Do fishes really suffer without a filter in fish tank ?

Question

I have 60 liter aquarium without filter since 6 months.I have 4 fishes in it,2 sharks and 2 mollies.They are living happily and actively since 6 months.Do I really need a filter or an air pump is okay ?I have air pump in it.How do I know whether they are suffering or not ???

Answer 1

Filter also helps in proper water flow inside the aquarium coz of air pressure (much more than air pump). it virtually makes aquarium a running water pool which gives freshness feeling..

analyze urself being in a swimming pool with still water and a swimming pool with slow running water... which one wud u prefer?

Answer 2

Depending on the size of the tank and the amount of fish in their, an aquarium can do pretty well sometimes for a while. Unfortunately if you are not doing very good cleanings, water changes, and adding conditioner it will catch up with you and your fish will start dieing.

Their poo causes the nitrates/nitrites to sky rocket. This may be something that even if at a high level the fish can seem to be used to, but then when you do do a water change, or add more fish, etc. The fish are going to undergo such a shock that they will stress out and die.

I would suggest getting a filter and then slowly work in cleanings and water changes to insure the health of your fish.

Water Quality:

http://www.petco.com/caresheets/fish/Wat...

Nitrogen Cycle:

http://www.petco.com/caresheets/fish/Nit...

Setting up Freshwater:

http://www.petco.com/caresheets/fish/Set...

Answer 3

What shocks me the most, is that noone's realized you have no where for your beneficial bacteria occupy.  Your tank has never cycled out.  Your mollies and sharks are probably hanging in there to their credit, and outside of water changes, since there is no filter bed for  the bacteria to colonize in, you really don't even have a mature tank.  I'm really surprised ammonia has not killed your fish off at this point, and I suspect you must be doing water changes very often and frequent like as if you had them in a bowl.

Only a very very small amount of the bacteria will colonize in the substrate because the stuff you need is aerobic, and it's not really an aerobic condition on the bottom of your tank.  There are numerous signs to see if they are not doing well, and if you haven't seen anything after six months, I'm not sure what to tell you.

I can only say that you are not hurting anything with filtration.  Filtration will do more then just better then enviroment.  It will help keep the water circulating so it doesn't become stagnant, it will provide a home for the bacteria you need, it will filter out some of the physical waste in the water, will help also to filter out unwanted toxic metals that might get in from tap water too.  I'm still rather surprised your fish made it this long, but you want to get a filter really.

Answer 4

you shold make arrangements for a filter. this would cleanse the water.as the area of aquarium is limited and gets dirty easily,you should go for filter

Answer 5

6 months is nothing in that these fish should live for several years. yes you need a filter. suffering may only gradually begin to show itself, either by the beginnings of lethargy (or the opposite, hyperactivity and trying to jump out), more susceptibility to illnesses and parasites, in the case of the sharks, growth problems.

your "sharks" need a bigger tank, i believe you've mentioned they're balas in which case they need a 350-400 litre tank at least.

Answer 6

i think they suffer     they must be suffocating