Friends' pond -- filter or no filter?

LeahK

LeahK

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Jul 5, 2007
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My friends built a small water feature in their yard. It involves a plastic tub of about 35 gallons, which they have filled with "oxygenating plants" and guppies.

They do not plan on having a filter or air pump of any kind. I told them that they'd probably need to do frequent water changes to keep the guppies alive, because I'm imagining that this is going to be essentially the same as having an indoor aquarium with plants but no filter. But I'm not really sure--perhaps ponds work differently?

Most info I'm seeing on other websites mentions needing, if not a filter, then at least some sort of pump for water movement.

Can you give me any advice to pass on to my friends about whether this unfiltered set up will work? And if so, what kind of maintenance routine will they need?
 
I have a small pond (larger than 35 gallons though) in the back yard. There's no filter pump, or oxygenating plants in there. Just a collection of water lilies and some rosy red minnows to eat mosquito larvae. There are also several hundred toad tadpoles, but they won't be staying all summer. The only maintenance I do is to add some water from the hose when it gets a couple inches low from lack of rainfall. The fish spawn every year, but since the pond is only large enough to support a couple dozen most of the young ones are used for feeders for my aquarium fish. It has been going like that for several years now, no problems I can see.
 
I think that having some kind of water movement would be nice. Be it a filter, pump, or an air pump with a stone or sponge filter. it's kinda like having a 35g tank with nothing but oxygenating plants.

with no filter, more water changes are a must. the larger the pond the more stable the water chemistry would be.
 
toddnbecka, how many gallons is your pond? and, NorCalFish, I wonder how often they'd need to do water changes to keep that 35 healthy?

Also, will it still cycle without a filter? I guess, the bacteria will still live on the plants and other surfaces?

This all came up because I offered to give them a cycled filter pad, and that's when they said they wouldn't have a filter. Would it still be beneficial if we just squeeze my cycled filter pad into the tub of water?
 
Something a bit over 200 gallons when full, likely around 150 after a couple weeks of dry summer weather. Bacteria will live on just about every surface in the container (except the fish) and the plants will use some ammonia directly. Squeezing some used filter media in will seed the new setup, but it won't become established as quickly as it would with a filter running.
 
is it a bare bottom tub? or is there gravel. having gravel would give more space for bacteria to grow.

as to water changes, by having some sort of circulation in the tank, it helps with the exchanging of gases. im no expert at this but since it sounds like a light bio-load, water changes every week would be fine, kinda like a fish tank.
 
If they have a good enough plants to fish ratio, then it'd be ok. I have a tub outside with lots of plants for filter, no water movement, and some white cloud minnows, and they've spawned and lived with no problems. This is my second summer doing this.
 
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