# 2.5 Gal Desk Tank, 6/4/10 restart



## seadreamer (May 6, 2007)

Very pretty. I like the location too. Your lighting looks just like mine except without the rusty reflector, lol.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

You'll definitely need to upgrade the light, I think, but it definitely looks good, and I like how snug it is in that desk!


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## Reginald2 (Mar 10, 2009)

The tank looks great, and I like the location. What are you using for a background?


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

Reginald2 said:


> The tank looks great, and I like the location. What are you using for a background?


I spray painted the background with white, green, and black. I used a crumpled up plastic bag as a stencil to do some layering to get some depth. It came out a lot better on my practice glass than it did on here. I will probably redo it at some point.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

seadreamer said:


> Very pretty. I like the location too. Your lighting looks just like mine except without the rusty reflector, lol.


The inside of the reflector is a lot cleaner, and it has at least a little bit of polish. But hey, it was quick and cheap. The tank came will plants and shrimp, and the light it came with didn't fit in that spot. So I just came up with something I could do on the spur of the moment because those plants weren't going to wait.


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## Danielle (Jan 25, 2009)

It looks a lot better than it did when it left here 

the anubias is supposed to be a nana (non petite) .. and the floaters came from world of wet pets.. sold as water lettuce.... but true water lettuce is quite large (leaves 1 to 6" across) so I'm not really sure what it is.

Have you spotted any of the younger shrimp yet? I know there's at least one or two. They're 1/4 the size of the others and I couldn't tell if they were cherry or tigers.

I'm glad they've found a good home other than on the floor in my office!


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

There are a lot of shrimp in there. But everything I have seen so far looks like cherries. But that is fine with me.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

wow i like it nice job


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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

Very, very nice.
Light seems really rusty, but if it works , and it's hidden it'll do IMO.


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

Like others have mentioned, I really love how it fits into that desk. Nice.


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## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

Danielle said:


> .. and the floaters came from world of wet pets.. sold as water lettuce.... but true water lettuce is quite large (leaves 1 to 6" across) so I'm not really sure what it is.


Water lettuce has a mini form that it takes in aquariums. So yes, it is really water lettuce.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

To day my 2 year old son got to my container of Hakari shrimp food next to the tank and dumped the whole thing out, I am just glad he couldn't get to the tank. 

He helps me feed the fish in the big tank everyday. I should have known he would try to feed the shrimp tank too. I was able to scoop most of it up off the floor. The adventures of having children.


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Nice tank. Glad to hear that you were able to clean up most of the food!


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## Ignignokt (Aug 21, 2009)

That looks sweet man, I love the way it fit into that cubby hole. I dont know if it would eat your cherry shrimp but a really nice half moon betta would look sweet in there, just a thought. I might have to try this out lol.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Nice looking, and perfectly fit...that kind of desk you have will be out of stock soon.:icon_smil


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

shrimpo said:


> Nice looking, and perfectly fit...that kind of desk you have will be out of stock soon.:icon_smil


The desk is just something I got off of craigslist. But it works out nicely for me. I did have to cut off part of one end of it to fit in my office. But it works well. 

The wood above the tank is a divider that ran vertically in same spot where the tank is now. I had to cut it to make it fit as a door way to the lights. I am a little worried about the heat from the light though. There is very little air circulation and it could heat things up quite a bit. I need to get to the store and get a thermometer so I can keep an eye on things.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

The first day or two, the shrimp were very timid about coming out to eat. Not a big suprise with all they had been through. But then they started to come out in mass when I would feed them. I could see between 20 and 25 of them. But yesterday they didn't come out again, and today either. I just pulled out 9 dead shrimp this afternoon. I don't know what has gone wrong. I just did a water change and used distilled water. (I don't have any RO water around that I could find.) Hopefully I don't loose the rest.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Sorry to hear that....so they died after water change? i am wondering if its the temp diference that shocked them..
for the light, i am using a self balasted 10w 6500k coralife from petco..it dosen't produce as much heat.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

They died before the water change. I am starting to think it might be the oto. He is kind of a headcase. He gets spooked easily and then goes nuts thrashing around the tank throwing shrimp around. I need to get him out of there.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

From your tank picture, i think you have this kind of algae eater : http://www.aquariumlife.net/profile-images/algae-eater.jpg 
which need biger aquarium, if you are looking for something smaller try this Otto http://fins.actwin.com/fresh-pics/otto-cat.jpg they are more calm.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

He is actually an otto. I don't know why he is so wound up.


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## sherryazure (Feb 10, 2008)

Maybe frogbit - looks like the frogbit I just got but hard for me to tell in photo.

Best Sherry


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## Danielle (Jan 25, 2009)

I forgot to ask yesterday.... did you get the otto out and have you found anymore dead shrimps? 

I found the female dead and two males disappeared but I think the Badis had something to do with it.... he'd gotten quite the 'angry cichlid' personality and been hunting a lot.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

This tank has had a bumpy start. I moved the oto, all of the shrimp are gone, and there is some algae that has killed off the lace java fern. I have some work to do. 

