Emergency! Filter stopped working.....?

Question

My filter stopped working last night and it has been off for about 4 hrs. I have done two 30 per cent water changes in the 4hr period but I have to wait another 4 until I can replace the filter (I am going to buy a backup for the future) I have an air stone in there and the fish looks fine. The question is....how long can tanks go unfiltered before you have potential problems. I have only one fish (7in Asian Knife) in this 30 gallon tank so I am hoping that will be to my benefit too. Any info will be appreciated.

Answer 1

I think that you should go to the pet store fast, get a new bubble ston. that is most likely the problem that happened to me so i think that that will do it

Answer 2

without filter since you got only one fish and you got an aerator it will be okay just do partial water changes daily no need to change it every 4 hrs it will stress the fish.  Just feed it once a day.

Answer 3

You can leave it for days if you like. Take filter out and strip and clean as much as poss. May be only blocked.

Answer 4

You can go for a couple of days without a filter, but the sooner you get it back up and running, the better off your fish will be.

Keep up water changes until you have a new filter, but don't do such large changes...do around 5% a day. You're ultimatley doing more harm than good by making them that big.

Answer 5

you should be OK if you stop feeding and don't stir up the tank. the new filter will have to work a little harder at first but it should correct the problem with no trouble to you or the fish

Answer 6

take out the cartridges and place them in a bucket of tank water and air, they might be fine.  just be sure to buy a new filter that takes those cartridges.  around 12 hours til disaster strikes....right here is lesson number one, always have two of everything for just such an occasion.

No its not a huge deal, your tank will be fine for a few days just be sure to not overfeed.

Answer 7

NOT TO WORRY

....just change 5% to 10% every day till you get a new filter

KEEP THE OLD FILTER MEDIA IN THE TANK & WET

....keep the old filter media in tank water and add some food to the media, so the bacteria can eat

....they will die off and likely you will get a new white cloud of cycling activity

....the bloom of new bacteria that you are seeing is the new colony which will rapidly expand in order to take advantage of the new ammonia supply that you provide them via the fish food and fish p**p

......just lay the old media in the bottom of the tank they will be better off (the bottom is where ammonia likes to stay)

REDISTRIBUTE THE AMMONIA BUILD-UP

....when you do water changes try to dip the 5% to 10% from the bottom...ammonia sinks and accumulates at the bottom of the tank

....in doing that you also agitate the water and redistribute the masses of ammonia again over the whole tank, diluting the ppm of the 'bottom zone'

ADD LIVE PLANTS

.....also, if you have live plants, they will really enjoy the additional ammonia as fertilizer

....live plants also eat nitrAtes as food

.....live plants will release extra CO2 that nourishes the nitrifying bacteria in the water filter

....AND they 'look marvelous!'

Answer 8

Holy cow!  Slow down.  Relax.  :)  You don't need to change so much water.  Filters do quit working from time to time.  A good game plan is to change about 10% of your water every two days (3 gallons does not take long to change at all).  If your aquarium has been established for some time, your gravel and decorations and even the walls of the tank will have enough "good" bacteria to continue the nitrogen cycle without harm to your fish.  It sounds as though you have a very light bioload in your aquarium since you have only one fish.  After re-reading your question, don't do any water changes for three more days.  You don't want to upset your nitrogen cycle and excessive water changes (60% over 8 hours) can do that.  You did the right thing by adding an airstone for circulation and promotion of gas exchange.  You actually should have a quite stable aquarium as is.  If you do not over feed your fish, you could easilly keep your fish indefinatley without the filter so long as you change 20% of your tanks water weekly.  Basically, you could have waited for about three days without the filter or water changes without any harm to your fish, but you get and A++ and a gold star for both effort and caring for your fish!