# Other Aquarium Forums > Fish Care, Nutrition and Water Management >  Tank without Filter and Air Pump

## tranzy

Hi guys,

my girlfriend recently purchased a small tank thats about 24cm in length from c328, together with 6 guppies.

the auntie there said the guppies can survive without filter and air pump.

she added anti-chlorine to the water and placed the guppies in. 

2 days later 3 died. i then gave her some of the gravel and water from my already cycled tank because i read somewhere that this will help to have an "instant cycle" effect by bringing the good bacteria over.

now, about 3 days after that, all the remaining guppies died.

Does any of the bros here have any experience with setting up an aquarium without filer and air pump?? can you please share the tips and ideas??

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## stormhawk

This is easy, if you have a tank placed close to a window, but in a shaded corner. Get some moss, a little hornwort, or floating plants, then let the tank cycle for a few days. Once the tank has stabilised, you can put in the guppies. Note that in such tanks, having some ramshorn snails can be very useful. They eat uneaten fish food and keep the tank clean since they will browse on green algae.

Another thing to take note, is that you should not overstock the tank. I'd recommend starting with just 1 pair of guppies. Fancy ones don't seem to last as long as wild-type ones, so choose wisely and put them in. Try not to overfeed them. If you're lucky, soon the tank will have some baby guppies.

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## jeffL

If all died within days apart, think must be not enough oxygen.

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## tranzy

Hi Stormhawk,

Thanks for the info!

Which means just having the plants in the tank without any fishes and it will still be able to cycle? 

how do i tell which are the wild types and which are not? those in the LFS all seem quite fanciful to me...

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## tranzy

> If all died within days apart, think must be not enough oxygen.


I did not get an air pump because the c328 auntie says the guppies can come up for air so dont have to get anything...do i really have to get one?

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## stormhawk

Wild guppies usually have short tails and not too fancy colours. Click on the link to see a picture of a bunch of wild ones:

http://www.killifish.f9.co.uk/ta-aqu...guppy_wild.JPG

I kept a bunch of guppies I caught from a longkang sometime ago in a small plastic tub with a Java fern, some mosses and a few floating plants. I had Malayan Trumpet Snails as scavengers, since at that time I had no Ramshorn snails. That group of guppies stayed in there and produced fry, and their fry grew up and produced fry again.  :Laughing: 

Remember the key thing is have a small ecosystem going. Once the plants are growing well, you can add in the fish. Not too many, otherwise they might die if there's insufficient oxygen. I used to feed my guppies with live daphnia, and the occasional tubifex worms. They loved it and I never filtered the tank. I did water changes only occasionally and they never seemed to have any problems. The MTS population stayed constant throughout.

An air pump is not necessary, but if you can, get a small filter for your tank. A mini hang on filter or a sponge filter powered by the air pump, or even a mini internal filter like the Eden 304 or 316. A filter will be a big help in keeping your guppies alive longer. You should find one with an adjustable flowrate, because I noticed that guppies do not really like too much current in their tanks.

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## alien54d

you need some indirect window light, hornwort, duckweed and a few little fish ....  :Blah:

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## tranzy

hmm ok...thanks for all the useful info...

one more question...remember i said all the 6 guppies died? recap:

bought tank, added water and anti-chlorine, added guppies, guppies started dying...

now should i retain the water in the tank or should i change the water? personally i did not use anti-chlorine for my own tank....and all my fishes and crayfishes are fine. should i use anti-chlorine for my gf's tank??

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## stormhawk

Not necessary, especially since some anti-chlorine might kill off the beneficial microscopic animals in the tank. Clean the tank, refill with fresh tap water, get some hornwort, java moss and maybe frogbits, then leave the tank alone for a few days. 

Once you see the plants growing, the tank is probably stable. Then you add in the guppies in batches. Start with a pair first, and let it be.

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## tranzy

hmm alright stormhawk...shall ask my gf to try just that...and see how things go...thanks for the help!

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## cyruslaguna

you can start with a hang on filter, most have flow control so water will not have too much turbulence; hornworts are low light and work well to control nitrate in water.

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## AquaZinYaw

Just my opinion.. why taking risk? Just buy a small hang on filter and cycle the tank first. HOB filter not cost much and use some of ur established tank's filter media to speed up the cycle. 

But honestly, most of the people in my hometown rarely use filters (including me when I was just started this hobby).  :Grin:  Normally just use the air pump (only at night. daytime no electricity)  :Wink: 

You won't believe the I kept 20 fancy goldfishes in my 18" tank without filter. That time I never heard of anti-chlorine (I guess still no one in my hometown know that)  :Blah:  

Couldn't believe that goldfish are that hardy. The sole survivor of my only 2 black mole goldfishes even hatch so many egg (but no fry) in small tank without filter and air pump and temperature around 30 deg C.  :Evil:

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