Air Pump: Yes or No??

[Swank]

I'm getting my new tank squared away, but a couple of questions:

Currently the output for my Fluval filter is above water line. It creates a pretty good amount of turbulence, but is noisy/messy. My friend is suggesting I submerge it. Anyone have an opinion on this?

If I do this, I probably need to pump air in for the fish, right? An opinion on this?

Would this be a problem for CO2 for the plants?

 

[malkore]

You have less than 2 watts per gallon, which makes CO2 injection helpful, but not really necessary for great growth.

I can only relate my tank info to you: 75 gallons, 220watts, pressurized CO2 going 24/7. I run no airstone, and my output is below the water line - zero surface agitation. My fish do fine...but with my lighting, the plants pearl all day long, so I know the water is saturated with oxygen. on a low/moderately lit tank, that may not be the case.


Also, those clown loaches are gonna get too big for a 37gallon tank...and both the clowns and the yo-yo's prefer a group of 4 or more.

 

[Swank]

Thanks for the good advice, Malkore...

I would like to get more loaches...but I thought I was safe with the clowns sizewise, as I was under the impression that they grow slowly, and to smaller sizes than in the wild...if they get too big hopefully I could upgrade tank, or maybe sell 'em back to LFS

I believe with the amount of substrate that I have (average of 4 in) that my overall gallons are significantly less than 37, which would put me above 2watts.. I'm hoping to avoid CO2, thus the low light plants...

Thanks for airstone input.

 

[Swank]

we can probably ditch this thread unless someone has some new advice...there's plenty of discussion elsewhere on this forum.

Sounds like airstones are mostly okay for low light tanks, and that folks with CO2 may be averse to possible loss of CO2 due to increased surface turbulence.

I guess I'll wait and see and test for 02 and decide later...Unless anyone has any new strong opinion to add!!!

 

[Menagerie]

I don't keep plants, but if you want to submerge the output, that should be fine. I have my output angled up to give turbulence to the water's surface.

 

[malkore]

clowns do grow for several years..but by the end of year one, they're usually pushing 3". that's ok in your size of tank, provided they aren't overcrowded (and you aren't right now, if that's your entire stock).

Its not so much the number of gallons, as it is the depth of the tank. 30watts over a 20gallon long is more light intensity than 30watts over a 20 tall. If you had 4-5" of substrate in there, that would raise the plants enough that you could get more out of your lighting.

is this a bowfront tank? I only ask because they usually have 'weird' capacity's, like 37gal, or 72gal. I think bowfronts are usually taller than a standard size rectangle (my 75 gallon is about 20" deep)...which means you'd need more light to have the same intensity as a shallower tank.