Air Pump causing too much surface agitation

[Rxblade123]

I put a air pump on my 46 gallon to give the tank some oxygen, since I think it helps the bacteria colonize and reproduce faster. Correct me if I'm wrong please. Well I put an airstone on the airline and when the bubbles come up and burst little bits of water flies in every direction. The cover glass above where the bubbles burst is all wet. How can I prevent this? I'm afraid my HOB Whisper 60 will do that too. Oh btw am I suppose to turn on the heater and filter while the tank is cycling?

 

[Bubble_Boy]

lots of oxygen = bacteria reproduce faster
kinda true... .they DON'T reproduce faster per-se....
its just that it keeps them alive!!

the FACT IS:
by having an airstone, it ENSURES that the fish and bacteria BOTH get SUFFICIENT oxygen !!! hence, they can live, multiply and perform their cell division etc...
make sense??



ok..
you mentioned your airstone and filter is producing lots of splashing and water is flying everywhere...
can you turn DOWN the airpump or filter at all???
to be honest....it does NOT need to run at full blast !!!!!!!!!!
let me repeat...the airpump and filter do NOT need to run at full blast !!!

a common misconception is that you need to run the airpump and filter at full blast to produce lots of oxygen and clean the tank.
FALSE.
as long as there are both turned ON..they are working !!!
ofcourse...you don't want the filter to be working at low efficiency.

So my advice...just play around with the airpump and filter settings till you find a balance where there is no splashing of water everywhere...
and you see lots of airbubbles from the airstone (like i said, it does NOT need to be run at full blast).

yes turn the heater and filter ON during cycling !!!
NEVER TURN THEM OFF !!!!
except when doing a water change ofcourse (especially the heater..it can crack)
turn the heater on at 70-80 degrees F or 20-25 degrees celcius.
Bacteria multiply and divide at a quicker rate when heated..the division process is sped-up and accelerated.

 

[BrianNY]

Also, you can control the air flow from your pump by adding a gang valve. This allows you to set the intensity of bubbles from your airstone.

 

[Rxblade123]

OIC. I have a relatively small air pump for my tank. Its Elite 800. How do you keep the Air Pump from moving around?

 

[loganj]

As mentioned above, you don't have to run the pump wide open. But, you're going to have the wet glass on top to some extent as long as you have an airstone. IMO, an airstone is not necessary as long as you have a filter that is causing some surface agitation. I would run it if I liked the way it looked and that's the only reason. With the pump you have, adding the gang valve so you can bleed some pressure off is the only way you can cut back on the air flow. To keep the pump from moving around, try sitting it on a piece of foam rubber...or even a sponge. That will also cut down on the noise. Your Whisper filter shouldn't splash water on the top as long as it's working properly. JMHO.

 

[gheitman]

You could get a shelf for your air pump to hang it on the back of the tank. I got one at my lfs and it has a raised edge to keep the air pump from falling off.

 

[Melody]

a folded up papertowel also works...

 

[TankGirl]

Mouse pads work great, too!