Keeping aquatic animals can be very fun and exciting, but the truth be said, keeping such pets require alot of money ( maybe hundreds of dollars) to buy fish tank.
But the good news is, you don’t have to spend huge dollars on your aquarium, you can actually start small and grow big eventually.
What am saying is, you can actually acquire a 2 gallon tank and start your fish keeping journey from there.
Related: Which water animals could live in a 1 gallon tank?
Sounds nice right? but the only problem is, 2 gallon is very small and so has many limitations like the type of aquatic animals and also the number you can be able to keep in such a tiny space.
In this article, I am going to enlighten you about the types and number of animals that could comfortably inhabit such a small tank.
So if you want to keep a low budget aquarium, the first step is to purchase the 2 gallon tank and other requirements like heater, filter and water testing kits.
Non Fish Animals that Could live in a 2 Gallon Tank
Although a 2 gallon tank is too small and too limited to have some animals, but nevertheless, there are some animals that could be house in such a small tank, they’re:
Snails:
If you want to buy a Small tank like the 2 gallon tank, and you’re wondering what you can possibly have in such a tank, then snails are good option for you if you’re a fan of Snails.
When I made mention of snails, not many number of snails anyway.
Related: Which animals can live in a 3 gallon tank?
Bigger species like the Apple, Mystery snails etc should not be Kept more than 4 in this type of tank because of their size.
We all know that snails are agents of tank purification and will eat dead and decaying plants, foods and any fungal or insects that die in the tank and might pollute and harden the water if not removed.
This is one of the reasons why keeping snails is cool.
So Snails are very perfect for 2 gallon tanks.
Nerite snails, Ramshorn Snails, Malaysian Trumps, etc are all great animals for this type of tank.
Infact any smaller specie of Snail is a good match for this type of tank, for the fact they don’t reproduce so fast and so quickly, thereby overcrowding the tank.
Even if they do, you can always keep their population in control.
Normally, I would recommend 8 non fast reproductive and small snails per 2 gallon tank, so that they won’t overcrowd the tank and become a pest.
Related: How many Koi fish should be kept in a 75 gallon tank?
Normally, every animal needs enough space in it’s environment, so if you’re to keep bigger species of snails like the mystery snail, then keep only 3-4 per 2 gallon and upgrade the tank when they grow, so that they will still be comfortable.
African dwarf and clawed frogs:
These two frogs as their names implies originated from Africa.
They are the smallest species of frogs and could get to the size of 2.5-3.5 inches.
They’re low maintenance frogs and so could make a perfect inhabitant of a 2 gallon tank.
They only need gravels, plants, heater, filter in their tank, and keeping each of these animals in pairs per 2 gallon is cool, so that they will have enough space to swim about and jump.
So if you are looking for the kind of pets to keep in your 2 gallon tank, then either the African dwarf frog or African clawed is a perfect match for your tank.
And partially change their water once a week and keep an eye on their water parameters because they could easily pollute the small tank with their poops, so water testing kits are necessary here.
Crabs:
Crabs could be housed in this type of small tank too.
Although there are many species of crab, some are smaller and some are bigger, choose the smaller types and house them in your 2 gallon tank if you’re a crab lover.
Smaller crabs like the micro Thai etc could easily be kept in a group of 5-10 in this small tank.
So as a crab lover, buying a 2 gallon tank is okay for you to house your crabs, especially smaller species of crabs.
Shrimps:
Shrimps also comes to mind when talking of aquatic animals that could inhibit a small tank like the 2 gallon tank.
Related: What aquarium pets can live in a 20 gallon tank?
Although some species of Shrimps are large, but some like the cherry Shrimps, dwarf Shrimps, ghost Shrimps etc are much smaller and could be comfortably housed in a 2 gallon tank in pairs or more.
So Shrimps are great option for this size of tank.
Seahorse:
If you’re familiar with seahorse and could be able to take care of them, then the Pygmy seahorse is a great option for you.
They could barely get up to 2 inches in size, so making them perfect for this kind of tank, especially the Pygmy seahorse.
Dwarf Crayfish:
Dwarf Crayfish is another good option for this kind of fish tank.
This specie of crayfish could only grow up to an inch or 2, making them one of the smallest aquatic animals.
So they’re perfect match for a 2 gallon tank and would do well in it.
As we all know, Crayfish don’t easily pollute water in anyway, so keeping 4 of this specie in a 2 gallon tank and having in place things like filter, live plants, caves, gravels and partially changing their water twice a month is very okay.
What Fish Can Live in a 2 Gallon Tank?
We have seen some of the suitable non fish aquatic animals that could be kept or at least be raised in a 2 gallon tank, let’s see some of the fish that could be raised or kept in this type of tank.
What fish could live in a 2 gallon tank? Small fish like Bettas, Small Barbs, Neon tetras, Cory Catfish, Danios, Black Molly, White cloud mountain minnows and Bloodfin tetras.
These are some of the fish that could be kept in a 2 gallon tank.
Although I don’t recommend keeping them in such small space permanently, as a matter of fact, they shouldn’t be there more than 8 months, as they will grow and will need a more bigger space to become comfortable.
Related: 12 animals that could be kept in a 75 gallon tank
You should only keep them in this type of tank when they are still very tender, and try to change their tank when they grow.
If you ask me, I don’t recommend keeping more than 2 fish of the same specie in this type of tank, and also I don’t recommend keeping fish of 2 different specie and type in the same tank of this type.
Conclusion
These are some of the animals you can comfortably house in your small 2 gallon tank.
Although there are more, but don’t house an adult aquatic animal In this type of tank.
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