First I need to get the temperature under control. The tank and light are so well enclosed that there is not enough air movement to keep the light from heating up the tank. I pulled a fan from an old junk computer we had and now I just have to find a power adapter that will work for it. I also need to get rid of that algae. I thought I had got it all, but I was gone camping for a couple of days and the fern was completely covered and dead when I got home. Now that the oto is gone, I am also getting diatoms. 

I thought I would be able to take this nice established tank, move it to my house, and just make a few adjustments. But I made too many adjustments I think. A new filter, more substrate, and taking out a lot of the old plants was just too much of a shock to the system. It worked well for about a week and then crashed. I need to treat it more like a new tank and work on getting it stable. Maybe I will be able to get some of the wild type shrimp out of my big tank to act as temporary inhabitants of this tank. Then once it is solid, I would like to try some nicer shrimp like possibly some crystals. I will just have to take my time and not let my wife see me spending too much time on it.


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## Danielle (Jan 25, 2009)

awwwww..... poor baby shrimps 

Yeah they were pretty used to a temp around 76*s. They were born in the big tank in a holding net but the shadow of the net was killing off a lot of plants so I got the 2.5g for them. I seeded it with some gravel, water and filter 'drippings' from the main tank, along with the plants.

They'd been in there at least 4 months. I think maybe the heat might have done it?

I'm sorry they are all gone


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Man that stinks.):


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

I upgraded the lights and added a fan to control the heat. 

I found a desk lamp at Goodwill for $2.50 and bought a bulb at Fred-Myer's for $8.









I completely disassembled the light fixture.









And mounted it in my desk shelf to replace the old light I had pieced together with parts from the garage. 

















You can also see the new fan I took out of an old computer I had sitting around the house, wired to an AC adapter of correct voltage and amparage that I also got a Goodwill, for $2. Now the water stays a nice 78F like it is supposed to. I moved 3 of my wild type Neocardinias from the 125 to see if the tank is settled now. 

Goodwill is actually not a bad place to get some cheap electronics. I also picked up a nice light fixture to for the kitchen for $7. 

Also, I forgot to add. I got some nice mini riccia from Minsc for the driftwood. I will have to get a picture of it for later.


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## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

Awesome DIY going on there. The placement of this tank is creative too. What's the desk made of? Does it bow at all when there's water in the tank?


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

Thanks Outlaw.

The wood is just a cheap chipboard with a paper laminate. Nothing special. And with only 2.5 gallons of water, the weight is not an issue at all.


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## typicaltony (Apr 5, 2010)

any update?


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

This tank has kind of staggered along for the past year. Never really doing all that well. I recently started working on it again. I replaced the substrate with ADA AS and build a mini co2 regulator with a Leland regulator. I had a couple of nerite snails in there and they rasped the anubias leafs really bad. So once they have recovered and the tank has stabilized again, I will post some update pictures.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

It has been quite a while since I did much with this tank. I enjoy having it right next to my computer so I can look at it during the day. But I have more or less neglected it for the last year. Very infrequent water changes and ferts. I would feed the 3 ember tetras and 5 amano shrimp some tetra color bits every couple of days and that was just about the extent of the care I gave the tank. 

Recently, I finally redid the tank. I replaced the substrate with ADA AS. Built a leland mini co2 system and basically started over. Also I have had a thread algae almost from the time I started this tank. A recent 3 day blackout went a long ways in solving that problem. 

You can see that the plants are still recovering. I also have some 

















Here is the mini co2 system I built for this tank.


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## zoragen (Nov 3, 2009)

Very nice!

What is your background? It looks light blue? I'm thinking of something like that for my tank.


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## crimsonbull57 (Jan 7, 2009)

About how much was everything for your Co2 setup?


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

zoragen said:


> Very nice!
> 
> What is your background? It looks light blue? I'm thinking of something like that for my tank.


My background is a combination of white, black, and a touch of green spray paint.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

crimsonbull57 said:


> About how much was everything for your Co2 setup?


There are complete parts lists and prices on Tuonor's thread here.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/101417-nano-regulator-build-pressurized-co2-shown.html


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## Birds'nBunny (Sep 3, 2008)

I have the fish that used to live in this tank. I got them from Danielle before she sold the tank to you. Small world : )
They now live in my six gallon Eclipse, the one that has been cycling for almost a year now, according to my signature...


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

You're right- that tank does fit perfectly. The light works perfectly in that space, and that is one crazy awesome DIY pressurized CO2 setup. Good call to add the ventilation fan as well. Great job on this pimped out little 2.5G :thumbsup:


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

Never hurts to try to ask for an update :icon_smil

So how's this mini 2.5 doing?


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

For some reason I never can seem to find the motivation to keep up on the maintenance for this tank. The tread algae came back and I need to do another black out. 
I did take out the ember tetras and put it a few mosquito rasboras last month.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

yikesjason said:


>


Wow that's a great CO2 DIY...and it looks cool too. How many grams is that canister?


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

88g. I am just finishing one now and it lasted a couple of months.


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

How effective are the blackouts jason for thread algae? My tank is engulfed in it atm. Pretty sad actually. Been pulling overtime at work and never noticed that the co2 cartridge ran dry. What are your practices? Thanks and the reg is holding up great.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

The black out worked for a while. But it must have left something in there because it eventually came back. Maybe a couple of treatments over time might completely eliminate it. I am not sure.


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