# 2.5G Pico For Sexy Shrimp?



## MadChemist (Sep 22, 2007)

I have never kept a marine aquarium before, but I have always wanted to. At this point, I'm not really interested in corals. I would like to set up a pico FOWLR using small pieces of live rock, aragamax select sand, and an empty 2.5G tank. The only inhabitants would be three sexy shrimp. Is this reasonably feasible for a beginner? If so, would it be good to use an AquaClear HOB as a makeshift "refugium", or would a corner filter suffice?

Is there anything I'm missing?

I've read this tutorial on FOWLRs: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...arting-your-first-fo-fowlr-marine-system.html

Thank you for your help. If my idea is completely ridiculous please don't hesitate to let me know.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

You can do it for sure Mc! Lots of people will tell you its a lot of upkeep, and it will be... But I think for you it might be right up your alley.


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## MadChemist (Sep 22, 2007)

Ciddian said:


> You can do it for sure Mc! Lots of people will tell you its a lot of upkeep, and it will be... But I think for you it might be right up your alley.


Would there be maintenance beyond water changing?

Is Big Als' pre-mixed saltwater any good? It's probably cheaper to mix my own, but for such a small tank pre-mixed seems feasible.

I'm reading all kinds of articles on nano and pico tanks, but most of them involve corals.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Well usually when dealing with inverts I see a lot of people recommending Iodine but you would have to ask around more about that.

You can use some really easy to care for corals if you like. Mushrooms and the like are so simple. I have a small kenya tree coral that is so hardy its awesome.. 

You would have to watch the water level and keep up on your top ups. I am not sure about the pre-mix as I have never used it.


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## MadChemist (Sep 22, 2007)

Ciddian said:


> You can use some really easy to care for corals if you like. Mushrooms and the like are so simple. I have a small kenya tree coral that is so hardy its awesome..


Ooooh... Very tempting!


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## MadChemist (Sep 22, 2007)

Would this light be enough on its own without coral?
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA...18/cl0/coralifeminipowercompact5050lamp10watt

If not, would a 20W equivalent be enough?


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## MadChemist (Sep 22, 2007)

Another question: For those of you who don't have your own RO/DI unit, where do you get your water? I know Big Al's sells jugs of RO, but I'm wondering if any grocery stores sell it in those big blue bottles. I know they have distilled, but there's quite a bit of debate over whether or not distilled water contains harmful levels of copper from the distillation condenser.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

that 50/50 looks good

I used to buy my water from the local store that has a dispenser a lot like culligan does. You can also have a jug ordered to your house too if you go that way. (lugging water gets so boring so fast)


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

I bought all my water from BA for a while and it was fine for keeping corals (hard and soft).

That light looks sufficient for keeping soft corals and LPS, especially in a small 2.5g tank. I have been considering one for my desk too  It should be fine for a trio or so of sexy shrimp.

Just wondering, do you have access to a lab? If so, maybe you can get some RO/DI water there? if not, you could just get it at BA too. You could get it from a water place too, but if you can I'd go RO.

I'd consider corals too, they make everything so much more entertaining to watch 

If you've not already seen this thread at NR, take a look:
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=151219&hl=sexy+shrimp


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## MadChemist (Sep 22, 2007)

Thanks for the advice and the link.

I work in a chemistry lab, and we have on-tap distilled water. There's also a communal 18 megohm*cm deionized water system. Unfortunately, research groups get charged by the liter for deionized water, so I can't just bring in a jug and start filling. My professor would be less than thrilled . I think the in-house distilled water goes through 50 year old copper pipes, so it wouldn't be very good.

I'm probably also going to get a scarlet hermit crab to keep things clean.

I am considering zooanthids, but the price of corals is prohibitive, unless I can get a very small fragment to start with. I'll probably wait until I have everything set up and I'm more comfortable with saltwater, so I won't have to worry about killing the coral through some newbie mistake. I also don't want to worry about dosing strontium and iodide until I have the basics down.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

With a 2.5g, you'll probably never have to dose - just keep up on the WCs.

Ah, yeah we have our own RO/DI in the lab...

As for the zoas and stuff, just look around the various local forums - people are always selling frags for pretty cheap and reasonable prices too.


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## MadChemist (Sep 22, 2007)

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely look into corals . The cost of this endeavour is slowly but surely ballooning.


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## MadChemist (Sep 22, 2007)

I might have a small change in plans for the tank. I'm probably going to skip the sexy shrimp, and focus more on corals. I'll probably just have a couple of hermit crabs in there, and hopefully I'll be able to find some well-priced small frags. It's hard for me to justify spending $30 for three tiny shrimp, that from what I've seen on YouTube aren't very active. I really like zoas and frogspawn, so I'll have to keep an eye out for some.

I'm going to wait until the weather warms up before I start buying anything.


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

Well you will need shrimp to keep your zoas clean   
Omg im bad but true!!
see what you did now im going to have to go buy some shrimp for the 12gl !!!!
Think I should breed cleaners again!
eventually you will need to fork out the 30bux lolol
as a part of your cleaning crew!


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## MadChemist (Sep 22, 2007)

I'm probably going to end up going with a Coralife Aqualight 12" 2x18W PC light.

I'm looking at frogspawn and xenia as possible corals.

Do I need a filter, or can I just use my powerhead (Aquaclear 20) to generate flow?


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

thats all I used in my 20 gl....the odd time when I did a big cleanup I used my skimmer .
should be fine!


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