water changes to help out your celestials; and they would like some tall stem plants to hide among at least until they have a little more company (other celestials or really gently community fish, like endlers or guppies (single gender only of these species recommended for nano tank so they don't overwhelm your tank with babies)); make sure not to get wild celestials only tank-raised, as they are almost extinct in wild.

my suggestion for companions: a little flock of boraras briggitae (they are what I am eyeing for mine) they like to have a little school but are only 1.3 inch max...oh, or Emerald Dwarf Rasboras (microrasbora erythromicron), they would look great with celestials (stripes to contrast with the celestial spots) (also a small school recommended for this species, 3 or more) .75 inch max?! from what I can find...


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

Painting the background black would make this little tank seem even larger.

Keep an eye on your water parameters. Your tank can't possibly be cycled after only a week. Looks good though. Nice job.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Bad idea on the CPDs, make sure to test the ammonia and nitrite daily and do enough water changes to keep them at or below 0.25ppm. Use lots of Prime to condition the water. And get lots of stem plants as fishydaze mentioned, maybe some floating hornwort to sop up the nitrogen spikes until the cycle is done. Hopefully, they're as tough as real danios, but we shall see.


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## dacrax07 (Jan 10, 2009)

I don't know why, but all anubias looks so cool. If they weren't so expensive, I'd have an anubias only 2.5 gallon tank.


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

I have seven CPD in my 10, I just love them!! Very shy fish though, they really aren't happy if they can't hide.


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

You're totally right, jaidexl. Lapse of judgement on my part getting those fishies in there too early. I just get so excited! :fish:

Doing daily changes now (soooo much easier with a nano) and keeping an eye out. Starting to see a wee bit of algae on rock #1. I'll have to cut the photo period down? Don't want to leave them in the dark all day, but then want to enjoy the tanks when I get home at night, too. Guess that's what timers are for.

Fishydaze, nice suggestions, thanks! Rasboras rock. On the stripes front, I was also pondering a Scarlet Badis. Or maybe go single-species + shrimp. These CPDs were captive raised, but I think we should get them from a different breeder next time to widen the gene pool.

Next up- stem plants! To balance things out and give little speckled fish somewhere to hide other than behind rock #3.


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

I've been catching up on your threads, phoenix- have you had any luck breeding your CPDs?

Added more plants today:










Some micro sword near the anubias. And something tall & leafy on the left. (Told you I was a noob, I can't remember the name.) Hope they live!


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Very nice and clean. The rock in the back right corner is especially neat. 

Question? When you pick that rock up, does it feel especially heavy considering its size?

I hope that made sense-


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

Thanks! It's not especially heavy, about normal I think. Why do you ask?


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

New pics:

















One of the fish:









And tiny bits of new growth- yay!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Cool, the CO2 looks like a waterfall pouring over a cliff.


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

jaidexl said:


> Cool, the CO2 looks like a waterfall pouring over a cliff.


Thanks! An happy accident.


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

I have not had any luck as of yet breeding the CPD. I'm told that if I really want to do it I need to put the females in their own tank, add the males for 24 hours and then remove everyone. However, I am too busy breeding betta. I have java moss up the wazzo so you'd think if they bred in my 10 gal that some of the young would survive. Perhaps the ammno shrimp are eating any eggs?


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

*first nano 2.5gal -- Fauna!*

Things have been looking ok, except for a bit of algae. Lots more growth on the tall stem plant. Does anyone know what this plant is (back left of the fts above)? I'm clueless and the petsmart it came from had noooo idea.

So today we put in some Red Cherry Shrimp, and a couple of micro rasboras. The shrimp went right to work. Bonus, one of them is berried! She's the blurry one on the bottom left.











The fish are all hiding together:


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## Strick (Apr 6, 2009)

Beautiful tank! Great hardscape!


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## rrrrramos (Jan 24, 2008)

Despite their small size, CPD's are NOT good fish for a 2.5g. They need a heavily planted tank along with adequate swimming space to be happy. 10g+ is the general recommendation for those fish (and the Emerald Dwarf Rasboras that were suggested before as well) 
The Microrasboras might be ok, I'm not sure off the top of my head, check the sticky in this forum.


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

*oh no!*

I got home from work today and found the cat had knocked over my diy co2. White slime on the diffuser, cloudy water, panic! Did a quick 50% and cleaned everything that wasn't planted. Yuck.

Everyone is alive and accounted for; they don't even seem to be acting weird. Well, the fish have been hiding less, but they're not gasping at the surface or darting around or anything. Also, the prego shrimp dropped most of her eggs. Could that be stress, or just timing? The water's almost cleared up but I'm still worried. Should I do anything else to fix it? 

And yes, the canister is now in a better place, wedged between some books on the shelf. MUCH harder to knock down.


rrrrramos- I have read that about CPDs since buying them. I may end up moving them to another tank if they seem to be unhappy. The micros are pretty great in there though.


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## mgdmirage (Mar 30, 2009)

Red Ludwigia in left corner.


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

mgdmirage said:


> Red Ludwigia in left corner.


Aha! Thanks a bunch.


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

*co2 mess, day 2*

Thought I was out of the woods, but today everything was still coated in white slime, and the shrimp were barely moving around. So I scraped, siphoned, scrubbed and drained. Again. Hope it helps.


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## kameia (Jun 7, 2009)

This tank has been a disaster, it's hard to even look (and smell) it. Reminds me of the money and time we put into it, to have it turn out like this. So I've been concentrating on planting the goldfish tank for awhile. 

But the water is finally starting to clear, the only thing that worries me that it's still a little stinky. Anyway, we are back to square one...any suggestions on plants? I don't think we're going to do HC again, it was a big hassle. Should we try a different hardscape?

This is the tank now a barren landscape










Here's some pics of the slimy sticky stuff we couldn't get off. Eventually we trashed all the plants, except for the anubias petite. That's in our sons 10 gal. also we moved the fish to the 26g goldfish tank.


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## rrrrramos (Jan 24, 2008)

You took everything out of the tank? Plants and fish and all? Might as well replace all the water too.


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