Planted Tank, No fish, No filter: Is this bad?
- Thread starter illgore_trout
- Start date
mellowvision
Seafood Lover
for a small tank like that, you might have luck using the Tom Dive clean micro filter. It's TINY, and is essentially just a powerhead with a prefilter. I think I got mine for less than 10 bucks. and by mine, I mean the 4 or 5 I have. they're great little filters.
Azoo has a min filter also, although not sure which is a better deal. Something you should look into.
As Karl said there are no bacteria in the water column. They reside on solid surfaces.
As Karl said there are no bacteria in the water column. They reside on solid surfaces.
Back to one of your questions I think adding the Betta would be fine. I see Bettas in filterless bowls/cups all the time wouldn't this just be the same thing on a larger scale with the benefits of it being planted? Or is my logical side getting the better of me? Betta's are surface breathers so the don't need the O2 exchange in the water.
Filter-less bowls or cups are horrible long term homes for bettas. They need space, labyrinth organs or not.
I do have a filter and it has been on in the planted tank for the last four weeks. It has been there to circulate the water and to break the surface of it. It does not have a sponge or filter medium inside of it at all. Half of the originally planted material came from my year long established (but filter-less) betta tank. This includes a sizeable chunk of driftwood with java moss thriving on it and about four stems of fern. Wisteria and another plant from the LFS were also added into the planted tank.
when i add the betta, the rest of the plants in his tank would go too, a couple more ferns and some more moss.
with 1/3 weekly water changes in my filterless betta tank, will the bacteria on the plants and driftwood help at all in cycling of the new tank? should I add a filter medium immediately to help colonize the bacteria that may still be living on the driftwood?
I do have three guppies in a different tank that I could add to aid the cycling. But I'd like to keep them out of that tank since two of them are preggers.
thanks again jpappy and everyone else who has contributed. Jay973, I too wonder if the betta should be fine since they are pretty hardy. My only worry is that the plants' water has slightly too much ammonia from its own filterless cycle.
when i add the betta, the rest of the plants in his tank would go too, a couple more ferns and some more moss.
with 1/3 weekly water changes in my filterless betta tank, will the bacteria on the plants and driftwood help at all in cycling of the new tank? should I add a filter medium immediately to help colonize the bacteria that may still be living on the driftwood?
I do have three guppies in a different tank that I could add to aid the cycling. But I'd like to keep them out of that tank since two of them are preggers.
thanks again jpappy and everyone else who has contributed. Jay973, I too wonder if the betta should be fine since they are pretty hardy. My only worry is that the plants' water has slightly too much ammonia from its own filterless cycle.
Absolutely I agree seeing them kept at some LFS is heart breaking, I don't want my comment to be misunderstood I was simply asking if you really needed to cycle a tank for Betta's when treated and de-chlorinated water right out of the tap would do.
I would think illgore_trout's setup would be perfect for a Betta as long as the ammonia is .25 or less?NO?? Considering the natural environment of Betta's I believe the water conditions are extremely poor with low O2 levels in nature and I don't know about Nitrates, Ammonia, etc...
With colonizing bacteria moved from other established tanks if there isn't a bioload for the bacteria to survive it's essentially dieing back to whatever levels bioload is available.
I don't want to give bad information but that's what I've been lead to believe. Hopefully we can both be set straight illgore_trout that's why we're here...LOL
The filter medium has now been in for almost a week. A few plants and rocks from my smaller betta tank have been added. Three guppies have been swimming around quite happily, crapping all over the place and helping the cycle.
my water's parameters are fine, but the water is a bit cloudy due to shifting of the substrate amazonia. I realized I had about double the amount of substrate I needed a week and a half ago and re-scaped/did water changes, removing half of the substrate.
my water's parameters are fine, but the water is a bit cloudy due to shifting of the substrate amazonia. I realized I had about double the amount of substrate I needed a week and a half ago and re-scaped/did water changes, removing half of the substrate.
Ammonia and nitrite affect fish at trace levels, however the length of exposure will dictate which affects we see (ie gasping, inflamed gills, etc.) Bettas still need cycled tanks, and do not live in mud puddles as many are led to believe. They reside is rice paddies and other smaller bodies of water that may have less dissolved O2 than other fish can handle, but it certainly isn't sewage water. What a fish can survive in and thrive in are two very different things. Hobbiests should strive for the latter.
Also, bacteria do not die off immediately when there is no food source. In fact, they can go dormant for 4-6 months I believe until food is available.
