Keeping Fish No Filter No Heater?

[catcrazy37]

Hello, let me describe the setup.
10 gallon
-airstone
-cycled tank water from another tank + dechlorinated water
-a few strands of hornwort
-ambient house temp of 68-70 degrees C

With regular cleaning, feeding, and water changes, is this not feasible, especially for a coldwater fish? Am I missing anything obvious?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Back in the fold]

What you are describing is called a still tank. It most definitely can be done. The addition of an air stone makes it all the better. Try it with White Clouds, Zebra Danios or Paradise Fish. These can hack lower temperatures especially the Paradise Fish which may even spawn. This is the way an aquarium was commonly set up and maintained 80 years ago and people were obviously successful or we would not be where we are today. Good luck !

 

[ShinySideUp]

Not Zebra Danios, they require a long tank as they are very fast swimmers. Keeping them in a 10 gallon tank would be the equivalent of you living in your bathroom full-time.

 

[Essjay]

I wouldn't keep those fish in a 10 gallon tank though.

Water from another tank will do nothing to help, but a lot of hornwort will help. Any plant will help but you do need more than a few strands

 

[catcrazy37]

Won't the water from the other tank include beneficial bacteria?

 

[Retired Viking]

If you move the gravel you would have some of the beneficial bacteria or to be sure buy a bottle of Tetra SafeStart Plus and add it to your tank. My bother in law has a couple of tanks with gold fish in them with no heater or filter only an air stone and he does water changes every week. He has had them for years.

 

[Back in the fold]

Won't the water from the other tank include beneficial bacteria?

Yes. It will. If you can, find yourself a copy of a very old book by Dr. William T. Innes called Exotic Aquarium Fishes. All your questions will be answered. The basics of fish / aquarium keeping have not changed ever. Zebra Danios are active, yes, but they will perfectly fine in a ten gallon. Many moons ago in the halcyon days of my youth (1965) I had tons of fish in my little five gallon aquarium. That five gallon gave me much pleasure and none of my fish were abused or sick ever. Usually I just traded with friends who had aquariums when I wanted a different fish. Fish were a big deal in those days and lots of kids had fish tanks. Modern thinking would have you believe you need a 1000 gallon tank for three small fish. Okay, I'm exaggerating but there is a different mindset now. That new thinking isn't always right. Do what you want but don't torture your fish. Enjoy the aquarium that you want to have. Don't worry about what the nay sayers say.

 

[Byron]

William T. Innes lived from 1874 to 1969. We fortunately have advanced scientifically from what he and others understood back then. Keeping Zebra Danios in a 10g tank is cruelty to the fish because it denies them the space they require to actively swim as nature intended for the species. This is programmed into the fish species' DNA. Dr. Innes died before anyone knew about DNA and what it signifies for every species. Now that we are learning these things, we can provide significantly better environments for our fish, and that should be every aquarist's goal.

There is no benefit to using old tank water in a new aquarium. Bacteria do not live floating in the water, they appear on and colonize surfaces covered by water, and they are very sticky so they adhere quite well. You cannot dislodge them by rinsing, it takes serious scrubbing. Using the old tank water however might bring over a lot of other stuff that you do not want in the new tank.

To the initial questions in post #1...

It is certainly feasible to have a healthy aquarium without a filter. And without a heater depending upon the fish species and ambient room temperature. This brings us to the tank size...a 10g is pretty small. I had one running for more than a year with no filter and no light; it had a heater. Live plants including floating. A shoal of 10-11 Corydoras pygmaeus and a shoal of 12 Boraras brigittae. Malaysian Livebearing snails. I changed 60% of the water every week the same as I do in all my tanks. There are very few small fish that are temperate or cool water and would manage in a 10g tank.

 

[Back in the fold]

@Byron Just so you know. Dr. Innes is my hero. His book was my teacher and I have always hung on his every word. I believe I will now go have myself a good cry. Thank you.

 

[Byron]

@Byron Just so you know. Dr. Innes is my hero. His book was my teacher and I have always hung on his every word. I believe I will now go have myself a good cry. Thank you.

Knowledge increases with time, especially when we are dealing with a completely scientific hobby. We no longer bleed people to "cure" this or that, but at one time it was standard. And we cannot fault those who advocated such treatments, because that was the knowledge of the day and they were at the forefront.

 

[Back in the fold]

Ignore him Padawan

 

[JuiceBox52]

I have a 10 gallon filterless tank. It has a heater and air stone tho.

 

[Carolyn N]

Fish Herder, I am with you on Wm T. Ennes. His book was my first. Many years before that, when I was 10 years old, I had a 3 gal. (I am guessing size) aquarium with floating plants, Hornwort and Anacharis. I had no heater, no air stone, just still water. I never had any problems. Had the tank and large fish bowl many years. Guppies in the tank, goldfish in the bowl. They sat on a shelf in a north facing window in Southern Calif., USA.

 

[howard_hopkinson]

Won't the water from the other tank include beneficial bacteria?

No it won't. The beneficial bacteria are mostly to be found on the surfaces of the aquarium such as the glass, decorations, plants and substrate and of course in the filter media and not in the water column itself.

 

[Back in the fold]

Fish Herder, I am with you on Wm T. Ennes. His book was my first. Many years before that, when I was 10 years old, I had a 3 gal. (I am guessing size) aquarium with floating plants, Hornwort and Anacharis. I had no heater, no air stone, just still water. I never had any problems. Had the tank and large fish bowl many years. Guppies in the tank, goldfish in the bowl. They sat on a shelf in a north facing window in Southern Calif., USA.

The basics of the hobby have never changed and they never will. Certainly there are new discoveries about fish and their needs. Only a fool would deny that. I once had a steel framed 3 gallon tank I kept Zebra Danios in and they spawned in there. How in the world did that ever happen ? Now let me really go out on a limb here and probably insert my foot inextricably into my mouth. Is our aquarium hobby any more humane than catching butterflies and pinning them to cardboard ? Is taking fish out of the wild and imprisoning them in a glass box kind or humane ? I want a Parakeet but I hate the thought of caging a bird. Birds should fly free. Who knows what fish think but I can't help but wonder if they could make TV shows for themselves, would a fish Rod Serling spin a macabre tale of life in an aquarium ?