# My Unexpected 2.5g NPT



## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

On Thursday, my Dad had bought me a couple of common guppies(that's what they were called in the store) and two male Fancy guppies because I had a 2.5g tank that was just lying around not being used and that was just eating him alive. I had to take the common guppies back because they kept nipping the tailfin of the yellow male so I now just have the two male fancy guppies.

On Friday, I had went out to get a lamp, gravel and plants so I could set up the tank for them. Here's what I'm using all and of course, pictures!

Equipment

Hagen Mini Elite filter
Hagen 25w Elite Mini Submersible Heater
Fluorescent desk lamp

Plants and substrate

Hagen GEO system gravel
President's Choice Black Earth topsoil
H. difformis (both planted and floating)
Brown Cryptocoryne wendtii
Hornwort

There's another plant I have but there wasn't a name in the store for it so hopefully, someone can tell me what it is.

Inhabitants

1 blue male fancy guppy
1 yellow male fancy guppy
5 pond snails
2 Pomacea bridgesii snails
2 Zebra Nerites

The Brigs and Nerites are Jake's snails and are only staying in there temporarily until he gets better. 

Here are the pictures. There's not many and they aren't that great in quality but you can still see everything rather well.

*Just the tank.*










*Here's the tank and the lamp.*










*Here's the unknown plant. Anyone know what it is? It's the thin stemmed plant with the golden coloring to its leaves.*










*Here are my two guppies. It's difficult to get a good picture of them since they are always on the go!*


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## owenj (Jan 8, 2008)

Nice little tank you got there! The unknown plant looks kind of like my Ludwigia repens x arcuata.
~Jaime


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Thanks, Jaime. I looked up the plant you mentioned on the Tropica site and it does look a lot like the one I have.


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## Revernance (Aug 20, 2007)

What a cool dad! My dad has no interest in my aquarium  although my mom loves it. 
I've never tried a 25 watt heater in a 2.5 gal before. Maybe I should put a heater next time winter comes around. heeeh
I had a plant similar to what you're trying to identify. It started shedding all of its leaves after about half a month. If it does that, then it's probably an emersed form of rotala. If not, then i'm wrong 

I hope your 2.5 comes out looking nice. Your 10 gal looks awesome now.


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## mommyeireanne (Oct 24, 2007)

I'm gonna throw this in, maybe more confusion, but I hope its helpful: If the plant is a firmer flesh and reddish underside I'd say it's the Ludwigia (narrow leaf? is that the same as above?) But I think if it's a softer fleshed plant yellow-green with no red, it may be the Hygrophila polysperma I have. The Ludwigia's leaves curve down, the Hygo's don't, and the H. polysperma needs frequent trimming, both could pop out and get air CO2 as an emergent. 
Looks like a great little tank! I really like the light, too.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Revernance said:


> What a cool dad! My dad has no interest in my aquarium  although my mom loves it.
> I've never tried a 25 watt heater in a 2.5 gal before. Maybe I should put a heater next time winter comes around. heeeh
> I had a plant similar to what you're trying to identify. It started shedding all of its leaves after about half a month. If it does that, then it's probably an emersed form of rotala. If not, then i'm wrong
> 
> I hope your 2.5 comes out looking nice. Your 10 gal looks awesome now.


Thanks! My Dad loves aquariums but he just doesn't know how to look after them. lol

25 watt heaters are made for tanks up to 5 gallons. I've never had any problems with that heater in a tank of that size. 

I didn't know that people actually checked out Jake's home! Some of the Wisteria has been trimmed down but they are starting to fill in again and I plan on adding some Java ferns in there in hopes that they get bushy.



mommyeireanne said:


> I'm gonna throw this in, maybe more confusion, but I hope its helpful: If the plant is a firmer flesh and reddish underside I'd say it's the Ludwigia (narrow leaf? is that the same as above?) But I think if it's a softer fleshed plant yellow-green with no red, it may be the Hygrophila polysperma I have. The Ludwigia's leaves curve down, the Hygo's don't, and the H. polysperma needs frequent trimming, both could pop out and get air CO2 as an emergent.
> Looks like a great little tank! I really like the light, too.


I had just checked the plant and it's only a yellow-green color. I have ludwigia repens in my 10g and they have a red underside whereas the ones in the smaller tank don't so it must be H. polysperma. That's cool since that's a plant I've been wanting now for quite sometime! Thanks for pointing out the differences for me!

Btw, the bulb that came with the lamp is 9 watts. 9 watts is the highest amount that can be added to that lamp. Is that too much for a tank of this size? It'll probably be getting no direct sunlight because of where it's located but it does get a lot of indirect sunlight.


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## newbie314 (Mar 2, 2007)

Foster and Smith have a mini-heater for small aquariums
Hard set to 76oF.
I assume it is smaller than a 25W heater.
Although I think the problem is trying to find such a small heater in the stores.



