filter sucking up air from the air stone

[The Duke 8705]

Does anyone have a tip or trick to avoid this problem? my friend has a 55 gallon tank set up and doesn't want to tear his tank apart to move the air stone. I know he is using a Rena XP4 and a really long air stone. We were thinking of try a piece of nylon stocking or something like that over the intake. any suggestions would be great.

[jkdubs2]

Maybe a sponge over intake. Or a decoration heavy enought to block the bubbles.

[BBradbury]

Originally Posted by The Duke 8705

Does anyone have a tip or trick to avoid this problem? my friend has a 55 gallon tank set up and doesn't want to tear his tank apart to move the air stone. I know he is using a Rena XP4 and a really long air stone. We were thinking of try a piece of nylon stocking or something like that over the intake. any suggestions would be great.

Hello Duke...

Had that problem too. The bubbles from the airstone were being drawn into the power filter. Had to move one or the other and then decided the filter was aerating the tank enough to the point I really didn't need the airstone, so I unplugged it, but left it in the tank.

Airstones do little to get O2 into the water and CO2 out. The reason is the bubbles rise and escape so quickly, there's very little gas exchange. If you have a filter with a gph (gallon per hour) rating at least 6 times the volume of your tank, then there's really no point in running an airstone, unless you like the bubble effect. The filter does a much better job of aeration.

Just a couple of thoughts to consider or not.

B

[fort384]

Yup, that was going to be my suggestion. Just turn off the airstone

[jkdubs2]

Originally Posted by fort384

Yup, that was going to be my suggestion. Just turn off the airstone

Ah well go with the obvious option hahah

[The Duke 8705]

I just spoke with him about it, its a 48" air stone and is just for looks. he got bored with his background and covered it with the bubbles. he is going to try a coarse sponge or piece of filter.