Is it safe?

[sedgy90]

To kink the airline to make the air quantity less? as the flow is way to high for my rcs breeder tank.

Cheers

 

[Tetra1990]

I'm sure you could, have you looked into a diffuser?

 

[sedgy90]

Haha do u know it never even crossed my mind to use one. I have a glass one in my main tank for co2 but the plastic ones are cheaper so might get one.
The pump seems to run quieter and vibrates less with a kink it the airline. Will see how it goes tonight.

Wierdly Yesterday I took danio's out of my 9gal and put them in my main tank and then put my rcs into my 9gal to breed, I just noticed whilst faffin with my airline I have very tiny danio babies haha. If my rcs do breed soon will they bother each other?

Baby rcs and baby danios I mean?

 

[Tetra1990]

Congrats on your baby danios! It could be possible though. Remember if a fish can fit something in it's mouth, IT IS FOOD! For now though, the fry shouldn't be a problem.

 

[sedgy90]

Haha cheers. Shld be ok for now they are as thin as a hair and about 5mm long.

 

[NATO]

I wouldn't kink the airline, you'll put pressure on the pump diaphragm which could seriously shorten its lifespan.

If you need to control the airflow rate, get a little splitter which splits in two (controlled usually by little screw down caps to allow you to open/close each output (Algarde make them from memory, but others exist). Then just connect your airline to one of the outputs and open the other output just enough to divert a little of the excess air away. Your pump will thank you for it!

 

[sedgy90]

Awesome. Cheers for that. Gonna b busy on ebay now haha.

 

[Cactuspixie]

I don't see why kinking would be a problem, as they sell airline clamps to serve the same purpose.

 

[NATO]

If you think about it though, the pump is mechanically designed to operate at a particular speed with no restriction on its output, if you clamp or restrict it in any way you are forcing it to work against this which will hurt it in the long term.

The manual I found online for a Hagen pump states the following :

"Back pressure is the build-up of pressure on the diaphragm due to restricted air flow. This occurs when excess air is produced by the air pump, or when the air channels are inadvertently blocked. Back pressure over time resulting from clogged air stones or other air system blockages and restrictions will cause the diaphragm to expand or rupture. An expanded diaphragm leads to a loss of air volume while a rupture results in the total loss of air"

There's a description in that manual on how to reduce airflow by bleeding off excess pressure with another outlet, have a quick skim over it.

 

[Cactuspixie]

If you think about it though, the pump is mechanically designed to operate at a particular speed with no restriction on its output, if you clamp or restrict it in any way you are forcing it to work against this which will hurt it in the long term.

The manual I found online

There's a description in that manual on how to reduce airflow by bleeding off excess pressure with another outlet, have a quick skim over it.

Diaphragms are cheap enough to replace when they eventually wear out, but they last a fair while. I don't like to have an open outlet because its too noisy. If I'm not using all my outlets, I pop a piece of airline tubing onto it with a check valve inserted back to front.
If you put a 4 way splitter on a single outlet, then block one of them, then the air is just pushed through 3 instead of four outlets. Which is more than the original one outlet. I may very well be using false logic (I'm known for that) but it makes sense on my head. Lol!

My large air pump is electromagnetic, and WAY more powerful than I need. Until I can get hold of some of the little clamps, or the valves with the little taps on them, I have tied loose knots in the lines that go into tanks with fish that don't appreciate the turbulence (like my ember tetras). The outlets I don't need, I have blocked off with check valves.

 

[Fresh2o]

You can reduce the noise from the "bleeder" line by running a length of air hose into something to muffle the sound such as a folded sock or wad of filter floss (of course tucked away out of sight).