Whats the best way to aerate a freshwater aquarium?

[ditosdad]

I have a 40 gal freshwater tank and a marineland emperor 400 power filter running it. I wanted to know if my tank is getting enough oxygen through it and if not whats the best way to do so? Would a power head do the trick?

 

[mudraker]

That should be plenty of filtration for a 40.

However, you can do anything from a simple airstone with a airpump on up to investing in a powerhead.

 

[ditosdad]

How could I tell if there is enough oxygen getting through?

 

[mudraker]

If your water is oxygen deprived, your fish will stay at the top of the tank and their mouths will open and close near the water surface. They call it gasping, though they aren't actually gasping.

What makes you think your water is oxygen deprived?

 

[ditosdad]

Well, first after I do a pwc the fish seem revived like fresh oxygen has been given with the aqueon water vac. Also not sure if this has to do with oxygen levels but I did a pwc on Fri and the ammonia levels were up again today so I did another pwc.

 

[ditosdad]

Hope that makes sense!

 

[mudraker]

Fish often perk up after a PWC, especially with ammonia issues. I highly doubt they are oxygen deprived.

If you are having ammonia issues you must do at least a 50% PWC daily until the tank stops cycling. Aeration won't matter is the fish are being poisoned.

 

[ditosdad]

Thats good advice. So if I do a 50% pwc daily, will the tank start to sustain itself?

 

[mudraker]

Eventually it will.

How long has the tank been cycling?

 

[ditosdad]

I was doing the fishless cycle for dummies and at week 4 the ammonia levels were still at 3-4 ppm the nitrites hit a wall at 1 ppm. so at week 5 I did a huge water change to get rid of the ammonia then added fish. I have been monitoring very close and you know the rest!

 

[Laurence]

The amount of oxygen in the tank is determined by the air surface, where oxygen exchange takes place. You don't give the dimensions of your tank, but I would say follow the rule of one inch of fish for each 10 square inches of air surface and you should have no problem. (One of the biggest mistakes aquarists make is overcrowding their tanks - which causes no end of difficulty.)