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No filter tanks... how does that work???

mrsjoannh13

By mrsjoannh13,
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mrsjoannh13 Contributor

mrsjoannh13

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So I've got a new tank set up.  In terms of filtration I have an Oase Filtosmart 200 canister.  The tank is HEAVILY planted.  I added some cardinal tetras, 2 amanos and 1 nerite snail on Saturday.   Everything has been fine.  It's got cycled filter media and water tests all show safe levels (0 ammonia and nitrite, low nitrates, etc.).   So good water quality.

This morning, both amanos were dead and the tetras were gasping at the top for air.  Luckily I had an extra air stone on hand and quickly dropped that in.  Within about 10 minutes the tetras seemed fine and luckily all have survived (thus far).

Which brings me to my question..... I watch a guy on YouTube (MD Fish Tanks) and he's got a few no filter tanks - nothing in them but plants.  No filter, no airstone.... just plants.   And his shrimp and small fish do fine.   So how does this work?   Why aren't his shrimp dying and fish gasping for air?    Why isn't the Oase canister filter enough for my heavily planted tank?   I just can't figure out why a tank can run with no filtration or airstone and everything in my tank was going to die without an airstone.   

Appreciate any thoughts or ideas.  Thanks!

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Patrick_G Grand Master

Patrick_G

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I’ve experimented with a unfiltered tank and it worked well. I did let it season as a plant only tank for a while and then added even more plants before adding a few small fish. I haven’t seen any measurable toxins or any indication the fish need more oxygen. 
In your case it’s possible that you just needed to get some more oxygen into the tank. How big is the tank? Do you have some pics? 

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mrsjoannh13 Contributor

mrsjoannh13

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On 1/24/2022 at 11:28 AM, Patrick_G said:

I’ve experimented with a unfiltered tank and it worked well. I did let it season as a plant only tank for a while and then added even more plants before adding a few small fish. I haven’t seen any measurable toxins or any indication the fish need more oxygen. 
In your case it’s possible that you just needed to get some more oxygen into the tank. How big is the tank? Do you have some pics? 

Thanks for the response, @Patrick_G.  It's a 20 gallon.  Photo attached.  

IMG_1237.jpeg

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mrsjoannh13 Contributor

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On 1/24/2022 at 11:44 AM, Patrick_G said:

@mrsjoannh13 oh, I remember, It’s beautiful! It’s hard to give constructive criticism because it’s so nice 😊 
Maybe try getting a Lilly pipe that directs the filter flow at the surface. I understand that surface agitation aids in oxygenation. Letting the plant mass get bigger will also help. 

I do have the ability to tilt the outflow tube up towards the surface so I did that (in addition to keeping the airstone in there).  The fish seem fine now.  So crisis averted.  But my poor amanos 😞.   I hate losing little creatures.  

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mrsjoannh13 Contributor

mrsjoannh13

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On 1/24/2022 at 12:00 PM, Patrick_G said:

I mean jumbo size Amanos that have already been grown out before you buy them. They’re about an inch or longer. I think Aquahuna sells them mail order. 
 

Here’s a photo from the net

52AFA6A0-CEB7-4F6B-BDEE-1A7D045AA87A.jpeg.af473b07a5a23d15cd69d6b24af43280.jpeg

 

Ahh okay gotcha.  Yeah, unfortunately these were a pretty decent size.  I've had them for about a year in my old tank and moved them to the new one to munch on algae.   

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existentialmisery Apprentice

existentialmisery

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On 1/24/2022 at 12:49 PM, mrsjoannh13 said:

What jumbo shrimp do you have?  I didn't think there were any that got bigger than amanos.  

There are different species of amano in themselves — I have Australian amanos and they make the Japanese amanos look tiny! But to answer your question there are bigger freshwater shrimp than amanos... like vampire, bamboo, and banana shrimp 🙂

I feel like what happened here is your tank didn’t have time to mature — also shrimp need to be acclimated differently than fish. Did you drip acclimate them? Did you just plant it, add water, and put everything in? 

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mrsjoannh13 Contributor

mrsjoannh13

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On 1/24/2022 at 4:59 PM, Mydonkeyfish said:

Your cardinals are glowing what do you feed?

 

They are new fish so I can't take much credit for it.  I just got them 2 or 3 days ago.  So far just Tetra flakes and some frozen bloodworms.  They were super vibrant when I got them from the LFS.  

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JettsPapa Grand Master

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On 1/24/2022 at 4:44 PM, Streetwise said:

I run some no-tech tanks: tons of plants and productive soil are the keys.

I have one no-tech tank.  It's a 5.5 gallon tank on my desk at work.  It has a light, but other than that just plants (in a Black Diamond sandblasting sand substrate), four guppies, snails, and God only knows how many shrimp.  No air stone, and the light is on for 9 hours daily.  It gets 0.5ml of Easy Green once a week, or whenever I think about it.

I just added the fish last week.  When it was just snails and shrimp I'd go weeks without a water change.

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