I was wondering if a 2.5gallon could have any animal in it, besides shrimp or snails. Are my options less limited if I pick saltwater?
2.5 Gallon Stocking
- Thread starter powellmacaque
- Start date
a single betta works nicely in there. also a guppy could work . and idk if u can really do a salt water that small. maybe a very small damsel but i wouldnt advise it. its alot of extra work for such a small tank, getting salinity right could be a hassle.
I would hesitate even with a betta in that small a tank. Saltwater is not an option at all.
A 5 gal would be ideal for a betta, to keep more than 1 fish I would recommend 10gal minimum.
A 5 gal would be ideal for a betta, to keep more than 1 fish I would recommend 10gal minimum.
It doesn't necessarily have to be a common fish, if there are any rarer/coldwater species that would work that'd be cool too. I just don't find shrimp very interesting, although I could be convinced otherwise (I've only experienced ghost shrimp to be honest).
Here goes my pitch to convince you otherwise. 
Ghost shrimp are incredibly boring IMO, but I LOVE my other shrimp. If you are a shrimp beginner, I would start with some kind of cherry shrimp ..either some kind of red cherry shrimp, or blue pearls, something of that nature. Very colorful and fun to watch graze and scurry around the tank. In a tank that small I really wouldn't put a betta...they CAN be kept that small, but it's really better if you have at least 5g for them. Also, I don't know that a single guppy would do very well since they really are community fish. I could be wrong about that, but I would hate to keep one of mine by itself. You are really limited on the kinds of fish that would thrive in a tank that small, but the shrimp and snail limits are almost boundless. You should google and even shop around on AC for different types of shrimp and snails and see if you find anything you would actually find interesting. I wouldn't start with anything too exotic or expensive since this would be your first time with anything other than ghost shrimp, but it's easy to work your way up the shrimp difficulty ladder fast. =)
Ghost shrimp are incredibly boring IMO, but I LOVE my other shrimp. If you are a shrimp beginner, I would start with some kind of cherry shrimp ..either some kind of red cherry shrimp, or blue pearls, something of that nature. Very colorful and fun to watch graze and scurry around the tank. In a tank that small I really wouldn't put a betta...they CAN be kept that small, but it's really better if you have at least 5g for them. Also, I don't know that a single guppy would do very well since they really are community fish. I could be wrong about that, but I would hate to keep one of mine by itself. You are really limited on the kinds of fish that would thrive in a tank that small, but the shrimp and snail limits are almost boundless. You should google and even shop around on AC for different types of shrimp and snails and see if you find anything you would actually find interesting. I wouldn't start with anything too exotic or expensive since this would be your first time with anything other than ghost shrimp, but it's easy to work your way up the shrimp difficulty ladder fast. =)
Mix up saltwater. Do live sand. Live Rock. Bingo. put emerald crab or 2 and some hermits in there and boom. g2g.
