No more filter on my 400g (experiment)

Oooh this should be very interesting. Very big tank so it should work although you do have quite the number of fish but they are small so it probably doesnt add up to much.

I'm going to try my hand at a planted tank when I finally move into my new house and get my 240 gallon.

I'm going to throw my 17 large congos in there as well as 6 medium sized clown loach, 15 large blackskirt tetras, 4 medium angels, 5 harlquin rasbora, 3 otto cats, 3 cory cats and 3 fancy guppy. For filters I will have an Eheim 2260 as well as an eheim 2213 (just as a backup incase the big one fails and I need something to move water until the big one is replaced)....
 
Still doing very well, growth is exeptional and algae production is deffinately down(I am saying this from how quickly algae grows on the front glass).
The fish are doing great, multible species have breed since taking the filter off. I have had 3 fish die out of about 300, which I think is due to old age combined with too much Co2 for a week(Faulty valve, has been replaced).

Water clarity is great, and I have not vacumed since taking the filter off.
There is a lot off debris in the sump but I want to leave it in there for the potential nutrients they possess. I have done one water change of 30% which was done in the first week and other than that toping off the evaporation weekly(I am not doing water changes on purpose to see the effects it will have on everything in the tank).
 
I've had a filterless 10 gallon for 3 years now.

I've had no problems and let the plants help filter.

Currently the plant load is down (just java fern) but my readings are where they should be.

I've never had disease in this tank either.
 
I believe that I am going to try this with my 30g. I have only 1 pleco, about 4 1/2 inches and 7 trimacs. Right now the larges is almost 3" and the smallest is only 2". I do have some plants, one of the water lilly bulbs that come in a pack of two or three at wal-mart for $2.97. I also have quite a bit of Hornwort so that should aid in filtration. I've never been one to test water quality for ph, nitrites, nitrates or anything like that so maybe I should start.
 
I'm doing something similiar in my 38g, the filter only runs 1-2 hrs a day soley to get food to all levels of the tank for all the fish. I have found my clarity go up (I know this is weird, but hey...). I did this more for my plants though as less water movement = more CO2 during the day.
 
hello ppl, just like to share

i have a pond w/ no filter as well..
i also don't do gravel vac

only equipped with 2 airstones just to stir up the surface a bit..
its been running for more than 4 mos. now, with 6 3-4" female swordtails (lost their male companion due to unknown reasons).. and about a hundred or more swordtail fry (some of w/c are not actually fry anymore nearly 2")

its planted with lots of cabomba and some aquatic weeds.. and some grass type aquatic plants... don't know what they are though..

there are some algae growing on rocks but the water has always been crystal clear

but i haven't tried doing without H2O changes..
m pretty scared..

so keep us informed about ur experiment ashdavid

btw i have the same type of plants with my other tanks (w/ filters) and they grow too fast here in the pond...
have to prune weekly to avoid having the surface covered..
the cuttings get planted in my other tanks or get donated to some of the tanks of my friends who wants them

:dive2:

try to uproot a plant and smell its roots.. hehe what do u smell? pls share thanks :duh:
 
You have a small pond there and with moving water you should be fine. One would think that you have created a natural pond and as anyone knows a pond in the wild has no filters except for the plants. Let us know how it works :)
 
That is just too cool, I hope it continues to work. I may try with one of my tanks.
180g Oscar Tank
75g Midas Cichlid tank
35g Severum Tank
29g Severum Breeding Tank
37g Saltwater
 
It is a pretty game experiment, but then again where is the fun in doing things the conventional way

Actually I'd expect an improvement in your main tank, and this is hardly unconventional given how many series salt water reefers don't use sumps nor mechanical filters.

I've used sumps on my salt tanks, but only for utility and to hide gear like skimmers, etc. They are otherwise not good for much else other than increasing water evaporation (bad), and providing another link in the chain to worry about. I'd much rather have biological filtration occur in my main tank anyways.

I have mixed opinions on mechanical filtration. While it does serve some importance to remove suspended debris in the water column, it's still mostly aethestic. A/C loses most of it's highest micron filtering efficiency within days of being placed in an established tank and over a period of weeks becomes nothing more than a nice place for nitrobacter and nitrosomonus to grow on.

A properly run tank with good circulation and adequate biological breakdown mechanisms should be pretty darn clear on it's own.

CO2 does wonders, doesn't it :-)
 
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