[SillySnail]

Hey y'all! I just purchased a water filter/bubbler for a 2.5 gal. tank with my crowntail and black mystery snail. Should I still periodically do water changes even with the filter?? Does the filter remove ammonia and all fish wastes that harm my guy?? And if I still do need to do water changes, how much water change and how often???

Thanks!

 

[Laki]

Hey

With a tank smaller than 5g there's really no need for a filter. It won't hold a cycle and it doesn't remove ammonia. The bubbler might stress out fishie.. I know my Laki was freaked out and nipped his tail because of the bubbler. So be careful with that.

The bubbler will not exchange water and clean it, all it does is make bubbles which bettas don't necessarily need- since they breathe from the surface.

For a 2.5 I would still do a weekly change and a mid-week change. Just to keep ammonia down. Maybe a better idea would be to return the filter/bubbler and buy live-low maintenance- plants! ^.^

 

[MadameDesu]

Hey there! I have a filter for my 3 gal and I think it does good things. For one, it circulates the water so that it can be heated evenly, and two, it does seem to keep my water clearer.
I just do 100% changes every 5 days or so.

 

[Bombalurina]

Hey y'all! I just purchased a water filter/bubbler for a 2.5 gal. tank with my crowntail and black mystery snail. Should I still periodically do water changes even with the filter?? Does the filter remove ammonia and all fish wastes that harm my guy?? And if I still do need to do water changes, how much water change and how often???

Thanks!

Yes, you should still do water changes - 2 50% changes per week. During one of these you should vacuum the gravel.
A cycled filter will convert ammonia into nitrate, which is less harmful but does still need to be removed. Your tank won't cycle properly, so this process may not happen fully all the time - some weeks it will, some weeks it won't. However, as has been pointed out, there are still advantages to having a filter.

Live plants will help, but unless you want to do a full on soil-based NPT, I wouldn't return the filter in favour of them.

 

[SillySnail]

Thank you, that is helpful advice.