Oxygen
- Thread starter Amphilophus88
- Start date
I would PERSONALLY add a sponge filter like a Hydor run with an air pump. This will add oxygen and act as a great additional biological filter and decent mech filter. They are super cheap too.
Edit: on your size tank I would run two Hydor Vs with a dual output air pump, one on each side of the tank.
Also, if your power goes out, sponge filters have a large amount of beneficial bacteria still in the tank to keep up your cycle... much better than nothing.
Final edit: also, if you ever need to start up a new tank or help a friend, a cycled sponge filter is GREAT.
Edit: on your size tank I would run two Hydor Vs with a dual output air pump, one on each side of the tank.
Also, if your power goes out, sponge filters have a large amount of beneficial bacteria still in the tank to keep up your cycle... much better than nothing.
Final edit: also, if you ever need to start up a new tank or help a friend, a cycled sponge filter is GREAT.
Does adding chlorinated water directly to the tank before adding Prime ever kill the bio in the sponge or is it fine? Something I always wondered about. Still beats a plain airstone, though.
if you have two cannisters then you don't need anything else. some fish don't like a lot of current, and airstones are a waste if you have spraybars. I have cannisters at each end in my 120gal discus tank. I keep the spraybars at each end pointed at each other and high enough to created good surface aggitation. I do not run co2 as I only have floating plants which don't seem to like the surface movement but my concern is the fish and not the plants.
oxygen enters then water at the water/air interface... when the water is disrupted...
Which is why we always hear the term 'surface agitation' as being important when considering oxygen levels in the water...
The second thing that is important is water circulation. With tons of agitation at the surface and no circulation, the water at the top of the tank is oxygen rich but the lower levels becomes depleted.
Saying you have two canister filters doesn't give us much information. If the intake and the return are submerged and not agitating the surface, then you may have low oxygen levels... If your intake and return are very close to the surface in a deep tank, then the top of the water may be oxygen rich but the lower levels could be depleted...
The ideal situation would be to have the intake low in the tank and the return at the top creating surface agitation. This distrubs the surface bringing oxygen into the water and with the intake low in the tank it ensures oxygen rich water from the surface is pulled low in the tank to replace what exits the intake.
Adding a powerhead can help but where/how you add it makes a big difference. If you need more surface agitation put it high in the tank pointing up to break the water's surface. if you have ample surface agitation but lack circulation, place it high in the tank pointing down to send the oxygen rich water to the lower regions of the aquarium.
Adding a bubble wand or bubble filter helps as it sends water up from the lower regions of the tank which in turn pulls surface water down elsewhere in the tank. It also creates surface agitation allowing oxygen to enter the water.
Do note that the bubbles in the water do very very little to add oxygen to the water. it is the surface agitation they create that allows the oxygen to enter the water.
A bit off topic but... it is very true that chlorine kills bacteria. But we have to keep in mind that the chlorine levels in tap water are only a few parts per million (exact value differes from town to town and even house to house).
I do small water changes (less than 25%) all the time without adding any dechlorinator and I never have detectable ammonia levels as a result...
I do not use "bio media" and rinse my mechanical media directly under hot tap water all the time and I never have detectable ammonia levels as a result.
I think most people are grossly over cautious when it comes to chlorinated water killing bacteria. Which is better than the opposite extreme but is not "necessary"...
Which is why we always hear the term 'surface agitation' as being important when considering oxygen levels in the water...
The second thing that is important is water circulation. With tons of agitation at the surface and no circulation, the water at the top of the tank is oxygen rich but the lower levels becomes depleted.
Saying you have two canister filters doesn't give us much information. If the intake and the return are submerged and not agitating the surface, then you may have low oxygen levels... If your intake and return are very close to the surface in a deep tank, then the top of the water may be oxygen rich but the lower levels could be depleted...
The ideal situation would be to have the intake low in the tank and the return at the top creating surface agitation. This distrubs the surface bringing oxygen into the water and with the intake low in the tank it ensures oxygen rich water from the surface is pulled low in the tank to replace what exits the intake.
Adding a powerhead can help but where/how you add it makes a big difference. If you need more surface agitation put it high in the tank pointing up to break the water's surface. if you have ample surface agitation but lack circulation, place it high in the tank pointing down to send the oxygen rich water to the lower regions of the aquarium.
Adding a bubble wand or bubble filter helps as it sends water up from the lower regions of the tank which in turn pulls surface water down elsewhere in the tank. It also creates surface agitation allowing oxygen to enter the water.
Do note that the bubbles in the water do very very little to add oxygen to the water. it is the surface agitation they create that allows the oxygen to enter the water.
A bit off topic but... it is very true that chlorine kills bacteria. But we have to keep in mind that the chlorine levels in tap water are only a few parts per million (exact value differes from town to town and even house to house).
I do small water changes (less than 25%) all the time without adding any dechlorinator and I never have detectable ammonia levels as a result...
I do not use "bio media" and rinse my mechanical media directly under hot tap water all the time and I never have detectable ammonia levels as a result.
I think most people are grossly over cautious when it comes to chlorinated water killing bacteria. Which is better than the opposite extreme but is not "necessary"...
