uses for a 2.5g tank?

[James_in_MN]

Now that I've moved my RCS breeding colony over to a 5.5g tank, I find myself wondering what the heck I should do with the 2.5g they were in originally.

A betta would be cramped, and I'm not sure I want to go that route.

The majority of the micro fish (harlequin espy, mosquito rasbora, emerald eye rasbora, and celestial pearl danio) are all schooling fish, which likely means I should avoid adding them to it.

What about a couple of pygmy gourami? Those don't seem to be a schooling fish, and stay small.

Is there another option I should consider, besides tossing it off my balcony?

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Maybe a female betta? Not many options huh.

 

[absolutangel04]

Perhaps a pygmy sunfish?
What is the footprint of the tank?

 

[James_in_MN]

Perhaps a pygmy sunfish?
What is the footprint of the tank?

The tank looks like this:

petco.com - Petco 2.5 Gallon Desktop Aquarium customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings

It's 9" tall, about 8" deep, with a 7" width in the front and a 11" width in the back.

 

[absolutangel04]

What about one of the other species of betta?
Betta Species
Some of them are a little smaller than betta splendens.
Another option is least killifish. They are more like guppies than like other killis, so you could just keep a pair of them and don't need a whole school.

 

[Galligak]

I've actually had a few bettas that dislike the 5g tank, they sit around and don't move. I switched them over to the 2.5g just to see what would happen. They both got more active and seemed happier. I'm not sure why this happened, but it made them happy.

I'd still go with a betta. My thought is: if you have a 2g or larger, it's better to get a betta than just to ignore the fact that they need 5g+ because you're helping one get a better life than in a <1g tank that isn't filtered and isn't heated that they'd probably go in. I know some people will disagree but, it's what I go by... Hence my large number of bettas (5).

 

[James_in_MN]

I actually have a betta in my 20g community tank. He gets frustrated during feeding time because the other fish keep trying to beat him to the betta pellets. And that's AFTER I feed them first.

I'm still not sure I like the idea of a betta in the tank, but I'll think about it some more. The only other option, fish-wise, seems to be pygmy gouramis.

 

[absolutangel04]

Did you look at the options I posted? Its fine if you are not intersted in them, but they are options.
A sparkling gouramis get to be over 1.5 inches so they are not all much smaller than a betta splendens. If you want a sparkler, it would probably work though. What kind of filter do you have for the tank?
Its fine if you are not liking the idea of a betta in that tank. I like to keep mine in larger tanks personally. Thats why I suggested one of the other bettas. Some of them are smaller.

 

[James_in_MN]

Did you look at the options I posted? Its fine if you are not intersted in them, but they are options.

I saw your pygmy sunfish option, but missed the betta post. My bad.

I'll have to look through that list of betta varieties and see which are the smaller varieties. I don't ever remember seeing the pygmy sunfish anywhere, so that might have to be mail order.

 

[hippy guy]

on that list of species, if you look to the very right, there are common names, look for pygmy fighting fish. said pairs could be in a 5, so a 2.5 for a single might be ok. but a bigger better should be in a bigger tank.
At the poster with the better who hated the 5gal.
-how was it decorated. If the tank was bare, it could stress him out. I love heavily planting my betta tanks, because it calms the water currents alot, which they love, and they can get snagged up and take a nap no problems. This also has the added benifit of adding live filters for your tank

 

[skywhitney]

I have one of the petco 2.5g hexagon tanks that I use as a Q-tank in a pinch (my 10g is my primary). Just a thought.

 

[racedvl]

Make it a shrimp tank of some sort...?

 

[Penncentralfan]

A betta as many have posted will be happy in a 2.5 gallon with plants. If you changed the water frequently you don't even need a filter. A small gavel vac while doing a 50 percent water change weekly will be fine.

Yes some will disagree with me, but the betta will be fine in that set-up. If kept in a warm part of the room you don't even need a heater.

 

[Penncentralfan]

You could also do a african dwarf tank with some hiding places and a small internal filter.

 

[absolutangel04]

I saw your pygmy sunfish option, but missed the betta post. My bad.

I'll have to look through that list of betta varieties and see which are the smaller varieties. I don't ever remember seeing the pygmy sunfish anywhere, so that might have to be mail order.

They are native to FL, so they are often a mail order thing rather than something many pet stores carry.
Are you looking for something available locally? I still think the least killifish area good choice, but they would likely be mail order as well.
You could also do a single Endler's livebearer. They swim all over the tank so they don't need quite as much horizontal space as some other fish.

 

[F-8 pufferman]

Ever thought of tossing a bunch of snails in there? they breed readily enough in a 2.5 and you could always sell them to your lfs when you have too many. Ive got 7 tanks in my home and have been known to do just that to help keep my puffers teeth down.

 

[James_in_MN]

I have one of the petco 2.5g hexagon tanks that I use as a Q-tank in a pinch (my 10g is my primary). Just a thought.

I had that intention in mind when I bought the tank initially, but then wasn't sure it would be a good idea to use a tank that size for a QT. My fish are small enough that it would probably be OK (betta, five banded barb, black neon tetra, otto, male guppy, harlequin espy) if I decided to do that again.

I also have a 10g in storage that I could use as a QT in a pinch.

I still have the substrate in the 2.5g, and that's what got me thinking about some other type of fish to put in it. It's the Fluval substrate, so I was mulling over a planted tank with... something...

 

[skywhitney]

I had that intention in mind when I bought the tank initially, but then wasn't sure it would be a good idea to use a tank that size for a QT. My fish are small enough that it would probably be OK (betta, five banded barb, black neon tetra, otto, male guppy, harlequin espy) if I decided to do that again.

I also have a 10g in storage that I could use as a QT in a pinch.

I still have the substrate in the 2.5g, and that's what got me thinking about some other type of fish to put in it. It's the Fluval substrate, so I was mulling over a planted tank with... something...

Well if you have an extra 10g that you have space for and can use then I say go with that and Put some shrimp or snails in the 2.5g. I had my 2.5 set up with snails for a little while, they're kinda cool. Shrimp would be better IMO though.

 

[skywhitney]

Arent CRS easy to keep in a 2.5g?

 

[siva]

I was going to recommend CRS as well. Or OEBT's.

I have a pair of mature sparkling gourami in a 5 gal, and I would say that's the absolute minimum for them. In fact I've decided I'm not so crazy about it and will prob move them into a 10. I wouldn't even consider keeping them in a 2.5.