questions about minibow 2.5 setup

[mattbryant2]

if anyone has experience with 2.5s or minibow setups, i'd really appreciate some help.
i am interested in starting a 2.5 gallon reef tank. no fish, just corals and a few inverts. i am planning on using about 3 pounds of live rock.
if i were to buy the minibow 2.5...
i could use a coralife floursecent pc 50/50 10 watt light in the fixture that comes with the tank. would that be enough? does anyone know of a mini compact 15 watt?
would the filter that comes with the tank be enough for filtration and water movement (along with the live rock)?
what kind of heater would i need for the setup? what would be a good temperature to keep the tank at?
is there any other equipment that i would need?
what are a few good beginner corals that you could suggest?
what inverts would a 2.5 be capable of supporting? what would be a good clean-up crew?
thanks a lot for the help!

 

[mattbryant2]

some help please?

 

[justinx]

a 2.5 is going to be a very difficult tank to do. Do you have any experience with a reef tank of any size let alone saltwater?
To answer you questions, sure you could use a 10w PC. Woould it be enough? Depends on what you want to keep.
I dont know about the filter. I have never seen it, but it probably would be enough. along with LR and LS. As for water movement, Its difficult to say because it may very well be enough, but you wont be able to tell until its all set up.
A good temp for a tank is around 80 degrees, plus or minus 2 a degree or two. getting there and keeping the temp there is going to be difficult. You probably wont be able to keep a heater in the tank because of the size of heaters and your tank and the space left over after sand and rock.
To be honest, get the tank up and running, cycled and stable before you get into corals. A nano tank can be very difficult, especially for your first saltwater tank. Why not start with something bigger. Especially since a 2.5 is not a cheap little tank.
Justin

 

[mattbryant2]

thanks for answering a couple of my questions.
i do not have experience with a reef tank, or a salt water tank, which is why i am asking these questions. i understand that a nano reef will be challenging, and i believe that i'm up for the challenge (pending some more research). i'm willing to dedicate time and money, and i'm willing to learn whatever it is that i need to learn. but, starting with something bigger is not possible, otherwise i would. i have my reasons.
so, if anyone else has some insight, i would really appreciate it. insight into 2.5s, please, not insight into what size tank you think i should get.

 

[nanoambiance]

Matt:
I orginally wanted the all glass 2.5 teal minibow to do some mushrooms and feathers and inverts. I even looked and all glass has a powercompact bulb that will fit the 2.5 and the 5 gallon bows the sell for about 10 bucks (see their website for details).
I recieved mixed opinions from people here, LFS, etc and the concensus was that a 2.5, even with water changes and a few pounds of rock, and only an invert or two is manageable, but unless you have the patience and skill, highly challenging.
I ended up going with the all glass bowfront 7 gallon, that is glass not the plastic like the 2.5 minibow, because a LFS has a custom retrofit 32 Watt 50/50 bulb in it. So, I have more room for corals and better lighting options, because most people said they had problems with altering the 2.5's hood with a light kit.
With a small 2.5, you might not need a heater if your retrofit kit puts off good bit of heat. Small suction thermomter, small powerhead/waterpump and small mechanical filter. Good call on the LR, as much as you can spare, and add it slowly. Some recs for mushrooms, low lights are bullseye mushroom corals, and I tend to like feather duster clusters, which have no light requirements, like corals do. Maybe even try a long stemmed polyp (green)? The better your lighting the better your options.
Having said all that, its up to you, I know it can be hard to try to get an idea and roll with it, some people say you can do shrooms in the 2.5, its your call. I was trying to give you my insights into it all, and let you know my final decision. We'll see if it works. Good luck to you, and don't sweat it, you can do the nano if you want to, I am sure it will work great, no matter what size you try. Some people out there have pico tanks, so hey.

 

[mattbryant2]

thank you very much for your reply.
let me share with you my justification for only doing a 2.5 gallon tank. i would love to setup a bigger tank, but i am limited on space and also i will need to be able to move my tank several times a year. as a result, size becomes a huge (no pun intended) problem... i think 2.5 is about as big as i would want to go and still be able to feel confident in moving it. i have even talked with people in similar living situations as me (college dorms) who have recommended the 2.5 size, so i think that is probably my best bet.
i checked out the bulb that all glass offers. that is the same bulb that coralife sells, the one that i am thinking of getting if i do end up using the minibow setup. i'm still just not sure if it is enough light (if not, i will have to do a custom lighting setup). but i am still not sure if that will be enough light. any help?
also, is a powerhead necessary if i have the filter moving water around?
thanks again.

 

[bdhough]

IN a tank that small you probably don't need a power head. Whatever wet dry filter you run should take care of it. As far as the bulb goes is it the screw in or flourescent type? Screw in, corallife makes a screw in power compact bulb. It's 10 watts and 50/50....
I wish i could set up a bazillion nanos. I have a 12 and 20. I started my first salt tank with a 12. Get books, read, ask questions from others. After a year and working at 2 lfs im still learning things.

