Why is it difficult? Mine are easy.

Small tanks are much less forgiving. Anything that changes, changes a lot
faster. Evaporation alone can be PITA with a small tank.

But it's a lot of work. You have to choose plants and fish very carefully.

You also need to do so in a large tank.

Not *as* carefully. Many common plants and fish simply won't fit in a tiny
tank. You have a lot more freedom with a larger tank. He wants to keep
angelfish. That is not going to work with a 2.5 gallon tank.

I'm sorry, I don't agree. Unless you have a very tall 2.5 gallon tank,
you need less light in shallow aquaria. I grow low light plants and
medium light stem plants with 8 watts to 6 gallons.

You have over a watt per gallon. That's plenty for low-light plants,
especially given the short height of a small tank. Where the higher lighting
requirements come in are for high-tech, high-light, Amano-style tanks. Which
is what he seemed to want. (He said he wanted to be able to grow anything he
wanted.)

I have found that mini tanks are just as 'forgiving' as my old 75 and 45
gallon tanks.

I have not found that to be the case. I kept a 5 gallon tank for awhile, but
eventually gave it away. It was just too much work.

Many people inject c02 in 2.5 gallons!

I didn't say otherwise. However, it's more difficult to keep the pH stable in
a small tank.

I simply
have not seen any proof that smaller tanks that are maintained well and
with intelligence are any harder then a big tank.

The key words being "well and with intelligence." All I said was that I don't
recommend them for a beginner.

You sound as if you're quite experienced with tanks of all sizes. But this
person is a beginner. Remember what it's like to be a beginner? You buy fish
and plants and chemicals you see at the pet store, just because they look cool,
and put them all in your tank. You do water changes religiously for the first
month or two, then might go months without doing one. You buy more fish than
the tank can reasonably support, just because you have to have them. Etc. The
larger a tank is, the more forgiving it is of beginner mistakes, simply because
it's a larger reservoir. Water quality can't change as fast in a large
reservoir as in a small one, and so larger tanks will "absorb" mistakes that
would overwhelm a small tank.

I've seen many small tanks that are just gorgoeus. Even reef tanks. But for
beginners, the conventional wisdom is to get as large a tank as you have room
for and can afford, and IME, it's very good advice.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/