2.5 gallon planted build

[gman42]

Theres quite a bit of microsword growth.

 

[Cammywammy]

You payed 45 dollars for a 2.5 gallon?

 

[gman42]

No, i payed about $8 for the tank, $5 for the sponge filter, $5 for the airpump, $20 for the heater, $5 for the soil and sand, the lamp was from my gpa. About $60 for everything.

 

[gman42]

$60 including plants and rocks

 

[Cammywammy]

Oh I see I was thinking about getting a 2.5 for a crawfish tank just wondering the cost I hope not to spend much though.

 

[gman42]

You would prob save money getting a tank that comes with everything.
I was looking at an aqueon evovlve aquarium. The evolve 4 is $50, and it comes with everything but the heater.
Thats just an example, but its prob cheaper in the long run.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Heres an updated pic of the 2.5z

Me and my gma are switching tanks, so im taking the 2.5, and she has the 10 gallon now.
The light for the 2.5g will be a 13w compact bulb. Its the swirly one. Will that be alright?

You bet. The spiral CFLs are fine for growing plants. I like them a lot.

I see what you're saying about the heater and filter being black. A white background will expose them dramatically. Black would be the way to go. It'll camouflage them better and still show off your plants and fish. I use black backgrounds on my 20 and 5.5 gallon. Whatever works! lol

 

[gman42]

I made a background for the 2.5, and 10 out of construction paper. Its too expensive to get the background cut at the atore, and half the time they cut them funny lol.
It was pretty cold an the 10g dropped to about 74 degrees.
Im going to have to keep an eye on it.

 

[Fresh2o]

I made a background for the 2.5, and 10 out of construction paper. Its too expensive to get the background cut at the atore, and half the time they cut them funny lol.
It was pretty cold an the 10g dropped to about 74 degrees.
Im going to have to keep an eye on it.

I did the same with construction paper. I did not do a good job taping it to the back and ripped it
No background for now. I think I will try cutting up a black plastic trash bag and hopefully it won't be too "shiny"

 

[gman42]

I set up a diy c02 thingy.

Im running the tubing through the filter

 

[gman42]

Im currently dosing excel.

Do u guys think flourish would be a good addition?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

That's what I use in my Fluval Spec 5 and I used to use it on all my tanks. It's good stuff. I highly recommend it for small planted tanks.

 

[gman42]

Sounds good.

Anything that will improve plant health and growth is a plus.
Im still wondering if i should get rcs or a betta... What do u guys think i should get?

 

[AaronW]

Sounds good.

Anything that will improve plant health and growth is a plus.
Im still wondering if i should get rcs or a betta... What do u guys think i should get?

I like betta fish. Personally I think the shrimp are too small

 

[Coursair]

Sounds good.

Anything that will improve plant health and growth is a plus.
Im still wondering if i should get rcs or a betta... What do u guys think i should get?

One of my 5.5g has my HMPK Betta
The other has Shrimp.

I love both, but I can sit for hours watching my Shrimp and have lost time staring at my RCS/CRS tank.

 

[gman42]

Are rcs hard to keep?

 

[gman42]

I researched a lot yeaterday, and im going to grab some rcs this weekend. Would 6-7 be alright to start off with? I dont want to buy 15, and do something and kill $35 in shrimp.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

That's how I went with my cherry shrimp. Started out just trying about 6 and after they reproduced a couple times I got a few more adults to strengthen the starter base. I always think adding a small number at first is the way to go. Now don't be surprised (like I was!) to not see almost any shrimp after you add them. I thought I had lost nearly all of them during the first couple of weeks. I only ever saw about two or three out at a time but eventually more and more of them would be poking around. Once I counted 5 out at once I knew they had probably all survived. What a relief! lol

Another thing to watch out for is siphoning during water changes. New young are crazy hard to see and they don't always mind checking out the inside of the hose. >_<

 

[gman42]

Are rcs jumpers?

The tank is topless.
Thanks for the info btw
Heres an updated pic of the tank

 

[calfishguy]

Are rcs jumpers?

The tank is topless.
Thanks for the info btw
Heres an updated pic of the tank

Some will occasionally climb out but I think its pretty rare. I would not worry about it.