Can I leave my Filter off for one night?

[Marcellina]

Late this afternoon I had to 'rescue' my neon goby from my back chamber. I decided to vacuum the detritus from the back chambers since I had taken everything apart.

I rescued him finally and when I went to put fresh water into the tank I realized the jug I thought was full was really empty. I wasnt able to drive bc I was on medication that makes me dizzy and couldnt go out to get more water.

I have a Koralia in there that is aerating the water. I also have live rocks, they are natural filtration right?

I tested everything before I searched for the fish and everything was perfect except for phosphate which was 1.

Im still a newbie at saltwater is this bad that Idont have the filter on? By the time I will be able to get more RODI water from the store and put it in the tank 18 hours will have gone by.

I would hate to put tap water in there. I have conditioner and salt to make it if I have to.

Please let me know what to do.

 

[Dre]

You can run your tank for days or even weeks without a filter.As long as you have sufficient water movement.Do not use the water conditioner aerate the tap water overnight to make your mix if all else fail.

 

[Marcellina]

Thanks Dre. I thought it would be ok bc I do have the Koralia 1 in there that is on. I only have a 29 G BioCube. The pump and filter that came with the biocube is off bc there isnt enough water. It only needs maybe 2 G to work properly if that.

I have to have oral surgery this morning and on the way home I will be able to stop and get the water so by 12 it should be on again.

I just got worried bc I saw my mandarin sitting at the bottom front of the tank last night, he is still there this morning. I dont think he is starving bc I spot feed him all the time frozen enriched foods and I see him eating it. I thought it was bc the filter is off. This morning he is in the same area but this time he has company, my tailspot blenny is next to him and he has his nervous white spots.

Like I said all the parameters are 0 as of yesterday except phosphate which is 1. The temp is 78. Alk is 13 Calcium is 440 but that doesnt mean anything for the fish health right?

I dont see both of the blue gobies this morning i dont know if they are hiding or if they both jumped to the back now or if anything else happened to them.

This is so frustrating and upsetting especially when I can barely take care of myself right now. Hopefully its my medicine making me over react.

 

[Quang]

marcellina, the tank can run without the filter for a few days. like dre said, make sure you have sufficient water movement. also, try to cut down on the feeding so not to pollute the water too much.

please take care of yourself first and foremost, the fish will be okay. remember to ENJOY the hobby.

 

[siond]

Fish will do fine as long as good movement is present, but like Quang said, make sure u dnt feed too much bec theres nothin to filter out the water.

 

[anthony27]

I agree with the above state ments just make sure you have good water flow and also the holidays are comming good time to ask for that rodi system. Feel better.

 

[dubs]

yeah a rodi is important and my tank was running recently with out a filter for 3 days i had a bulkhead leaking so i had break down my sump other then some of the pod dying i didnt lose ne thing air and flow thats all u need till u get ur filter back good luck

 

[dubs]

yeah a rodi is important and the money spend buying the water pre made the rodi will pay for it self and my tank was running recently with out a filter for 3 almost 4 days i had a bulkhead leaking so i had break down my sump other then some of the pod dying i didnt lose ne thing air and flow thats all u need till u get ur filter back good luck

 

[Master Shake]

its ok to use tap water on your reef, just use conditioner before you add it. Personally i only used ro water a few times while i had a nitrate problem. I use tap all the time, because in general Long Island tap water is relatively very low in nitrates and phosphates so i never worried about using ro, besides i didnt notice a difference then i used the ro, and it saves money. if you are a strict ro water user one use of tap water will not make a difference.