Fish in a filterless bowl?

[Michele]

Hello! I just started an officey job and we're allowed to have fish at our desks. Beta fish are ideal because they can inhabit a simple bowl which fit nicely on my desk, but I would rather have a fish that's more interesting to look at such as a catfish. What I'm wondering is, can a catfish live in a bowl without a filter? (I understand betas and goldfish are built to gulp air for oxygen.) Is there a way I can oxygenate a fishbowl without a filter? I was looking into possibly using live plants to introduce the oxygen, but I'm not sure if it will be enough. Please help!

Much thanks,
~Michele

 

[steve-s]

I am sure you will get alot of great answers!! Good luck.

Moved to the Freshwater/brackish - getting started Forum

Cheers
Steve

 

[Fruitbat]

Michele...

There's no such creature. Even Bettas don't do particularly well in a bowl and, contrary to popular opinion, goldfish absolutely don't belong in bowls. Current thought regarding goldfish is that they require a minimum of 10 gallons per fish just to stay healthy.

If you have your heart set on some sort of aquarium for your desk (and I DO understand why you want one), I'd suggest you think about one of those 1 gallon tank setups that usually include a filter and some sort of top with a light. If you can manage one of those....two or three White Cloud Mountain Fish (Tanichthys albonubes) will do very nicely and you won't need a heater for the tank.

Mind you, fish aren't as happy in small containers as they would be in a larger one. Still....the White Clouds in a one gallon will do OK and they'll sure look pretty on your desk.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Get some ghost shrimp, and maybe a bunch of anacharis. Very fun to watch, esp at feeding time when they can actually swim up to the surface and grab food.

 

[Michele]

Ah, ghost shrimp sound interesting. But please, is there a way I can oxygenate water WITHOUT a filter? I'm not particularly set on a fish "bowl" but even if I need a 20 gallon tank, I'll still need a way to oxygenate the water without a filter--can it be done in a small area for even TEMPORARY purposes?

 

[Menagerie]

Why don't you want a filter? If you are concerned about noise, there are great filters out there that are quiet and will not take up much room. Whisper made by Tetra and TopFinmake are very quiet filters as long as the water level is high enough. Without a filter, you will need to do partial water changes every two to three days, depending on the waste produced by the fish. The alternative is an undergravel filter, but then you have the air pump noise to deal with. Without any filter--you will need an airpump with an airstone, noisy and inefficient.

 

[Michele]

Thank you Menagerie. The problem is, I won't have a plug! Noise would also be a problem since I'll be on the phone most of the time. Is there a possibillity of using plants? I've heard that they can be used to supply oxygen too! I'd just like a fish that looks pretty, moves around enough to be interesting to look at (and I DO get kinda attatched to them ) I JUST found a sight that mentions "gouramis and other anabantids" and I'm looking into those right now as an air gulping fish...still, it would be nice to give the little guys something to breath inside the water instead of having to snorkel. (if there's a way to oxygenate with plants or something other than a filter, I think I'd like to get a small catfish ) Any ideas?--and thanks for your help so far!

 

[Kwenbee]

I am definitely not an expert, but catfish really do need filters. I know that many people I work with keep bettas at home in dishes without a filter, but get one that is at least a couple gallons...not a little tiny one. You will still need to change the water often since there is no filter.

We had our betta in a one gallon with no filter. It had a little air stone in the center, but when I put plants in it, which the betta liked for resting on, the tank was too small. They are both now in a filtered, but split, 10 gallon tank.

They sell two gallon bowls without filters at our local Walmart. You don't need real plants to oxygenate the water.

As far as being cool to watch, our bettas are really cool. They acutally dance for us at the glass when we walk up to them and they flow beautifully through the water. I took pictures of Jake the Betta this morning, but haven't had time to post them. You can see a pretty good pic of Bill the Betta in my gallery.

Betta's are rather sturdy fish (at least ours are...poor Bill has survived a betta dive to the carpet..not sure how long he was there...and a rapid drop in water temperature when our furnace failed). They can handle less than perfect water conditions, although you still have to monitor and clean the water often. They DO NOT do well in very very small spaces (even our 1 gallon was too small for them), so don't get one of those puny betta hexes you see.

 

[ferret]

Marineland's Eclipse tanks, which come in a variety of sizes and shapes below 10 gallons, are EXTREMELY quiet. I keep an Eclipse 3 on my desk here at work, with 5 neon tetras. Its been running for about 3 months now, not a single complaint.. And that's cause there's nothing to complain about. It literally doesn't make noise.

 

[Michele]

Those look nice! Too expensive right now though Plus I might not have an outlet. Do you know of a way I can oxygenate water without a filter?

 

[grimlock3000]

i really do not think it is going to work. even with plants to oxygenate the water, you _need_ to have something in the tank moving the water around to have healthy fish in there.

if you simply can not have anything plugged in, one betta would be your best bet, but even then the betta should have a heater...

 

[Menagerie]

Oxygenate the water without a filter....
That's a tough one; IMHO I don't think the plants would help. Without an outlet, this is a tough one. There are air pumps that run on batteries, but I only mention those so you know ALL your options (plus they are noisy). Is there any way you can run a snake to your desk? What kind of office environment is it? All cubicles? If a plug-in is just not available, I agree with Kwenbee, bettas are quite nice. With a larger bowl, he can get exercise and you can help him to not be listless by holding up a mirror for him--he’ll flare his fins (just a thought).
As an aside, what kind of catfish do you want? You may be better off to start a catfish tank at home that way you can have a filter and a heater if necessary.

