Super_Blueberry
Aquarium Advice FINatic
The backstory:
I have a couple tanks, a 10g and a 55g. I've had the 10g since I was like 12, and I just recently got the 55g and all the goodies from my brother. I know that the air pumps don't add much oxygen to the water themselves, its more about the circulation they provide, as well as the look. The Whisper 30-60 that came with the 55g was a) louder than my Whisper 10-30 I had, and b) looked to move just as much air as my 10-30 even when the 30-60 was T'ed. For those reasons, the 10-30 is what I hooked up to my main 55g via a 'T'. When I needed to set up my old 10g as a nursery, I hooked up the 30-60, and since it moved the same amount of air as the old one, all was good. This morning when I turned on the lights of the 10g, I noticed that there was maybe a quarter of the bubbles that normally are there. I took the pump apart and found the problem; Both rubber bladders were torn. I took the assembly apart, did a quick repair that might actually hold for awhile, and hooked it back up to the tank. I guess one bladder had to have been torn for awhile because Man was there a difference! There is much more air flow now than I have ever seen before. Which leads me to my question...
The 10-30 is still hooked up to the 55g, and the 30-60 only has one outlet hooked up now because of the upgraded flow. The 10-30 is still the quieter of the two, so I would like to maintain that on the main tank, but is the 30-60 really too much for the 10g with only one outlet hooked up (about the flow I had before)? Or should I really have the 30-60 hooked up to the 55g? Simply put, is the rating of the air pump really something that should be followed? Or is it more of a case where you just want to get enough flow for the look your after? Is there such a thing as too many/ too strong of bubbles where I could stress the fish, or is it like filters where there is no such thing as too much filtration. Am I even making sense?
Thanks!
I have a couple tanks, a 10g and a 55g. I've had the 10g since I was like 12, and I just recently got the 55g and all the goodies from my brother. I know that the air pumps don't add much oxygen to the water themselves, its more about the circulation they provide, as well as the look. The Whisper 30-60 that came with the 55g was a) louder than my Whisper 10-30 I had, and b) looked to move just as much air as my 10-30 even when the 30-60 was T'ed. For those reasons, the 10-30 is what I hooked up to my main 55g via a 'T'. When I needed to set up my old 10g as a nursery, I hooked up the 30-60, and since it moved the same amount of air as the old one, all was good. This morning when I turned on the lights of the 10g, I noticed that there was maybe a quarter of the bubbles that normally are there. I took the pump apart and found the problem; Both rubber bladders were torn. I took the assembly apart, did a quick repair that might actually hold for awhile, and hooked it back up to the tank. I guess one bladder had to have been torn for awhile because Man was there a difference! There is much more air flow now than I have ever seen before. Which leads me to my question...
The 10-30 is still hooked up to the 55g, and the 30-60 only has one outlet hooked up now because of the upgraded flow. The 10-30 is still the quieter of the two, so I would like to maintain that on the main tank, but is the 30-60 really too much for the 10g with only one outlet hooked up (about the flow I had before)? Or should I really have the 30-60 hooked up to the 55g? Simply put, is the rating of the air pump really something that should be followed? Or is it more of a case where you just want to get enough flow for the look your after? Is there such a thing as too many/ too strong of bubbles where I could stress the fish, or is it like filters where there is no such thing as too much filtration. Am I even making sense?
Thanks!