Total Noob Here. Fluval Spec 2 Gal Salt Questions

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dugmar

Feeder Fish
Nov 14, 2011
2
0
0
Newburyport, Mass, USA
Hi guys, first post here. Name is Doug, I live just north of Boston, Mass.

So I bought myself a Fluval Spec 2 gallon. I guess they call these tanks "nanos" or "pico" tanks.

So I wanted to have a salt tank. I didn't rush into this, I started with pre-made saltwater, put in about 1.5" of live sand on the bottom, added two large chunks of live rock. I added a couple of pieces of dead hard coral I had laying around. I added a small heater that I have a timer since it gets cooler in the room at night. Ambient temp seems to keep the tank around 78 during the day. The timer kicks the heater on around 9PM and off around 5AM and that seems to maintain a nice constant temp.

I let the tank run on its own for about a week, had the water tested at a local place and it seemed good. I added a couple of snails, they have been in there for about 6 weeks. I added what the store calls "Nano Clowns" which I understand is not really what they are, you tell me? Anyway, they seem to be doing well, 3 weeks so far and they have been pretty happy. I have been testing the water regularly with a 5 in 1 test strip kit. I check the salinity level often and it seems stable. I add distilled water when it dips down due to evaporation. So to my own credit I have been taking it very slowly, not rushing into anything.

I have no experience at all with this, but to my credit I have been taking it very slow.


But it all looks a bit bland and boring to me still. So my questions are:

1. Do I have room to add anything like a soft coral or similar?
2. I have read that this tank is far to small for an anemone, is this true?
3. Have I pushed it kinda far as it is and should I just stop where I am now?

Crummy cell phone pic of my set-up:


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This would be a pico-tank, and I hate when I have to do this, but those clowns (occillaris), will get to big for a 2 gal... they need at LEAST 10, recomended 20 though... and yes it is far to small for a anemone. It is not nessisarily to do with water quality, or feeding, it's just that salties require alot more space then fresh water fish of the same size, this is due to different evloutionary changes. For example there are fresh water fish that can survive in what you would consider a bog, dirty water, low oxygen, high levels of disolved organics, very little swimming room, where as there are no salt water fish that can do this, as they all live in resonable "perfect" water, high oxygen, clean, low levels of disolved organics, and HUGE ammounts of space.

I wont be surprized if someone disagrees with me on this. But in my opinion housing clowns in anything under a 20 will shorten their lives dramatically... infact I dont know any salt fish thats minimum tank size is under 10 gallons... even the smallest gobies like neons are recomended to have 10... but again just my opinion.

Personally what I would do with a tank this size, would be to house corals in it, sofites and polyps and stuff, and maybe a couple mini decorative shrimp, People say pico/nano coral tanks are impossible to maintain, but I don't think it's as hard as they say. As without fish/heavy feeding, the water parameters are less likely to fluctuate enough to be bad for hardy softies, or even some small polyped stonies.

Good luck with your tank!
 
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