is an air pump essential?

[skjl47]

I think air pumps and air driven filters have their place, for raising fry and for species that don't appreciate current they can be useful. For larger species water driven pumps/venturis maybe more efficient. I thought I had heard fluming water pumps were more efficient than airstones at increasing O2.

Hello; While I can and have set up types of equipment, other than the air pump driven, to break the water surface and add oxygen, that is not the value of the separate air pump to me.

In the past the power filters were not reliable for various reasons and often had failures. More in the form of breaking a siphon than perhaps anything else. The current stuff does not break or fail often, but it can happen. An air driven bubbler, UGF or some such other has been tank saving insurance many times for me. I am at home most of the time now, but had to be away a lot years ago. Many a time have I come home to a bubbler being the only working aeration in a tank. For those who never had to experience the decades of unreliable power filters, my use of the bubblers as a crutch may not seem needed. To me it is a natural thing to do just as having a spare tire in a car seems a no-brainer. I just cannot bring myself to consider a car without a spare tire. My lessons learned about these things may be from distant past experiences, so be it.

I do not run the air powered stuff exclusively in most tanks any more. I do run powered filtration in almost all tanks with bubblers as an attractive feture and some insurance.

 

[chopsteeks]

I prefer the venturi type aeration method. I put mini valves on the airline to turn them off if need be.
One thing not mentioned very often regarding the use of aeration...air pumps or otherwise...the very annoying reality of saltcreep and mineral deposits. Aerating the water will dramatically accelerate its formation. Saltcreep is very much a part of owning a saltwater tank and if you add salt to your freshwater tank, adding air really increases evaporation. Evaporation is one way to cool a tank as well.
Years ago I tried an experiment to see if I could cool a tank with the addition of air....to my surprise, the simple addition of air into the water column cooled the tank. Later, I realized that it was probably due to evaporation being accelerated by the air being added. Anyway, most people regard adding air as a way to simply move water and increase surface area to be exposed to the atmosphere. ...but many just think it looks cool...and I agree.

Thank you very much for this explanation about evaporation. I checked my sump's water level this morning as I am heading out of town this weekend. The water level went down dramatically than normal. At first I thought the old 125 tank was leaking. No leaks found, but I was wondering why it lost water.

Bingo !!

I put a sponge filter last week as I was about to strip one of the female Frontosas. This explains why the evaporation was more than normal.

This board is a great forum to educate hobbyist like myself.