Air stone/air pump problems

[packer43064]

Well I recently, like a few weeks ago bought a long airstone(like a 12 inch one) compared to the ole small round airstone. The thing is it, doesn't have bubbles coming out of all of it. Just a few inches of it, like maybe 3 tops of the whole 12 inch airstone. I even bought a new one, which looked better made and it still didn't work, so I know it's not the manufacturing of the airstone. it must be the air pump. I have just a little 20 gal rated air pump for the 125 and it does this 2-3 inches bubbles not the whole 12 inch.

I plugged the 12 inch airstone into my 120 rated pump(it's a cheapo, but still better than the 20 rated air pump, and put the airstone in the 56. Guess what, it still only put 2-3 inches of bubbles out. So It must be the air pump, and their not even old. Less than a year of use and the 120 and 20 rated does the same on the airstone. Now I'm thinking it must be the height of the tank (their both somewhere around 18 in tall). Is there a good air pump that will fix this, or what else could be wrong. It's a simple airstone, why is it not working.

Here's a pic of what i'm talking about.

 

[KYeasting]

Sometimes these things take time to work well. I've had the same problems before, and it just took time in the tank to get air to flow through the whole stone. Do you have more than one stone hooked up to the same airline (through a T)? It so, one may offer a path for the air to flow more freely than the other. I've experienced this as well. If you think depth in the tank is an issue, try setting the stone up (and level!) in the tank and let us know if that makes things better.

 

[packer43064]

The one in the 125 has been in there for at least 2 weeks, IDK. I see what your saying, it even said on the package that it might take a day for it to work properly. I'll try taking it higher in the tank and see if air comes out of all of it.

 

[Chaitika]

It could be that the air stone is junky, but more than likely your air pump is not strong enough. Do you have an airline "T" so that you could hook up both air pumps to the airstone?

In my experience, unless you're going more than 2 feet deep into a tank, the depth has little influence on the amount of air reaching the stone.

 

[agassizi]

im thinkin just give it some time as i see bubbles coming out the end too. mine did this for about a week and all of a sudden more bubbles came out the end.

 

[k0y0te]

i had one in my 30g. did you soak it for an hour before use? i know on the one i had it said to soak it for at least an hour so it could work properly. im not sure how soaking it helps but i was just wondering..lol though u think after running the air through it after a few moments the whole thing would bubble.

 

[packer43064]

i had one in my 30g. did you soak it for an hour before use? i know on the one i had it said to soak it for at least an hour so it could work properly. im not sure how soaking it helps but i was just wondering..lol though u think after running the air through it after a few moments the whole thing would bubble.

I would think the same also, I mean soaking for an hour or so or just running air through it for 2 weeks, huh? who knew, lol.

im thinkin just give it some time as i see bubbles coming out the end too. mine did this for about a week and all of a sudden more bubbles came out the end.

It's been 2 weeks, if it takes 2 plus weeks of a 12 inch airstone to fully function then, manufacturer's need to make them better somehow, lol. It's good now I got it fixed.

Well I used the T thing which everyone said to try. I moved the 120 rated near the 125 and used the T thing to put both outlets to go through the airstone. Well it worked like a charm, thansk guys. I knew this T thing would come in handy when I got it for free.