# 1.5g & 2.5g planted nano tanks(I don't have Testing Kits)



## shrayan (Jun 5, 2017)

Betta + shrimps is not a very successful combination for most tanks as Bettas (except for those really rare examples) usually treat the shrimps as snacks.

IMO the ideal would be to keep a Betta in the 2.5g (if you can be at top of water quality maintenance), and some shrimps in the 1.5g.


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## Omar EAZi (Aug 5, 2015)

shrayan said:


> Betta + shrimps is not a very successful combination for most tanks as Bettas (except for those really rare examples) usually treat the shrimps as snacks.
> 
> IMO the ideal would be to keep a Betta in the 2.5g (if you can be at top of water quality maintenance), and some shrimps in the 1.5g.


Oh Okay, thanks for the input, didn't know the bettas would treat the shrimps like that, thought they only attack other bettas.
so for the 1.5g tank, only shrimps?! no fish at all would be compatible for this size of tank at all?!

Bump: Some big water changes for the first 2~3 days, and then atleast 20% water changes every 2nd day till I get the API master freshwater kit delivered and test the parameters and add the livestock.(not much of a stock can go in these tanks anyways).


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## nel (Jan 23, 2016)

Actually I wouldn't put fish in both tanks... They're just too small.


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## Alf2Frankie (Mar 29, 2017)

I think you could start a pretty cool shrimp colony - not a lot of options when it comes to fish, but at least you are asking the question and not just dumping a goldfish in there. Here are a couple neat nano fish about .5 inches - 1 inch long, I do not recommend keeping them in the 1.5 gallon but if you watch your water parameters 2.5 could be okay. 

you need at least 5:
Micro Glassfish (Danionella translucida) 
Exclamation-Point Rasbora (Boraras uropthalmoides)
Dwarf Amber Barb (Barboides gracilis) 
Strawberry Rasbora (Boraras naevus)
Phoenix Rasbora (Boraras merah)
Chili Rasbora (Boraras brigittae)
Golden Rasbora (Horadandia atukorali)


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

IMO if your going to go with fish, just get a betta for 2.5G. Just don't over scape with alot of decorations, etc. Those micro fish although proportionally sound like a better way to go are much more difficult to keep and parameters in small tanks change very rapidly which spells doom for most fish. Bettas are more tolerant.


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## Alf2Frankie (Mar 29, 2017)

houseofcards said:


> IMO if your going to go with fish, just get a betta for 2.5G. Just don't over scape with alot of decorations, etc. Those micro fish although proportionally sound like a better way to go are much more difficult to keep and parameters in small tanks change very rapidly which spells doom for most fish. Bettas are more tolerant.


+1 Don't overdo the decor or hardscape, it will take up too much room. And yes even though it is possible to keep the fish alive and healthy (even happy) one slip on a water change or too much food and it won't work out. Betta is the best option overall.


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## Omar EAZi (Aug 5, 2015)

shrayan said:


> Betta + shrimps is not a very successful combination for most tanks as Bettas (except for those really rare examples) usually treat the shrimps as snacks.
> 
> IMO the ideal would be to keep a Betta in the 2.5g (if you can be at top of water quality maintenance), and some shrimps in the 1.5g.





Alf2Frankie said:


> I think you could start a pretty cool shrimp colony - not a lot of options when it comes to fish, but at least you are asking the question and not just dumping a goldfish in there. Here are a couple neat nano fish about .5 inches - 1 inch long, I do not recommend keeping them in the 1.5 gallon but if you watch your water parameters 2.5 could be okay.
> 
> you need at least 5:
> Micro Glassfish (Danionella translucida)
> ...


If I was able to find any of these then I'll get 5 of 'em and put them in the tank. if not then just 1 beta in 2.5g and like 5~6 shrimps in the 1.5g and that's it. 
I'm making 2 new tanks soon.. 1 is being custom made with the cabinet(95g), and 1 I bought from a friend who's keeping it to store groceries and stuff lol (55g). 
I'll put fishes in them since I want fishes so bad, and I'll keep those 2 simple. 

thanks for all the replies guys.

Bump:


Alf2Frankie said:


> +1 Don't overdo the decor or hardscape, it will take up too much room. And yes even though it is possible to keep the fish alive and healthy (even happy) one slip on a water change or too much food and it won't work out. Betta is the best option overall.


