Air Stones.
- Thread starter Alexp08
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Fishanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
Depends on the size of the tank and the stocking of fish and or plants in it. To be safe you would want one. It offers oxygen circulation by creating chemical exchanges at the surface of the water with the bubbles it produces.
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Mattyfelts
Aquarium Advice Addict
no you dont need one, as long as you have adequate surface agitation
Fishanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
This.
But its unlikely in a larger aquarium with underwater canister outputs.
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Mattyfelts
Aquarium Advice Addict
op never said anything about that.
I angle the canister output towards the surface to get a 'rapids' effect.
For absolutely no reason at all apart from just the look, I really like the bubbles effect.
Fishanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
Pretty cool ^-^ Never wouldve seen it as that but i should try it out haha.
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The tank is in the dining / kitchen area so when I first set it up spraying down and lower water level, I got asked 'what's that noise' and 'when is it going'. So had to change to this.
As I had shown a 3ft x 2ft high tank in lfs but actually bought a 4ft x 2.5ft high tank was on short notice
Well I have multiple tanks. All will some sort of air pump in them. But I never knew whether they were needed or not. But in particular the tank I just set up is a 55 with a canister filter. And it does not have a under gravel filter
PB_Smith
Aquarium Advice Addict
one thing they help with, especially in larger tanks, is keeping the lower layers of water constantly circulating to the surface. That is where the biggest benefit concerning oxygenation is.
Water will always reach oxygen saturation at the surface/air interface, but is often depleted in the lower layers of the water column, so just moving the lower layer to the surface ensures good oxygenation.
Surface agitation simply creates more water surface area and thereby increases the volume of water being presented to that air/water interface.
Also any effluent from a canister filter should be set-up in such a manner to provide as much surface agitation as possible because after going through the filters bacteria colonies, the water will be oxygen depleted.
Water will always reach oxygen saturation at the surface/air interface, but is often depleted in the lower layers of the water column, so just moving the lower layer to the surface ensures good oxygenation.
Surface agitation simply creates more water surface area and thereby increases the volume of water being presented to that air/water interface.
Also any effluent from a canister filter should be set-up in such a manner to provide as much surface agitation as possible because after going through the filters bacteria colonies, the water will be oxygen depleted.
aqua_holic
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Ive always been told i needed a air stone/ Air pump in my tank. My question is, do I and what benefit do they give? Any other info on this matter would be good to!
Thanks
I keep tanks from 2.5 gallons to 125 gallons and I don't own an air pump.
+1
As others have pointed out, as long as your outputs are positioned appropriately and you have have adequate circulation this will not be an issue.
I do own air pumps and even some air stones but they are not in any of the tanks with canister or power filtration on them.
Luananeko
Aquarium Advice Addict
Agreed. I used to keep bubble walls in all my tanks just because I liked the look of them, but in planted tanks they get clogged so fast I just got fed up with replacing them. I haven't noticed any difference in fish behavior, plant growth, or testable water parameters by removing them. I have a HOB filter plus a spray bar on my canister filter helping agitate the surface of my 75g, and a circulation pump (no air pump) helping keep the lower levels of my 36g moving. My new 40g breeder is the only one using an air pump at the moment, and that's only to power the dual sponge filters.
treemanone2003
Aquarium Advice Addict
To go with and against the grain on this I will offer both no, one is not necessary in the daily activities of the fish, but yes, it may be necessary in the event your fish (or tank) come down with ich AND you choose treatment with the heat method. Warmer water contains much less oxygen than cooler water and to treat ich by heat method requires turning it up to 86° for an extended time. That will certainly stress fish out and complicate things. The advice is to add an air bubbler of some kind and/or lower the water level to help create surface agitation. But it will also depend on the fish you choose to keep and what temp ranges and conditions they need to thrive in.
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aqua_holic
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I never add an air stone or lower the water level or anything when I treat for ich, which is at 88-89 degrees. However, I treat new fish in quarantine tanks, not fully stocked show tanks. Were I to treat a fully stocked show tank, I'd be a little more cautious about O2 levels.
