Can I turn off my filter?

Elvis

I have a 29 G tank and it's Medium planted. I recently put in the fish stock which is:
9 neon tetras
3 Otos
1 gourami

It's pretty lightly stocked so I was wondering if I could turn off my filter and have the plants filter? Would my plants get more nutrients that way too?
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leogtr

hi there,

why do you want to turn off your filter??? you might need a heavily planted tank in order to have no filtration.

how long has your tank been established?

Mikaila31

that depends entirely on the nutrient uptake in the tank and the nutrient input, so this is not an easy question to answer. Even if your tank is fine running filterless, you still need some form of water movement. I could list a number of reasons why you need water movement, but one of the things water movement does that nothing else can is evenly heat the tank. I beleive it is possible to run a stagnant tank, but I doubt your tank is in a warm enough environment and it is quite risky with the stock you have. Running without a filter is certainly possible with planted tanks, but you must be very careful when doing this. I run one filterless tank and another tank is only filtered when I am awake.

Lupin

My answer is a direct no.

SinCrisis

plants and fish need current as well, so unless you have a powerhead, turning off the filter (only source fo current for many tanks) would be bad.

zof

It all depends on how you define medium planted too, it would be helpful to see a picture and know what kind of plants you have in your tank. All of my tanks run at close to 0 nitrates due to the high level of plants and low level of stocking, I even go two weeks between water changes because I have become lazy, but I still run sponge filters for the simple fact of at least they move the water around a little, but its not uncommon for the top of the water to be 4 degrees warmer then the bottom of my tanks, the fish don't seem to mind much. As for biological/plant filtration you should be fine if it is planted well enough.

Mikaila31

IMO plants don't need current. I run a completely stagnant 1 gallon and it is often my clearest happiest lil' puddle ever. Cherry shrimp in there are always happy too.

I would not be surprised if your tank can run filterless. My 15 gallon is pretty heavily planted and has just as many fish in it. It uses just a powerhead to circulate water. I have been thinking of replacing it with a lower powered one too as it seems to be making too much current IMO.

Elvis

This might help here is a thread on the tank and the most recent pictures Soon to be planted 29 gallon =)

It would be a nice asset if I could turn off my filter because the tank is in my room so when the water evaporates the filter gets a little too loud for my liking sometimes.

The tank has been established for a good month and some now.

Mikaila31

What is the growth rate like?

Also do you still get ammonia out of tap water?

Elvis

Its growing pretty decently I would say, you could look at the thread and compare dates to give you a better idea. I can't really describe growth rate.

The last time I checked my tap water it DID have a little bit of ammonia, it probably still does but I haven't checked it for a while.