I guess beta fish it is, but I heard in nano tanks, when you have lot of plants around, in my case I'll have a full carpet, a java moss tree, and some medium sized red plant(forgot the name lol).
I heard having lot of plants will help keeping the water more stable even without weekly water changes?!.
I saw a video on youtube with a guy having a nano tank and he's like he haven't done water changes in 6 months, but the amount of plants in the tank is keeping it stable. he does top ups every now and then only.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Another thing with open top nanos and fish are the ability for fish to jump out......

Bump:


Omar EAZi said:


> ..
> I saw a video on youtube with a guy having a nano tank and he's like he haven't done water changes in 6 months, but the amount of plants in the tank is keeping it stable. he does top ups every now and then only.


Don't go by someone's video. Long term something will get out of wack in a nano, and the change will happen very quickly. It's more than plants eating ammonia it's quick temp changes, co2, overdosing something, etc. It doesn't mean people don't do it, but it's much more likely you won't keep up with it long-term and there is no wiggle room in a 1-2G setup.


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## Alf2Frankie (Mar 29, 2017)

Omar EAZi said:


> If I was able to find any of these then I'll get 5 of 'em and put them in the tank. if not then just 1 beta in 2.5g and like 5~6 shrimps in the 1.5g and that's it.
> I'm making 2 new tanks soon.. 1 is being custom made with the cabinet(95g), and 1 I bought from a friend who's keeping it to store groceries and stuff lol (55g).
> I'll put fishes in them since I want fishes so bad, and I'll keep those 2 simple.
> 
> ...



Like I said, it's definitely possible. A heavily planted tank will keep the parameters more stable so you can push the limits, you just have to realize you are still only working with 2.5 gallons. @shaman. has successfully kept way more than 5 of the micro rasbora in a 1 gallon - at the same time, he obviously has the experience to do so. Maybe the fish are cramped, maybe not.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Alf2Frankie said:


> Like I said, it's definitely possible. A heavily planted tank will keep the parameters more stable so you can push the limits, you just have to realize you are still only working with 2.5 gallons. @shaman. has successfully kept way more than 5 of the micro rasbora in a 1 gallon - at the same time, he obviously has the experience to do so. Maybe the fish are cramped, maybe not.


I'm not sure if he keeps it long term. Many scapers take a "money shot" and the tank comes down not long after. When you see really nice scapes from contests, etc. and the fish are schooling tightly it's because they were just thrown in for the money shot.


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## Alf2Frankie (Mar 29, 2017)

houseofcards said:


> I'm not sure if he keeps it long term. Many scapers take a "money shot" and the tank comes down not long after. When you see really nice scapes from contests, etc. and the fish are schooling tightly it's because they were just thrown in for the money shot.


Absolutely could be true. This guy bred several small fish in jars/bowls.Best Fish for Bowls, Beyond Goldfish and Bettas - I'm not sure I would every try what he did, but hey for him it worked out. When fish are comfortable enough to breed does this mean they are happy? no clue


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

With all that being said, in an effort of full disclosure I do have a betta in a 1.5G. You could see it here. The betta is in the 4th and 7th pictures.

I am currently preparing a 3.5G Mini S for him so it's not long-term.


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## Alf2Frankie (Mar 29, 2017)

houseofcards said:


> With all that being said, in an effort of full disclosure I do have a betta in a 1.5G. You could see it here. The betta is in the 4th and 7th pictures.
> 
> I am currently preparing a 3.5G Mini S for him so it's not long-term.




Subbed to that a while back, it's awesome!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Alf2Frankie said:


> Subbed to that a while back, it's awesome!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Thanks, he did actually jump out once and I was lucky enough to find him under my dresser, completely covered in dust. I don't know how long he was out, but he survived and looks perfect again. I now have a cover over the nano.


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## Roshan8768 (Mar 18, 2009)

Tanks look really nice, will be fun to see how the mature. Check out my nano's when you get time, we are both working with a very similar volume of water


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## Omar EAZi (Aug 5, 2015)

Roshan8768 said:


> Tanks look really nice, will be fun to see how the mature. Check out my nano's when you get time, we are both working with a very similar volume of water


Thanks!, I'll definitely check them out right away!