 

[mattbryant2]

actually, i just read on the product page for all glass that the minibow 2.5 actually comes with a 15 watt bulb.
here is the product page:
http://www.all-glass.com/products/aq...nibow2_5.shtml
is there a different between types of light and what a reef needs? would this light work?
here is the other bulb that all glass offers, a 10 watt mini compact that fits into the fixture with the setup:
http://www.all-glass.com/products/ot...icompact.shtml
which would be better, and would that be good enough?
also, is the filter (described on the product page) appropriate for filtration and water circulation? would that require any modification?
and again with a heater, probably not necessary?
THANKS SO MUCH.

 

[mattbryant2]

sorry for so many questions, i just want to make sure that i do this right. thanks again.

 

[bdhough]

Thats an incandescent bulb and you can not use it for reefs. Look for a coralife minicompact bulb. Looks exactly like the compact bulb you were looking at but it is a 50/50 bulb. Meaning the spectrum of light that comes out of the bulb is 10k and actinic 03 i believe. The incandescent bulb does not put out the proper spectrum of light and will make your tank look yellow. The 50/50 bulb will be whitish/blueish and look WAY better.

 

[mattbryant2]

and with the 50/50 bulb will 10 watts be sufficient for 2.5 gallons? thanks.

 

[bdhough]

It should be. Try doing some polyps and mushrooms. A feather duster doesn't require light and can take up space in a 2.5.
I'm experimenting now with my girlfriends tank. She has the same bulb and so far the mushroom i gave her is doing ok.

 

[mattbryant2]

do you think the filter would be enough for water circulation and filtration, or is a powerhead necessary?
also, what are your thoughts on a heater in a tank this small?

 

[bdhough]

Hmmm. The filter should be enough. I'm not very familiar with the tank in general. You may want to get a Rio 50 power head and turn the flow down with the regulator that comes with it. Its the smallest i know about. But you are talking valuable realestate space. I would go with just the filter and see how things go. Shrooms and Polyps don't need that much current on them. Just a gentle breeze should do. As far as a heater goes. Also more space in the tank. If you can find a very small one. YOu only need bout 15 watt heater. And yes it is valuable. It will help stabalize your water when the temperature gets cold. Of course in the summer you need a place that has ac. You want your tank to maintain between 72 and 82. Shoot for that.

 

[mattbryant2]

thank you so much. you have been so much help.
what would you suggest for inverts/clean up crew? what kind of life is tank this size capable of supporting? i'm not planning on trying fish but i would like to have something cool in there.

 

[bdhough]

Hermits are pretty colorful and easy to sustain. You could have one or two of them and one or two snails. Youll get some small life if you get good peices of live rock too. As far as snails i would try a nassrius and a cerith. They stay small. You could also look for a bumblebee snail. Do a search on them. Pretty cool. They are nocturnal but you would see them in a 2.5 gallon.

 

[mattbryant2]

thank you again. would 2 snails and 2 hermits be sufficient to keep the tank clean?
also, i was thinking about a shrimp. what shrimp would you recommend?
would mushrooms, polyps, and ricordea do well together and with the lighting that i will use?

 

[overanalyzer]

A small blood shrimp maybe or a peppermint shrimp?? I think you could also do a very smal lCBS which would be cool or a cleaner shrimp .... but they would eventually molt and get bigger.
You would also have to occasionally feed a shrimp in a tank with no fish since it would not be getting much in the way of detrius.....
A bumble bee snail might eat other snals too. I'd look in the ref section on the "my take on various snails" thread.
I think a small piece of halimeada would look nice in the tank with a small hunk of xenia and some shrooms, polyps and ricordeas. Plus you could get some really colorful stuff!

 

[bdhough]

If you get a shrimp, NO CORAL BANDEDS....They get huge. A blood/fire shrimp would be a very good thing in a small tank like that.

 

[mattbryant2]

i have been doing a lot of research, and i think that it might be best for me to just use live sand and live rock for filtration, along with a small powerhead. the advantages to doing this would be that the tank would be more visually appealing and also be more open, due to the space that removing the filter would free up. if i had an inch and a half to two inches of live sand, along with about three pounds of live rock, would that be enough to effectively filter the 2.5 gallon tank?
also, the restrictions that come with the minibow fixture aside, what would be the ideal amount of light for a 2.5 gallon, and what bulbs would be ideal to achieve that amount of light?
at this point, i'm not seeing much advantage to buying the minibow setup, and i'm considering just building my own hood, so that i could give an ideal amount of lighting to the tank's inhabitants, and not be limited by the fixture (and hood, actually) that comes with the setup. does anyone know any good resources on building small hoods?
THANKS A LOT. HELP IS VERY APPRECIATED.