nano water change question...and others

[ronkent]

I recently bought a 2.5 mini-bow front tank and want to set up a nano. I read where it would be best if i used the water out of my 55 reef to start it up. I guess my question is that instead of using new water for a water change would it be better to take lets say 2 cups of water out of the nano and swap it with 2 cups of water from the reef tank everyother day? I would think that would be the easiest way to keep the parameters stable as my 55 stays prettu stable and 'pristine'. Also what would you suggest for livestock? I havent a clue whether i should keep a fish in a 2.5 gallon or not. Seems kinda cruel to me. Any suggestions? I would like to keep some shrooms and some zoos in it as well. Any cool inverts that would be better than a fish(no i dont want a mantis...i dun wanna buy snails specifically for it). I dunno...just looking for some input here.

[weimluv1]

you're right about not keeping a fish in a 2.5 minibow.

You should try the 55g tank water swap, just check the 2.5g water params and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, maybe try swapping with fresh saltwater and the 55g water every other time.

Even though the tank is small, i'd still think about getting 2-3 snails for it.

My honest opinion would be to go with corals only in a tank so small. Any inverts you put in there will still need to be fed, very easily causing high nitrates and possibly phophates.