JG's 2.5G "Dover meadow" Re-Scape

[MrJG]

I originally purchased this tank to use as a small quarantine tank but found dwarf puffers and had to set up a tank for one.

Tank specs:
2.5G Marineland
8W Florescent with no reflector
Aquaclear 20 (turned all the way down)
Cheapo heater @78D F
ADA Amazonia
Sand
Rocks
little seachem ferts/excel here and there

1 - Dwarf puffer
A revolving door of overnight guest ghost shrimp and snails

Dwarf Sag
Eriocaulon Type 2
couple sprigs of ludwiga palustris


Its only been planted a few days now so it looks a little sparse in there. :P For bonus points find the hunting dwarf puffer:




Help identify the hitchhiker (creeping jenny?):


Thanks for looking. I was going to house updates for this tank with the 20G journal but figured it would be easier to keep up with if it had its own place.

[Sponsors]

[rodney]

Looks nice, the stones don't look too natural bunched together in the middle though. It'll look alot better when the plants grow in.

[TigerLilly]

I have the same heater as you.

[mrbman7]

Sweet! Where is the little guy?

[rodney]

Tigerlily: I have that same heater too

[MrJG]

haha no disrespect meant with the "cheapo" heater comment. It came with my 10G hex so I just assumed that it wasn't the greatest. :P Many apologies.

[Halibass]

The little guy is at the bottom left corner in the first pic I think. How large a snail will the dwarf puffers try to eat? I have some snails that are puffer size.

[MrJG]

Good eye Halibass.

I've only had him for 3 weeks or so now and there has been a ramshorn in there about 3 times his size since day one. Everything else thats went in there though he's taken care of quite easily. He can only crunch the shells of ones that are about the size of his eye but the larger ones he just pokes his head down in the shell or grabs them by the foot and shakes them like a dog. I've been removing the shells at waterchanges. I only give him 1-2 every few days. He likes freeze dried bloodworms too, doesn't go for thawed tubifex worms tho.
I haven't been able to catch him hunting down a shrimp yet.

[Color Me Blue]

I think the rocks look great that way! Pretty darn good for round rocks too! They aren't the easiest things to scape with. Good job! Lucky DP! Don't worry...he'll even eat that big ramshorn snail. The DP will just wait til the snail sticks his head out so he grab onto him and then eat him. LOL I had 3 DPs and they decimated my snail population. Good idea to have a snail factory on the side to keep up with your DP's demand for meaty flesh. hehehe

Ps....once my DPs ate all my snails (only the MTS seemed safe-they hid well), they started to go after my shrimp....the adult ones!!! That's when I gave them away to a fellow DP enthusiasts. I didn't mind them taking a few babies (I have tons of them), but when they started to take down the large shrimp, it was time for them to go.

[MrJG]

Thanks for the feedback folks!

rodney: Yea the rocks are grouped more towards the middle but eventually I hope to have the rotala on each side grow in from the side of the tank to each rock's side. We'll see what happens though.

Color Me Blue: Thats the main reason I set up this little nano as a species only tank. Pretty much anything that goes in with him is to be considered a food source. It would be nice to get him a little buddy that he wouldn't consider dinner but I think the only good mates are Otos or Gobies (assuming there are true freshwater gobies, I still haven't been able to find that one out).

On the layout for the scape, I was aiming more for creating something visually challenging for the DP as opposed to a scene. Hopefully the dwarf sag does well and grows rampant in the middle, only time will tell. :P

[Color Me Blue]

Have you seen these gobies: Schooling Bumblebee Goby - Brachygobius aggregatus? Frank usually sells them, but it looks as though he is out for now. http://www.franksaquarium.com/nanofish.htm

[Agrippa]

Yeah, Dwarf Puffers are a terror to any invertibrate, lol. Mine are really fat off of bloodworms and the constant supply of snails that I provide them, but when they get bored, they hunt my shrimp. It was kindof shocking at first, but, hey, at least they keep the population in check.

A 2.5g is rather small to add any other fish- especially a Goby. I have several Bumblebees myself, but they are exceptionally agressive, despite their small size, so you'd be in for constant territory disputes, and, likely, a dead fish. Oh, and despite what the site says, they actually prefer brackish water, but I've kept mine in fresh without issue.

As for the layout, the more interesting things that your fish can explore, the more mentally stimulated he will remain, and, consequently, the more his overall health will improve. Keep us posted!

[MrJG]

Agrippa: Exactly what you just stated were my thoughts. Its a tiny tank even given the DP's small size, I'm really more concerned at this point with making sure the environment has enough little nooks to keep the guy busy. Because if it turns out that he gets bored and starts pacing... I guess I'll have to set up a 10G for him. :P Thankfully I haven't seen anything like this yet so maybe this might work out.

[actioncia]

I think it looks great. I had a DP before absolutely love it. Regards, jC.

[MrJG]

Things are going well with this tank, much unlike the 20g :P with only a little green algae on the glass probably due to too great of a light period. This tank has no timer so either me or the wife (whichever one wakes up latest) turns it on in the morning and then we turn it off before bedtime.
Everything seems to be growing well given the hood only has an 8w bulb. I even chucked an Erio type2 top in there for giggles last week and its growing. I'm already seeing runners from the Dwarf sag and its time to trim all of the rotala and re-plant the tops to get the bushy look going. The mystery plant is growing like mad and has tripled in size, I still need to find out what it is!!! Still leaning toward it being creeping jenny. I put a few leaves of salvina natans in the tank that came as a hitcher with some snails and its multiplying well also. I know its a pest once it gets going but its such a neat little plant.

So here's some pics that I snapped this weekend...

This one from a distance a bit to show its location on the nightstand:


And one a little closer in:


Thinking of maybe moving the mystery plant to the front left of the tank to get it out of the middle section. I had no idea it would grow so fast. And maybe moving both the ludwiga sprigs to the far right front since I kinda just plugged them in there to begin with. I would pull them out completely but I've seen 'pickle' (the DP) sleeping under the low lying leaves on several occasions.