I just registered this account so that I can post my question here. I have a one-year-old RES in a 60-gallon tank in Singapore. I am on a business trip to the US and will not be back home in about 20 days. My wife back in Singapore just called yesterday telling me that the canister filter for my turtle tank simply stopped working --- water is not flowing anymore. I've exhausted my troubleshooting methods remotely through video chat and I guess that the pump is dead. My wife is not a handy person, and I am pretty sure that she cannot correctly setup a new cannister filter by her own, even if I send a new one to her via Amazon now. I don't know any other person in Singapore with the knowledge on how to run a turtle tank.
My question is, how bad is it going to be if I let the tank run for 20 days without a filter? It is definitely bad for the RES, but I guess it won't kill her? All the guppies in my tank are goners, I assume. Are there any remedies there? I asked her to get a Hang-on-Tank filter asap, as it is easier to setup, and I've also asked her to do a 1/3 water change every other day. Is there any other make-shift methods that I can ask her to do to keep the tank as viable as possible for the next 20 days before I get back? Thanks, and I really appreciate any help here!