In a planted tank, I don’t see the difference between using filter and not. It doesn’t make much sense to me, as long as there’s enough oxygen, beneficial bacteria should be enough?
What’s the point of using filter?
- Thread starter Barry Tetra
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It's a big question. Beneficial bacteria and archaea are just one part of how an aquarium works. It's so easy to test water with our little kits that they sometimes skew our perceptions and make us think that's all we're dealing with.
Plants will do the job if you are content with 2cm of slow moving fish per 30 litres or so. In a stagnant natural water body, the ratio of fish to water is far less than that.
A well sized filter adds a lot to the bacterial population. It moves water. This distributes oxygen, and for aquarists in temperate and northern zones, distributes warmer water from heaters. That may not be an issue in Thailand. It is in Canada.
I've never gone fishing for anabantoids, but I have caught some in Central Africa, along with Cichlids, barbs, killies, tetras, mormyrids and catfish. I've caught livebearers in Central America, darters and cyprinids around here - and all of those fish were in moving water. Sometimes the water was so fast it almost knocked me off my feet.
We caught killies in stagnant ponds, but they already had flavibacter infections apparent, from the temporary dry season dying of their ponds. They were in a degraded habitat, trying to stay alive until the rains turned their ponds into flowing streams again. Filters move water, and in some tanks, that's their primary function.
We like to have fish in our tanks - often more fish than is naturally reasonable. There are fish who don't need filters, but they tend to be slow moving air breathers like Betta splendens, or micro-fish that don't make large oxygen or cycle demands. The early aquarium hobby didn't have filtration, but it also had very few species able to survive in tanks. You can limit your possibilities if you wish. But filtration is generally water movement, and that moves oxygen and limits heat stratification, while providing a radically larger substrate for beneficial micro-organisms to live in.
Unfiltered planted aquariums have their place in the hobby, but they are specialist tanks for a limited number of species, and not a place the average aquarist finds interesting.
Plants will do the job if you are content with 2cm of slow moving fish per 30 litres or so. In a stagnant natural water body, the ratio of fish to water is far less than that.
A well sized filter adds a lot to the bacterial population. It moves water. This distributes oxygen, and for aquarists in temperate and northern zones, distributes warmer water from heaters. That may not be an issue in Thailand. It is in Canada.
I've never gone fishing for anabantoids, but I have caught some in Central Africa, along with Cichlids, barbs, killies, tetras, mormyrids and catfish. I've caught livebearers in Central America, darters and cyprinids around here - and all of those fish were in moving water. Sometimes the water was so fast it almost knocked me off my feet.
We caught killies in stagnant ponds, but they already had flavibacter infections apparent, from the temporary dry season dying of their ponds. They were in a degraded habitat, trying to stay alive until the rains turned their ponds into flowing streams again. Filters move water, and in some tanks, that's their primary function.
We like to have fish in our tanks - often more fish than is naturally reasonable. There are fish who don't need filters, but they tend to be slow moving air breathers like Betta splendens, or micro-fish that don't make large oxygen or cycle demands. The early aquarium hobby didn't have filtration, but it also had very few species able to survive in tanks. You can limit your possibilities if you wish. But filtration is generally water movement, and that moves oxygen and limits heat stratification, while providing a radically larger substrate for beneficial micro-organisms to live in.
Unfiltered planted aquariums have their place in the hobby, but they are specialist tanks for a limited number of species, and not a place the average aquarist finds interesting.
my filters ( multiple ) are pretty much in heavily planted tanks, they do 2 things, more than just house beneficial bacteria, they flow a lot of water ( mine are mostly river tanks ) , and they provide an easy collection point for excess mulm, to remove from the tanks on occasion... also most of my tanks are fairly heavily stocked with fish... a couple calm water fish would probably be fine in in a cycled planted tank
Filters allow people to keep more fish in a smaller environment and not have to worry about losing them to ammonia poisoning. A well planted tank with a few small fish works well but most people want more than a couple of small fish in their tank.
That depends on the bio load in the tank itself. I do have to admit that I've kept two tanks on the window sill without any mechanical filtration for three years without any problems. The tank was filled with substrate and Myriophyllum plants. I've kept N-class endlers in there which enjoyed being in there. The only thing I did was just adding water when some was evaporated (those were open tanks).
I also have a paludarium without a mechanical filtration. I have colombian wild guppies in there with rocks, plants and gravel. Nothing more... And this paludarium is going on for years.
In both cases, those vivaria were in good balance. And it's also a cheap way to keep your fish well. But you need to know what you're doing...!
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OP
The reason I make this thread is because there are many tadpoles in my plants bucket, so high bioload. The system seems to already at its balance and I figure that there is no need for filter both in aquarium and pond.
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