Revernance said:


> What a cool dad! My dad has no interest in my aquarium  although my mom loves it.
> I've never tried a 25 watt heater in a 2.5 gal before. Maybe I should put a heater next time winter comes around. heeeh
> I had a plant similar to what you're trying to identify. It started shedding all of its leaves after about half a month. If it does that, then it's probably an emersed form of rotala. If not, then i'm wrong
> 
> I hope your 2.5 comes out looking nice. Your 10 gal looks awesome now.


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## Revernance (Aug 20, 2007)

ahhahaha lol. 
oh! i remember now! One of my Tetra heater is made for 2-10 gal. 

That dude Jake, what a lucky betta. 

If you want to take a good picture of a fast fish, study the fish swimming pattern for a sec. after that you'll be able to predict where the fish will swim to and snap a pic just before it gets to the area. works for me.


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## mommyeireanne (Oct 24, 2007)

I am trying to keep to the 1-2 watt guide, but I know others have run more. Maybe someone will chime in. I guess the biggest thing is "cool white" light. If your tank doesn't seem to do well with this much you could check a hardware store for different wattages with the same type of base(where it attaches).


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Ugh! I have some stupid nitrites in my tank! I had this problem when I first set up Jake's home but at that time, I could get plants like Water Lettuce(which would be way too big for this tank) and that vile Duckweed for it which soaked it up in no time but I can't even find that because it's considered as a pond plant and it won't be sold until May!

Aside from water changes, which is something I've been doing, can anyone recommend anything else I can do to get rid of these blasted nitrites?



Revernance said:


> ahhahaha lol.
> oh! i remember now! One of my Tetra heater is made for 2-10 gal.
> 
> That dude Jake, what a lucky betta.
> ...


I like to spoil my pets. 

I'll do that. Hopefully I can get a better picture of them to post.



mommyeireanne said:


> I am trying to keep to the 1-2 watt guide, but I know others have run more. Maybe someone will chime in. I guess the biggest thing is "cool white" light. If your tank doesn't seem to do well with this much you could check a hardware store for different wattages with the same type of base(where it attaches).


I'll just keep an eye on the tank then, like you suggested. Maybe it'll be fine since it's not getting any direct sunlight.


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## fjf888 (Dec 4, 2007)

Your mystery plant could be Rotala Indica or Rotala Rotundifolia. You could get some water sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides) to help with the nitrites. It did quite well in my non-co2 tank and would probably quickly cover a good part of your 2.5g.

Salt may be helpful for the fish as well, although probably not terribly good for the plants.

Good luck


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

fjf888 said:


> Your mystery plant could be Rotala Indica or Rotala Rotundifolia. You could get some water sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides) to help with the nitrites. It did quite well in my non-co2 tank and would probably quickly cover a good part of your 2.5g.
> 
> Salt may be helpful for the fish as well, although probably not terribly good for the plants.
> 
> Good luck


I just checked up on that plant and it could also be that as well. I guess I'll just have to let it grow some more to find out.

As for the Water Sprite, I don't think I'd be able to find that around here. It's also considered as a pond plant so it won't be sold in garden stores until May, unfortunately. I did test my water today and I'm please to say that my nitrites did go down quite a bit! I'll be doing another small water change on the tank today to help it along some more.

I do have aquarium salt here but I just don't want to take the chance of damaging the plants by adding it.


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## Revernance (Aug 20, 2007)

For nitrites, I found that generally water changes are good, BUT whatever nitrite you take out during the water change will just come back again the next day. 
Here are a few things you can do (I know that you know already know this, but just a friendly reminder)  
1) Add some filter media, and gravel from an existing tank. 
2) Get switch some easy to move plants from an existing tank to your new tank (plants usually have a healthy colony of bacteria on them) The more plants you can transfer, the better.
3) By doing a bit of a water change while you add existing plants from an existing tank, you give the 2.5 gallon a chance to catch up with the nitrite. 

Just have patience. You did well on Jake's tank, so this tank will come around in no time.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Revernance said:


> For nitrites, I found that generally water changes are good, BUT whatever nitrite you take out during the water change will just come back again the next day.
> Here are a few things you can do (I know that you know already know this, but just a friendly reminder)
> 1) Add some filter media, and gravel from an existing tank.
> 2) Get switch some easy to move plants from an existing tank to your new tank (plants usually have a healthy colony of bacteria on them) The more plants you can transfer, the better.
> ...


The water changes seem to be helping. The nitrites are almost gone now. 

I'd be more then happy to add one of Jake's plants into the tank but I'm currently treating him for some kind of parasite so I don't want to take the chance of them getting sick from the plant from Jake's home. Jake's tank is the only other aquarium I have so I guess I'm just going to have to wait for the plants that are already in there to start removing them as well as doing small water changes.


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