Powerhead vs. air stone

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Anna94

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Joined
Mar 27, 2016
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What's the difference between a powerhead and an air stone? Right now I'm using an air stone in my 20 gallon long. Thinking of switching to a powerhead, but I'm unsure of what their purpose is.
 
The airstone is the porous bit that a pump pushes air through. A powerhead pumps water through water. The stone is for aeration, whereas the powerhead is for flow.
 
Well a power head is what nirbhao says but some powerheads are to strong for the fish you keep, they both ripple the surface of the aquarium which creates oxygen for the tank, if you have a good filter it will ripple the water just fine and you will need neither, I use a big airstone only for the summer when it gets extremely hot for as hot water consumes oxygen faster so I have the stone in there I can turn on to get more surface break to oxygenate the tank more, with an airstone you don't have to worry about the fish and the current.
 
What are you trying to accomplish?
Air stones are just that, airate the water. Power heads were mostly known a few years ago when aquarists used under gravel filters (another topic) they move a lot of water around, they can also be used in a sump filter or simply to create movement in the tank. For a 20g it could be overkill depending on what type of filter you already have.

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I have a deep tank and I simply use mine for circulation and it's made a huge difference. It's placed in the lower right corner of the tank and points straight up.

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