Advice On Air Pump Please

[Royster]

a mate of mine called down the other night to help me with my tank set up and with him he brought a spare air pump, Tetratec APS400 rated for tanks of 250l- 600l,

the other thing is my tanks only a 60l !!

i guess it's be overkill to pump in my tank but is there no way i can use this ?

he said something about getting a bleed valve for it so slow the pump to make it safer/better but also said if it doesn't suit swap/sell/give away to get a better suited one.

so whats the thoughts guys ?

swap?
sell ?
or just use as is ?


also he gave me something that lights up and air spins a cog inside to help spread the air. is this any use to me ?

 

[Tizer]

no

 

[Royster]

Fantastic reply which will really help me with my problem.

 

[fluttermoth]

I don't think you'll hav many problems using the air pump on your tank.

There are loads of different little valves and clamps you can get at your LFS to slow down the rate of air coming out if it turns out to be too powerful.

As for the lighting up spinny thing...well, it's up to you, but it will be for decorative purposes only I should think. Use it if you want to and you like the look if it; I shouldn't think the fish will give two hoots one way or the other

 

[Tizer]

You've not said what you are trying to achieve. So i hazard a guess that you are looking to get pretty air bubbles into your tank for decorative purposes with an air stone.

Since air bubbles serve no real purpose other than looking pretty, i kept my answer simple.

A light up spining do da, sounds as useful as a chocolate tea pot. So no, its not really of any use to you... unless you want a nightly disco session in your tank

Personally, in a 60L tank, less is better.

 

[Athena]

LOL

I think for a tank of your size you probably would only need an APS100. Even then, I'd make sure you have the valve fitted to the tubing so that you can adjust the flow to suit your fish. Not all fish like a strong current of bubbles. If it's too strong, your tank can begin to sound like a bubbling cauldron LOL

Any idea how old the APS400 is? You could advertise to sell it on the classified section of the forum boards - brand new they sell between £25-30ish, so secondhand I don't know...£10? £15? Depending on age and condition.

Not too sure what that other thing is you mentioned - could it be some kind of LED bubble maker?

Regards, Athena

 

[Royster]

Sorry tizer I didnt mean to be rude.

We my mate left off the pump he said it was good to oxigenate the way as it help do something, I'll be honest , I didn't listen to the why's!

I'll see about selling it then.
Cheers again for the help

 

[Bignose]

We my mate left off the pump he said it was good to oxigenate the way as it help do something, I'll be honest , I didn't listen to the why's!

This is commonly believed, but the science behind it is specious at best. A bubble of air moved up through the water so fast and the bubbles have such little surface area, that there really isn't enough time to do any significant gas exchange at the water-bubble interface. That is, the bubble cannot give up very much oxygen at all, and the bubble cannot take up much of the carbon dioxide in the water at all.

What bubbles can do is help circulate the water, bringing water at the bottom of the tank to the top where there is a large surface area and where the vast majority of oxygenation of the water occurs. The bubbles when they pop can also disturb the surface, and a disturbed surface will exchange gas faster than an undisturbed surface. However, unless your tank has very dead spots or a very weak filter return, even the circulation and disturbing of the surface from bubble popping are very small effects.

Hence, it really isn't needed, if you have a filter that turns the entire volume of the tank over 7 to 10 times an hour. E.g. for your 60L tank, if you have a filter rated for 420L/hr to 600L/hr, you should be fine.

 

[Royster]

Cheers bignose, I'll see about passing this on then,

Cheers Rhory