2.5 gallon planted high light advice

[ringfinger]

My 2.5 gallon reef will most likely be coming down. It's a fun little tank, but I don't really have the time or the money to grow the really nice coral I was planning.

The new plan will include the following supplies which I already have:
-AC20 filter set on lowest flow rate
-50/50 Flourite and gravel substrate
-9 watt PC 10000k
-Cherry Shrimp, and a male Guppy or Betta
-Narrow Leaf Chain Sword or Glosso

Based on my calculations it seems like it wouldn't be too difficult to mix up some liquid N03, K, and P04 ferts for a tank this size. I also have about 500ml of Flourish Excel that I will be using. Anyone have experience with a tank this small? Problems with my plan?

I also have a question about the heater. Would a 7.5 watt heater be good enough just to avoid extremes in temperature? Would there be a better way of heating this tank considering the plants and animals I am looking at? Will it even require heating? The room(my office) stays at around 66-74 degrees. Just so you know, I have used a 25 watt Visi-Therm in the tank as a reef without problems, but I don't like how big it is.

Thanks for any help. This should be a fun(and hopefully inexpensive) project.

 

[Purrbox]

I currently have a 2.5 Gallon High (possibly Very High) Light Planted tank. It's a great tank.

The biggest problem I see is the amount of light you are planning, as you will probably find that 9 Watts is going to behave much more like Medium Light than High Light over your tank. I've got 26 Watts over my tank, and while definately High Light, I'm not sure that it would qualify as Very High Light. If you truely want a High Light tank, I think you will need to at least double the amount of light.

The next problem I see is your plant selection. If you keep the lighting at 9 Watts the Narrow Leaf Chain Sword may do fine, but if you up the lighting I think that you will find that it will be much too fast a grower for that little tank and will require frequent thinning. I had it in my tank, and finely got so frusterated that I completely removed it. The Glosso won't be likely to do well (form that nice looking carpet) unless you up the lighting. If you want some more ideas for plants, check out my sig. A very kind and helpful member was kind enough to send me some plants more appropriate for my tank. Most are High Light plants, but a few would work for you if you keep the current lighting. I'm also hoping to get some Hemianthus Callitrichoides for this tank.

I'm currently using a 25 Watt Visitherm Stealth Heater in my tank. While it takes up a lot of room, I think it's well worth having the more stable environment for my plants and shrimp. I'm not sure that I would trust any of the smaller heaters, especially since most don't have any way to set the temp.

Good Luck with your tank. I think you will find it to be both challenging and rewarding.

 

[ringfinger]

Thanks for the help.

I can see what you are saying with my plant choice. I have several different species in my larger tanks that I will experiment with instead. My chain sword is out of control in a 29 gallon, so I'm sure I would be spending most of my time pruning in a 2.5 gallon.

My light is the new Current 12" 18 watt fixture currently running a combo bulb. Maybe I will switch out the bulb for a dual daylight if I can find one. Or I will just work with medium light and see what I can get to work.

Your tanks look great by the way! Hope you don't mind if I steal some aquascaping ideas.

 

[czcz]

If you can keep temp stable around 70F and use it for cherry shrimp only, they should thrive and breed like mad. A bunch of mosses will do well with that light and temp, and your cherries will love it.

 

[azn_fishy55]

Some mosses like christmas moss like cooler temps according to my research.Cherries and CRS like cooler temps but its hard to find high grade CRS and they can be a bit touchy with water quality but overall they are pretty hardy and good looking.I am planning to breed some myself.