Nature's Balance: How And Why Aquarium Filters Aren't Always Necessary

You need shrimp in your tank, it would complete your ecosystem.

Twin cities!

cool video. what's your ammonia level?

I just saw a rabbit running around on the floor. Ahhh. great video

dude. you did 2 50% waters changes..thats not 100%..lol. Good video though.

Your room is hooman tank. 😃

thanks to channels like yours i managed to somehow get a large vase to work for guppy fry with basically no water changes. Only added a small piece of Mopani wood (wood lowers the ph is all i know) and having a huge thick carpet of duckweed on the surface appears to help with all the other factors. So the fish have nice, stable, and a bit tan water. A tank doesn't need much to be self-sustained but fishkeeping itself is a very complex thing where lots can go wrong.

I don't really think it's "impossible to know", I've been following the channel Father Fish and he seems to know. In the guppy mansion tank, you have deep substrate, but it isn't JUST deep, it's layered up with what looks like dirt under the sand, creating an anaerobic area that REMOVES nitrates from the tank itself. The other tanks that don't have this specific condition have very little way to remove the nitrates, aquarium plants do use nitrates, but they'll actually use Ammonia first, meaning they're basically skipping out on the nitrates.

I believe you put some inaccurate and dangerous informarion our there on the effect of nitrite. Plus when it is present in an aquarium the balance is off, for beginners this is when to worry and start doing water changes and regulars intervals to keep it low and wait for the cycle to pick back up...

“All 3 of the nitrogen species” this guy has no clue. Why is there any nitrite in his tanks at all? Those Aquarium Co-op strips are notoriously bad at testing too, but he’s pushing them for his buddy. It’s all about the cash for these influencers.

I let the fish store test my water, if my wife ever found out how easy and cheap it is to test your own water my supply of new fish would be pretty much cut off....

What are the floating plants that cover the top of most of your tanks called?

I watched it using Indonesian subtitles, I think I would understand better if you explained it

Do I need to feed my mollies...? Because I found a lot of microfauna in the aquarium

Love your stuff but this was a hard video to stick with, kind of all over the place.

Aquariums throw surprises at ya no matter how experienced ya are or how long ya been keeping fish. It's always interesting to see something you've never experienced before. Test strips are the one staple supply nobody should be without.
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All the cichlid owners want to know how to do a no filter?

2x 50% water change is 75% in total. Not comparable with a 100% change ;)

Man i m jealous, how do you keep all those plants? I have green algae growing on the dying leaves of my floating plants AND all over the roots of the floating plants. I tried hydrogen peroxide and it also damaged my floating plants, they seem more fragile. I only use an 11W LED on a 5 gallon for 10 hours which is absolutely nothing for floating plants. Any1 has a pro tip? 😅🥲🤪

Someone on the coop forums did a little experiment and found that lucky bamboo pulls more nitrate than pothos. It was very interesting. I myself played around with this and ended up needing to remove some of the lucky bamboo because my other plants were suffering and I just couldn't keep decent nitrate levels so I think they do indeed soak up nitrates.

An info packed video. Thank you. 😏

I have a 55 gallon with a 40 gallon filter that barely works. It could definitely run no filter

What's your gamer tag?

Quite a surprise how your betta tank's nitrate is high. It seems very little bioload. I am sure you didn't over feed. Do you have any explanation on this?

I have 15 gal no filter planted tank and its perfectly running for 2 years I have guppies and german blue ram on it..

VERY INTERESTING :)
THANK YOU FOR THE EFORT :)
THANK YOU FOR SHARING :)

THANK YOU FROM ISRAEL :)

i dont have a filter but I vacuum every 3-4days and I have an airstone

Great video Mike! I have been a no filter girl for 20+ years, largest no filter is a 125gal. It does have two air stones. I don't do any water changes, just top off. Low bioload, heavily planted...easiest tank in the world! I also have two macroalgae salt water tanks, also no filter, sump or skimmer, lots of macros, low bioload, 20% water change a week. I also have two outdoor, year around ponds, no filters and no air stones. I'm also an aquarium co-op test strip user, love them! Easygreen also👍

Hey Mike, watched this video and I noticed your test strip was a light violet for GH which isn't on the chart. I get the same on my water. Do you notice any issues with neocaridina and java moss? I can't grow moss well and have a low survival rate on shrimplets. My strip readings are near identical with yours. Thanks.....Mike

Why can't a test strip include ammonia? We can put a man on the moon, but no ammonia test strip? As for the aquarium coop test strips, I was getting some false super high nitrate readings and false nitrite readings when compared to the API test kit readings. That's not cool. I would say use all these test strips for a general (possibly false) understanding, not a precise one. In other words, compare any out-of-range reading on a test strip to a more accurate test.

I don’t have any no filter tanks. I even put a nano sponge filter on the 2g Wabi Kusa. I do have a couple tanks that don’t need water changes often though.

Mike: What is that like 8 inches? Actually it's only 3. Weird.

Me: suspicious


😂😂😂

I have HUGE pothos & other plants growing up a lattice out of my guppy aquarium. I highly recommend you do this! I just got my first fenestrated pothos leaf. I am stoked! Do it! Do it! Do it!

Awesome video, really appreciated it, thank you.

Very impressed 👏

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I’m no scientist but I e always read anywhere , even in books that nitrite is the deadlier then nitrate or ammonia as the lethality of ammonia also reduces with the lowering of ph and increases in high ph .

I would always question the accuracy of a test strip, on getting an indication of high nitrate I would definitely use a more accurate test like a liquid kit,

I like doing water changes because i like to be active in my hobby. To each their own though. Different styles for different people.

Great video! Re: plants and nitrates.. I have a 90 gal discus tank, which I had planted with tons of Val, my nitrates were always pretty high. After I removed the plants and 90% of the bladder snails that lived on them, the nitrates are consistently under 10 ppm.
Of course, it's a filtered tank, but my work load actually went down after removing the plants! I believe it is because the snails were creating so much waste. Less plants = less food for the snails= less nitrates.. I'm guessing? Also, the Co-op test strips are a staple! I always test my water in all my tanks before doing a W/C. Sometimes, it just isn't necessary! Love your channel!❤

U dont really need a filter in a tank. All you need is a surface skimmer with polishing floss

Love it! It made me go do test strips on my tanks! No nitrates, just needed a water top off, and I cleaned sponge filters.

My one 6.5 gallon guppy tank has no filter and to be honest it is doing better than other tanks that have filters. The fish are as healthy if not more healthy than the filtered tank. Just an air bubbler in there.

Great video and glad to see you posting! You have great knowledge!