 

[tkos]

The best thing I can think of is lots of plants and daily water changes and a super light fish load. Of course lighting will require a plug and plants require light so that doesn't work out too well. The betta is really the only fish that will work in this setup I think. Get a nice 5 gallon tank, do water changes every other day, add java fern (which doesn't require much light at all) and add some ghost shrimp or ammano shrimp for variety. That is the best filterless setup I can think of.

Though if you have access to a plug then I can tell you right now that I am sitting next to my 10 gallon tank with an Aqua Clear Mini hang On Back filter and as long as the water level is kept high enough I would never know it is on.

The other problem with no plug in is no heater. Some fish can take the variation in temp that this would cause (white clouds, bettas etc..). But many fish would definatley have a shorter lifespan.

 

[Michele]

What about other fish?

Okay..what about the fish themselves. Can you guys recomend a list of fish species that can survive without a filter?...such as betas and goldfish (I DO realize there are ethical issues to this btw) I was thinking catfish because they are particularly cute and are active enough to be interesting to look at (when you're looking at a screen all day, it's a welcomed sight!) Plus, everyone has a beta, so it would be nice to have something a little more unique, you know?

 

[smilla4]

I know this is not kosher, but my neighbor keeps her betta in a half gallon container. It's a Marina Betta Kit. I think it comes with gravel, food, and some water conditioner. She bought a resin tree stump decoration with a little hidey hole that he likes to hang out in. They are definitely more comfortable with a place to "hide", but he will come out and "greet" people when they approach.

I think she changes the water 2x a week. And the temperature in her apartment remains constant, which it probably won't at an office.

You might want to check to see if they the heat/a/c down/off at night or on the weekend which would create temperature fluctuations in such a small container and stress the betta.

Something else to keep in mind, or to verify: I think I had read a post a while back on another board where the poster's fish had died and they determined that it had been due to cleaning chemicals being used in proximity of the tank. I don't remember it too well though, but it's something worth checking out as well.

I will add that since I moved my betta from a vase to a tank he seems much happier...

 

[Fruitbat]

OK....this might help you out Michele...

Since you don't have an electrical outlet handy you're between a rock and a hard place. You won't have a pump/filter to circulate, clean and oxygenate the water. OK...you also won't have an electrical outlet to provide enough light for rapid plant growth...even in a bowl. Sooooo......are you totally out of luck? I say no!

If you can manage the 1 gallon tank there is a fish that will survive in an unheated, unaerated tank that is quite pretty though a bit aggressive. The Paradise Fish, Macropodus opercularis, is an anabantoid which means it can utilize atmospheric oxygen by gulping at the surface (it is occasionally called the Paradise Gourami). Unlike most gouramis and the Betta, the Paradise Fish can function quite nicely in an unheated aquarium at room temperature. It can also withstand relatively poor water quality (which you might end up with unless you do regular water changes....say 25% weekly and don't overfeed).

The only problem with the Paradise Fish is that it has a tendency to be quite aggressive....the males especially so but the females aren't exactly sociable either! However....a single male Paradise Fish in a one-gallon tank should work fairly well. Paradise Fish can reach up to four inches eventually and will outgrow a 1 gallon tank but you could keep it for quite a while before that became a problem.

A male Paradise Fish in fair color looks like the one in the link below:

http://www.plantedtank.net/paradisefish.html

 

[Menagerie]

Oh! Fruitbat beat me to it!
I was looking for information on nontropical fish (of course my searches weren't working--I was using the wrong word ).

 

[Christmasfish]

Battery powered Air pump.....9.99 to 15.99
Or you can just take your fish to work and then home again ^_^
But that could cause stress.

 

[Michele]

Oh! Thank you! I was actually looking at the paradise fish too! They might be an option--Also, I JUST found something called "Aqua Babies" http://www.aquababies.com
Now, I DO REALIZE that these tanks are cruelly small. However, they are somehow operating without a filter and have fish such as guppies living in the tanks. They seem to be using a special plant to produce oxygen. Do you think that anyone here can figure out what these plants are? Maybe if I got a lot of them I could oxygenate a decent desk-sized aquarium!

Again, thank you all very much!

 

[jsoong]

I've seen the aquababies at my local departmnent store. The plant in the bowls are common hornwort, which I have tons of.

Personally, I can't see how those things worked - but the ones I've seen in the store had been there for a few weeks - and unless they are replacing the fish, the setup seems to work fine - at least in the short term.

Out of curiosity I read the little book that came with the tank. Part of the reason the setup work maybe that:

1. the tanks are cycled - they claim to have "live rock" as substrate - which I take to mean regular gravel with the proper bacteria - same as in a cycled tank.

2. there are some plants - however, according to the plant people, you actually need 10 stems per fish. There certainly wasn't that many in the tanks.

3. the fish are small - they looked like baby guppies to me, but I worry when they grow.

4. feeding is *extremely* limited - they provide a tiny packet of food & you are supposed to give one grain of food a *WEEK*.

So IMO, I think the water babies setup is a disater waiting to happen. It works in the short term because you have baby fish & you severely restrict the feeding to restrict the growth & to restrict the amount of waste. So if you feed too much, or the fish grows, or if the plant dies (the ones in the store were looking wilted), then the system crash, and you lose your fish.

I think the plant idea will work, but you will need a lot of them. Horewort, although low light plant, do much better with more light - and the lack of electrical outlet then is an issue. In my hands they grow like weeds, but I also have 3 watts per gal of light overhead.