I have a 75 gallon tank with three tinfoil barbs and a bunch of pictus cats. I have an aquaclear 110 powerfilter and an indergvavel with powerheads. at my LFS the shopkeeper has a huge tank under the counter with no airstone. my question is do I need an airstone? is my circulation good enough ware an airstone is not needed?
do I need an airstone or not?
- Thread starter sailon1984
- Start date
No.. with the 2 power filters you wont NEED to have airstones.
Of course it wont harm anything to put a couple of airstones or a bubble wall in, and I think the bubbles just look good in a tank.
Cheers
Ian
Of course it wont harm anything to put a couple of airstones or a bubble wall in, and I think the bubbles just look good in a tank.
Cheers
Ian
sailon1984;1139498; said:
Do your pwrhd's have hoses (they would have come w/ the pwrhd's, are clear, bout 3/16" id & about 6-8"long) that can be placed into a small hole on top of the outflow tube so that they draw air into the output flow (instructions will clearly describe this). If so & or you are, then that "should be plenty of air" (there should be a good flow of very tiny air bubbles coming from the output of your pwrhd's) depending on the flow rate you have them adjusted to. If they're wide open, blowin & goin, then that's more than most anyone w/ just an airstone can produce & even better w/ the increased flow. Do you know the man. name & the model of them? Make sure you're keeping up w/ the maint. on them too, just break'm dwn & rise well, clear air tubes w/ tooth pick at the end that goes into the outflow tube. When they get gunked up enough (sometimes that can mean just a few days), they won't supply any air & very little flow, which w/ an UWGVFLTR could spell disaster very quickly, depending on your maint. routine/how clean you keep your substrate . Depending on their (your PWRHD's) size, if they're big enough then w/ you AC110 you should have enough flow, but you could have a lot more. My last 75, I also had an UWGVFLTR w/ 4 pwrhd's, 2, AC 50's & 2, AC 70's, 2 Whisper HOB 60's, a Fluval internal, a Fluval 202 Can. & a 405 Can.
Careful w/ perceptions & assuming, unless you know the specifics of your LFS's tank then you have no way of knowing how air is supplied to it. It could have air being introduced to the tank a dozen different ways, who knows, have you asked? Also much depends on the "type" of filtration & level of bioload of your LFS's tank.
airstones are unnecessary imo. Your powerfilters waterfall will create the O2 you need. Fish do just fine without them.
I run hydro5 sponge filters in all of my tanks (air driven) and they have taught me a few things about water flow...
Sure....your powerheads...and power filters provide plenty of serface agitation to oxyiginate the water through gas exchange...airstones DON'T add O2 directly to the water as many novices think... so on the serface...it seems as if they do no good right?
Wrong...what air stones...air curtians...and in my case...the HYdro5's do is to provide large volume... low velosity water movement from the bottom of the tank to the top. This stiring motion helps the filters efficiancy and mixes the water.
Sure....your powerheads...and power filters provide plenty of serface agitation to oxyiginate the water through gas exchange...airstones DON'T add O2 directly to the water as many novices think... so on the serface...it seems as if they do no good right?
Wrong...what air stones...air curtians...and in my case...the HYdro5's do is to provide large volume... low velosity water movement from the bottom of the tank to the top. This stiring motion helps the filters efficiancy and mixes the water.
Air stone DO add oxygen to water, each bubble contains O2 and has a surface area which acts just like the water surface although the amount exchanged is questionable due to the size of each bubble and time spent in the water column.
IME the more surface agitation the better...but seriously I think bubbles look ridiculously gaudy. Your power filter should be plenty of agitation provided your tank isn't stocked too heavily. If you are really concerned about it add another powerhead pointed at the surface of the water.
Do you have plants? If you have plants, nix the airstones because they will aid the escaping of valuable CO2 from the water. In fact, you want very little surface agitation with plants.
Provided you do not ridiculously overstock your aquarium, there is absolutely no need for the addition of airstones. IMHO, they look gaudy, YMMV. If you are in doubt, try turning off your air pump for a while and see how the fish react. If they go to the surface and start "gasping", you know you need more water movement, so turn your airstone back on. Otherwise, leave it off and enjoy the silence.
Provided you do not ridiculously overstock your aquarium, there is absolutely no need for the addition of airstones. IMHO, they look gaudy, YMMV. If you are in doubt, try turning off your air pump for a while and see how the fish react. If they go to the surface and start "gasping", you know you need more water movement, so turn your airstone back on. Otherwise, leave it off and enjoy the silence.