air pump

[kmlong]

Does an air pump do the same thing that a protein skimmer does except nothing to skim the water with. I mean as far as the air bubble to surface thing. If it does than wouldn't air pumps be bad to have?

 

[loganj]

Not really. For starters, the bubbles you'll get from the air pump through a regular air stone aren't fine enough to really pick up anything as they rise to the surface. Also, with no counter current flow, the contact time would be very low. Another thing is that protein skimming is very inefficient in FW...you'd have to have a skimmer about 6' tall to remove anything from the water. The only real problems you may run into using a pump/airstone is the deposits that will form on your glass top or lights. If you have hard water, you'll get quite a bit of this. It can be removed with vinegar though. HTH.

 

[kmlong]

thanks for the help, do you think i should leave it in? we do have hard water and i have noticed the underside of the hood getting all scummy and spotty. Is the pump beneficial to the fish and does it assist in any natural filtering like ph levels and that sort of thing.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Air stones and the such are not neccesary to have in a tank, but are good for decoration, good for surface agitation, etc. I had the problem that logaj mentioned above, so I took mine out, and plus, it was much quieter to sleep with! Did make an usightly mess on the tank hoods and stuff. HTH

 

[loganj]

As mentioned above, the only advantage you gain from the airstone is surface agitation which promotes oxygen exchange. Contrary to popular belief, the bubbles rising in the water column do not add O2 to the water...it all happens at the surface. As long as you have a filter running that causes some surface turbulence, I would say the the airstone is purely a matter of personal preference. If you like the way it looks, and don't mind cleaning up after it, keep it. If not, ditch it.