What fish (other than bettas) don't need a filter

Dunno where you read that bettas don't "need" a filter. Of course they need a filter, but that all depends on how they are being housed and how dilegent the water change routine is. Many people keep their bettas in gallon tanks and do 100% water changes every 2nd or 3rd day.

How big is the tank, or vase or whatever, you are keeping him in?

If you are keeping or plan on keeping a betta without a filter, then you shouldn't add any more fish at all. It'll be hard enough keeping up with the correct number of waterchanges without adding more fish waste.

Roan
 
while betta's are 'air' breathers (labyrinth fish) .. they, like all aquatic organisms maintained in an aquarium, DO require a filter in order to mitigate the toxic effects of ammonia and nitrite unless you are willing to change about 100 percent of their water ever other day.
 
Actually, I know many advanced aquarists who refuse to use filters. But the average hobbyist definetly needs the filters to keep the water clean.
 
It maybe an "advanced" aquarist need not a filter because of their scheduled maintenance... it's still not adviseable. Nof filter would require alot of money (eventually), time, and cause unneeded stress on the fish.
 
Even a planted tank with only a pump to provide some water movement has a filter, the plants. Just because the tank doesn't use what is the norm of filtration doesn't mean that the tank is lacking.

Ultimately it is the hobbyist that makes the particular "filtration" work by doing maintenance. Very few systems even aproach self sustaining so ultimately it is what we do with the tank that "filters" the tank.
 
Do gouramis require better water conditions than bettas? They are both labyrinth fish. How come conditions that one would never imagine for gouramis is the standard for bettas?
 
bettas would benefit from the same care given to gouramis. Far to many bettas have a shortened life span because of lack of filtration and adequate water volume. Room to excercise is important to keep a fish healthy and a little bit of water movement encourages that excercise.

I really think that if a betta was raised, first in a tank with a sponge filter, and moved up in tank sizes and filtration like most other fish are raised then lifespans of up to 10 years would be more normal for them.

if a gill damaged weak walmart betta can live for 3 years after I purchased him, how much longer would he have lived if he had good water quality from birth?
 
I never understood why bettas are sold in little 1/4 gallon bowls and then keeped in something similar at someones home?!! :mad2: They are still a fish and need room to swim. This is a petpeave of mine, it makes me very angry. But, back to your question.
I have keeped a flame dwarf gourami in a 3.5 gallon vase for quite a while, only cause I had to and I did 100% water changes twice a week. So yes, you could keep a dwarf gourami like that, but why go through that much work when you can buy a filter for really cheap.
 
We had a lady come in the other day talking about how she had a betta in a bowl and it died... turns out she used tap water and didn't dechlorinate. She wanted more fish to amuse her little boys, so we told her either spring water or conditioned tap water and I advised her that buying a bottle of water conditioner would be cheaper in the long run but I guess he opted for spring water... my co worker sold her 4 feeder goldfish for a vase she described as probably a gallon.... :(

She asked about what fish didn't need a setup and would live in a bowl, and I implied that gouramis might since they are similiar to bettas in terms of breathing... which got me a glare from the co worker. Which made me wonder, why is it uncouth to torment gouramis when it is just fine to do the same to bettas?
 
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