[Rachel]

I wasn't sure where to post this question so I will post it here, too. Does anyone know how long freshwater fish in a 29 gallon tank can survive without a filter?

 

[Cichlid lover]

what type of fish

 

[ktreffin]

Just out of curiousity why? A 29 gallon tank without a filter sounds like it could pose a whole bunch of problems. My two main concerns would be as follows:

1)Aeration and water movement. A filter does both. By breaking the water surface tension a filter allows oxygen to enter the water column. I would think that the water would become very stagnant if it is allowed to sit for too long. How long is too long? I don't really know. I would imagine that it would depend on the amount of fish in the tank, and the bioload that is present. I would venture to say that if you were commited to doing frequent (and I would think very frequent) water changes than the stagnicity (if that's a word) could be avoided.

2) How else would cleaning and filtration be accomplished? Obviously without a filter I would think that if frequent water changes are not done, then matter would accumulate much quicker with out the presence of a filter. I am not saying that a filter eliminates matter from the tank, however it does collect it, making cleaning, and subsequent removal easier.

I guess I really haven't answered your question directly, but I hope you can see that I would really stress the importance of a filter, and the benefits of one, no matter what type of fish are present. Hope this helps.

Ken

 

[Lupin]

A tank without filter is considered aquaristically "dead". As ktreffin said, this will contribute to the stagnant water(no oxygen is ever produced) and accumulation of fish wastes.

That tank will only housed a betta but I wouldn't allow even a betta to live in an environment without a filter.