Filtration and Oxygen

[HooKooDooKu]

As I understand it, the bacteria that break down the ammonia require oxygen to do their job. One example of this is the "Bio-Wheel", designed to sit half in half out of water as a way of collecting oxygen from the air.

I'm using a Fluval 1 for filtration of a 10 gallon aquarium, a filter designed to be completely submerged. I'm wondering, will the bacteria I hope that will evenually build up on the Fluval filter be able to get it's required oxygen from the water, or should I provide some extra oxygen by doing something like placing a small air-stone at the filterter's intake?

 

[missileman]

You don't need any special setup for the bacteria.
It lives all over your tank, not just in the filter.
I use an airstone at the far end, away from the filter, just to stir up the surface more and circulate more O2 to the bottom of my tank (more for the fish than the bacteria but I suppose it helps there also)

 

[CaptainAhab]

The last thing you want is an airstone near the intake. What you will get is micro bubbles all over your tank as the canisters impeller chops those bubbles up into very small bubbles. The vast majority of oxygen exchange happens at the surface. If you're truely worried about oxygen levels adjust your return nozzel so that the surface ripples a bit. That increases oxygen exchange. While airstones do add, to some extent, to oxygen levels they are no where near the primary source. They do help with agitation at the surface though and hence oxygen exchange at that level.

I'm sure you have more than enough though

 

[HooKooDooKu]

With a 10 gallon tank and only two fish, I'm not too worried about the tank having enough oxygen. The reason I even have an air-stone at all is because there is a lid on the tank and I wanted to make sure there was plenty of oxygen at the surface to ensure good air exchange... otherwise, I was afraid the air under the cover would get stale over time.

Thanks for the info.