# How long can they survive without filter on?



## TCool774 (Jul 23, 2013)

So I set up a 180G in my bedroom with a sump and the water dripping at first was great but now it's irritating me. I'm thinking about closing the valve on the drain (luckily I installed one!) and turning off the pump for bedtime. I sleep 7-8 hours at most. Will the fish be ok? I have about ten 5-7" cichlids in there and like six small 3"-4" cichlids in there. All are African. I have no air stone or bubble maker since I was told oxygenation with a sump is good enough. I'm getting a bad power outage next Tuesday too anyhow. 8AM - 5PM, so I want to know what I'd expect.

Thinking about getting a good, silent canister filter for times like these but I'm broke right now.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

IME, they will be fine for a day or so. However, I'm not sure that it is a good idea as a long term strategy. You might look into various ways to quiet down your sump. I no longer have tanks in my bedroom due to the noise.

We've had several power outages over the past 2 years, all over 3 days, and the fish were fine - temperature was my larger concern, not filtration. I was able to cycle power to the tanks and fridges, but they were def off more than on. No fish lost.


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

I would worry about your biological media also if there was a consistent off and on again flow of water through your sump. Might be a concern.


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## TCool774 (Jul 23, 2013)

Great points, but what is the window of hours I have before the bacteria start to greatly deteriorate? Sump was non-operational 12AM to - 8AM (today, that's how much I slept) and the fish were doing great this morning...just hungry since I didn't feed them the night prior. I'll lightly feed them earlier from now on if I feel the sump non-operational is fine for 8-9 hours.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'd keep it on 24/7 and find a quieter filtration method if noise is an issue.

The bacteria might not deteriorate with one 8 hour oxygen gap, but daily suffocation has got to take a toll over time.


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## TCool774 (Jul 23, 2013)

Talked to my fish adviser. He said I'll be okay if I used an airpump with an airstone in the sump so the bacteria have enough oxygenation and don't die out when I close off the drain valve, Still I think the fish would still be at risk, but 7-8 hours isn't that bad. :zz: :fish: :zz:


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