Newbie Filter Help

[SgtKing]

Hello,

I wanted to ask some professionals for some help with my aquarium filter. I have a 120L (32 US gal.) Aquarium and i have an underwater filter for it. There is a small tube that connects to the top of the filter and when put outside water this tube drags in air and provides oxygen to the fish (and also makes A LOT of noise)

My question : is the tube and the bubbles from the filter mandatory for my fish. and does the filter suffer in any way if the oxygen tube is completely plugged and is not dragging air in.

The reason why i ask this is that the airflow from my filter is so strong it's pushing my plants and it's very hard for them to root themselves and also i see some of my fish are having a hard time swimming against the current.

In my tank i have many guppies and 2 small catfish.

PS. the manual in my filter is very poorly written that's why i am asking for help here.

Thank you in advance,

 

[mbkemp]

Is it a sponge filter? Does it connect to an air pump?

 

[SgtKing]

It's an AquaNova NBF-1200

Yes, it does have a sponge.

 

[mbkemp]

Google was not much help. I did find that flow should be directional. I would try to baffle it against the glass and see how that goes

 

[SgtKing]

Google was not much help. I did find that flow should be directional. I would try to baffle it against the glass and see how that goes

That's exactly what i did after posting this thread, the plants are not under so much stress anymore but the airflow is still very strong.

 

[Mdmike52]

You don’t need the air tube. That’s pretty much just if you like seeing a bunch of bubbles in your water so you can actually see your water flow. Most of the oxygen your fish get is from the surface of the water in the tank So it is always good to keep the surface water moving and mixing with the water farther down. You can aim this filter very slightly upward so you can see the surface water being perturbed. This will show that the surface water is being moved and mixed with the other water. Another common way to do this is an air stone which is constantly moving water upward from the bottom to replace the surface water which will move downward on the other end of the tank. The bubbles being created by your filter are adding a VERY SMALL amount of oxygen but they are not necessary if your surface water is in motion either from that pump or from an air stone near the bottom of the tank.

 

[Mdmike52]

Also if you have any salt in that water such as in a brackish water tank bubbles will cause salt creep all over the place. Bubbles and salt do you not mix.