Filterless 55 gallon tank?

[Ches]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this site but I've been keeping fish for 8 months now. I set up a new 55 gallon tank last week and decided to attempt to go filterless. 92 watts of light at 15,100 K. (what does the "K" stand for?) 10 hours a day. Heater. No filter, powerhead, co2 or anything else. Florabase substrate mixed with gravel. I keep the lid at all times so CO2 doesn't escape at night.

Obviously it's fully planted with tons of plants. I read that if I keep a low # of fish, plants will take care of everything else? So far, the water parameters are fine no ammonia, nitrites, nitrates. pH is 6.2. I have 5 kuhli loaches and 5 neon tetras in the tank and they are happy. How many more fish could I add in this setup?

Is there anything I should be worried about? Thanks for your help!

 

[Fishkeeper26]

IMO just keeping the plants healthy so they can take care of the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate

 

[shadowstars123]

K stand for Kelvin. The lighting is a little low, what kind of plants do you have? Also, i'm not positive that 15,100K lighting is a good light wavelength for plants, but i could be wrong, never heard of someone using it in a planted tank. Also, keeping a lid on the tank won't stop co2 from escaping, because if that were true, your fish would've died from lack of oxygen. What type of lighting fixture are you using? I would continue to test your water every day, and if you see no rise in any of the parameters in a week, i'd say you're good to go. Be sure to feed sparingly, and to tend to your plants leaving no rotting leaves as that will add ammonia.

 

[Ches]

Thanks shadowstars123! Sorry I forgot to add that I have 2 lighting fixtures. One's just a regular shop light but has 2 aquarium bulbs (32 watts each, one at 5000 k, one at 3400 k) and the other unit is a Coralife light bar which is at 6700 K, 28watts, for a total of what I listed up there.

I have: Java moss, java fern, anubias, vals, bacopa, ludwigia, water wisteria and water sprite.

I'm having doubts about the ludwigia though...hmm

 

[shadowstars123]

Ohhh, never add up the degrees Kelvin, it's the temperature of the light, just a heads up. You should replace the 3400k with a 6700k or a 10,000k, i'm not sure about the 5000k though. If you have a budget, invest in a better lighting system if possible to maybe a medium light tank, this will encourage nutrient absorption meaning more filtration. But like I said, check your water parameters first, if they're fine, there's no reason to spend more money.

 

[Ches]

Ok I'll take that into consideration. Thanks

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I do think it can be done, but if I did it I'd...

No substrate for easier cleaning.
Floating plants only.
Oxygen, oxygen, oxygen.
Pick fish very carefully.
Seed bacteria from an established tank even if I remove the seeding item later.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

It definitely can be done, it will just have way less room for error. Is this called a Berlin tank?

 

[shadowstars123]

Actually, keep an eye on your loaches. They're really sensitive and since there's many chances of things going bad, they're not really a good choice, but I don't have experience with kuhli , just clowns