# unfiltered betta plant invert tank dilema



## zacheyp (Jan 25, 2012)

Hi guys how's it doing? I am looking to setup a 2.5 or 5 gal heavily planted tank for plants (duh) a betta fish, snails and maybe shrimp. This tank is for my nightstand and i cant even sleep with the slightest bit of noise so my question is is there a way to do this tank undiltered without doing massive water changes?


----------



## cableguy69846 (Dec 13, 2010)

zacheyp said:


> Hi guys how's it doing? I am looking to setup a 2.5 or 5 gal heavily planted tank for plants (duh) a betta fish, snails and maybe shrimp. This tank is for my nightstand and i cant even sleep with the slightest bit of noise so my question is is there a way to do this tank undiltered without doing massive water changes?


It is possible. Look into the Walstead (spelling?) method. If you go that route, you will be looking at a weekly 50% water change, and I don't think there is any way around that.


----------



## Kworker (Oct 28, 2011)

I would say only do a snail that wont multiply itself so you dont overrun it, you could definatly pull off a natural setup with topsoil capped off with whatever you want.. flourite, sand, gravel etc.. with a lot of plants to naturally balance the water. Just dont over do the tank's inhabitants try to stick with 1 betta and a couple shrimp. But add them in after a few weeks to let your plants settle, good bacteria to form and do plenty of water changes. After a while once everything is established you could end up not having to do much maintenance if you have a small enough bioload for the plants to keep the chemisty of the water in check. All you will really need is adequate light for your tank, and a heater if your in a cold area or where the temp drops at night.

I am kind of new on the idea of natural tanks but I hope my info can help you out, just dont rush it.. I have a 2 gal setup up that I am running without a filter that just started the other day. Goodluck


----------



## zacheyp (Jan 25, 2012)

Kworker said:


> I would say only do a snail that wont multiply itself so you dont overrun it, you could definatly pull off a natural setup with topsoil capped off with whatever you want.. flourite, sand, gravel etc.. with a lot of plants to naturally balance the water. Just dont over do the tank's inhabitants try to stick with 1 betta and a couple shrimp. But add them in after a few weeks to let your plants settle, good bacteria to form and do plenty of water changes. After a while once everything is established you could end up not having to do much maintenance if you have a small enough bioload for the plants to keep the chemisty of the water in check. All you will really need is adequate light for your tank, and a heater if your in a cold area or where the temp drops at night.
> 
> I am kind of new on the idea of natural tanks but I hope my info can help you out, just dont rush it.. I have a 2 gal setup up that I am running without a filter that just started the other day. Goodluck


thanks for your help, this is what u plan to do
go to the lfs and buy a 2-5 gallon tank and lighting (i already have a heater) I will stick to one betta and shrimp this being said i think snails could be benifical to this type of system


----------



## Kworker (Oct 28, 2011)

zacheyp said:


> thanks for your help, this is what u plan to do
> go to the lfs and buy a 2-5 gallon tank and lighting (i already have a heater) I will stick to one betta and shrimp this being said i think snails could be benifical to this type of system


 
Im not sure what stores you have around you but look at my tank journal and the glassware i found at a HomeGoods near my house..I paid $14 plus tax its a little over 2 gallons and cylinder in shape i think its awesome. Snails definatly could be beneficial if kept to a safe population lol.. just keep in mind your betta may make a meal of your shrimp its hit or miss. You have the same Northeast weather but depending on the way temperature is kept in your living area you may be able to go without a heater although it is definatly recommended for the betta, but check up on the temperature fluctuations and if it never falls below tropical temperatures than you should be safe.. like i said just take it slow and research before you start this project :icon_smil


----------



## zacheyp (Jan 25, 2012)

well i might as well use a heater because i have a spare one, i would by that homegoods thing but it dosent come with lighting


----------



## Kworker (Oct 28, 2011)

haha i went a little creative with it. I plan on getting a plain table light over it with my experimental LED bulb but probably switching to a CF, but yeah if you want a hood and such definatly get a regular tank. Goodluck


----------



## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

If you use a larger tank (more on the 5 gallon side than the 2.5 gallon side) then you can probably put more plants in it and thus get more 'natural' filtration.

I have bowls with no hardware (other than a light) that do fine with shrimp but I don't know exactly how much more bioload a betta would add (quite a bit I would imagine).

If I had to guess I would say that with a 5 gallon tank heavily planted using the Walstad method you could probably do this without having to do constant water changes but I wouldn't want to promise anything.


----------



## zacheyp (Jan 25, 2012)

going 2 the lfs to look at my options... i am a marine guy so just wondering how do i cycle a fresh tank


----------



## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

You can do similar things to cycle a freshwater tank as you would with a saltwater tank - you can find some aquarium safe ammonia and do a fishless cycle, you can get some sort of feeder fish to help cycle it or, in some cases, you can rely on the ammonia in the soil to help get it started (ADA soils and some of the organic dirt soils used in Walstad style tanks are the common scenarios where the soil might release ammonia for an extended period).

Moving over a used filter from an established tank can help to speed up the cycle.

If you go with a Walstad style tank (something I would recommend that you look into since you are trying to go without hardware in the tank) then the combination of organic material breaking down in the soil at the start along with the bacteria that come over on the plants that you put into the tank at the start will help to get the cycle going.

Just remember that if you are not using a traditional filter of any sort on the tank then that means that you are relying on the plants to provide the majority of the filtration. This means that the tank needs to be heavily planted. If you put in regular aquarium gravel and a few little plants the plants will probably do OK but the water quality will probably suffer greatly and probably won't be good for the animals living in the tank.


----------



## Eldachleich (Jul 9, 2011)

I have 4 gallon bowl with a betta, a nerite snail, and 5 - 7 blue pearl shrimp culls. Not sure how many are in there actually. I just dropped some in.
My betta eats the babies of the shrimp but not the actual shrimp. Babies do survive but their culls and I normally end up culling them anyways.
Theres no filter on it. Just plants.
I do a waterchange about once a month.
So your plan is possible.
I have a few small algae issues, but Strated dosing excel as a carbon source and its really helping fight back the algae.
floaters help alot with these bowls as well. I have some stunted water lettuce and water hyacinth in there that do a fantastic job of keeping things clean.


Petsmart now sells a tiny tiny tiny 10 watt heater form aqueon.
Its the smallest Ive ever seen. about the size of an old gen ipod nano... But smaller...


----------



## calebkraft (Jan 3, 2012)

have you considered just turning off your filter at night?


----------