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## geisterwald (Jul 18, 2016)

You've had the tanks set up, but have you been feeding them ammonia? They aren't going to have cycled if you haven't been providing any kind of food source for the bacteria.


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## Kanped (Dec 3, 2016)

Omar EAZi said:


> Oh Okay, thanks for the input, didn't know the bettas would treat the shrimps like that, thought they only attack other bettas.


It depends on their individual temperament but yes, shrimp will mostly be eaten. 

Just to show how the temperament can go, though, mine has attacked;

The heater guard
The filter
A ping pong ball
Food
The lid
Every plant I've ever had
Driftwood
A rabbit snail (which later died of its injuries)
The gravel vac
Me
My friend Jayne (jumped a good inch and a half out of the water to bite her finger)

I know now; anything that goes in that tank will be attacked until it stops moving, or kills the betta.


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## Omar EAZi (Aug 5, 2015)

Kanped said:


> It depends on their individual temperament but yes, shrimp will mostly be eaten.
> 
> Just to show how the temperament can go, though, mine has attacked;
> 
> ...


lol sounds like you have one hell of an aggressive betta lol


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## Smooch (May 14, 2016)

Omar EAZi said:


> I heard having lot of plants will help keeping the water more stable even without weekly water changes?!.
> I saw a video on youtube with a guy having a nano tank and he's like he haven't done water changes in 6 months, but the amount of plants in the tank is keeping it stable. he does top ups every now and then only.


There are people on YouTube that know what they are talking about and others...not so much.

I watched 5 minutes of a video from some chica I've never heard of giving tips on how to keep a planted tank the other day. I was puzzled by her advice of keeping nitrates at zero. Plants need nitrogen to eat and grow. The laws of nature are defied by YouTube I guess. LOL What was even more bothersome is people were soaking up what she said like sponges. Said sponges are going to be very disappointed when all of their plants die due to starvation.


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## Omar EAZi (Aug 5, 2015)

Smooch said:


> There are people on YouTube that know what they are talking about and others...not so much.
> 
> I watched 5 minutes of a video from some chica I've never heard of giving tips on how to keep a planted tank the other day. I was puzzled by her advice of keeping nitrates at zero. Plants need nitrogen to eat and grow. The laws of nature are defied by YouTube I guess. LOL What was even more bothersome is people were soaking up what she said like sponges. Said sponges are going to be very disappointed when all of their plants die due to starvation.


lol well, sometimes being a sponge teaches you to ask on plantedtank.net before doing the same mistake again :grin2:


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## Smooch (May 14, 2016)

Omar EAZi said:


> lol well, sometimes being a sponge teaches you to ask on plantedtank.net before doing the same mistake again :grin2:


HAHA! As long as they learn from it, it's all good. Sadly many don't. If it is on YouTube, it must be fact.


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## Omar EAZi (Aug 5, 2015)

Updates on my nano tanks thus far


















what do you guys think? 
I live in Dubai and I ordered the API kit from USA, so it takes a while till it gets here, so I still don't know the parameters, but I do atleast 20% water changes daily.


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## Roshan8768 (Mar 18, 2009)

Looks nice. You may not need to do 20% daily water changes seeing as how there are no fish... I would go with 20-25% once a week if you are really worried about ammonia burn on the plants


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## Omar EAZi (Aug 5, 2015)

Roshan8768 said:


> Looks nice. You may not need to do 20% daily water changes seeing as how there are no fish... I would go with 20-25% once a week if you are really worried about ammonia burn on the plants


oh, maybe it's not clear in the pic but I got 2 baby x-ray tetras(not sure if that's what their name is), and I have 1 cherry shrimp in the smaller tank. 
that's in the pic but maybe they're hidden, I'll upload another pic with them showing more clearly along with their new friends :grin2:

Bump: Say hello to my little friend!

new setup coming up soon, my 120P ADA has arrived, but rest of the accessories required is taking a long time, so here's some Multi Tank Syndrome 15g tank to keep me sane till I set up my 120p 










Gonna make a seperate journal for this tank once I'm done with it.


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## Omar EAZi (Aug 5, 2015)

Can't figure out how to delete a msg I posted!! can only see the edit option :crying:


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