Air Bubble Makers

[andyG44]

Do I really need them? The machine and the bubbles are making the worst noise. I switched them off and it's so pleasantly quiet. Do they just oxygenate the water? Can I measure the oxygen to see where I am? I think it is called TDO. But what do you think?

 

[Fish'nchips]

No - you don't need them if you have sufficient surface area, surface water movement and not over-stocked tank. If you still need it, you can get an attachment for where the filter outlets to the water that sucks in air (for many brands anyhow depending on the filter type).

 

[DrRob]

They do have their uses. Battery powered ones can be tank savers in a prolonged power cut and old school undergravel units can work well with them. Otherwise, they're largely decorative in many tanks.

 

[Bubbelzzz]

No, under normal circumstance you do not need them at all. 
According to some it is more harmful to use them then not using them at all. This is since these bubbles also remove CO2 out of your tank. This can cause problems with algae. 

 

[TallTree01]

Nah, normally no need for bubblers. Take it out if you find it annoying, the fish might enjoy the quiet too.

 

[Fish'nchips]

Is there actually any evidence though that air blocks remove CO2 from an aquarium which doesn't have added CO2? After all, the air going in through the airbock has the same proportion of CO2 in it as atmospheric air, and this in turn will similar (with the difference of what the fish are breathing out) to the tank water.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The normal process of gas exchange between a tank and the atmosphere will normally reach equilibrium. This doesn't mean the dissolved gasses in water are there in the same proportion a the atmosphere. Water can hold only so much of any gas and that level should be reached as long as there is sufficient surface agitation. When there is the gasses will move in the required direction to reach normal equilibrium. So if there is too little co2 in the water, agitation will allow more in, and the same applies in reverse.
 
Airstones and surface agitation will let out excess co2 but if a tank is below the normal concentration, it will let in co2. So it is when one is adding go2 to the water that minimizing surface agitation is a good idea. Typically, we only add co2 to planted tanks and then only when the plant load has such a high co2 demand that simple surface agitation cannot replace the co2 as rapidly as the plants can use it up. While some co2 addition will usually help any planted tank, even low light ones, it is usually only needed in higher light applications.
 
It is possible, by minimizing surface agitation in a planted tank, to raise the level of co2 in the water some, but not enough to meet higher level demands.
 
Most of the gas benefit of an airstone is due to the surface agitation the bubbles make. Another benefit is from the rising action of the bubbles which creates current that helps with circulation in a tank. And then, many folks like the look of the rising bubbles.

 

[andyG44]

I found a good article which says you can go the other way and kill the fish! http/www.lenntech.com/why_the_oxygen_dissolved_is_important.htm
 
I had a spate of fish death and some of my fish did appear to have "air bubbles" on them, on their fins, everywhere. I thought it might have been velvet but they did look like air bubbles...

 

[TwoTankAmin]

First off that is not really a good article. It is extremely difficult to super saturate gasses in an aquarium.
 
By the way, how many trout are you keeping in your tank?
 
The one part that is relevant is the fact that the warmer water is, the loss O it can hold.
 
Redox is usually more important an issue and the average fish keeper has no clue about this. It has to do with chemical reactions that add or remove O from the water. For example, dechlor reduces oxygen levels after it is added because it is a reducing agent.

 

[Bubbelzzz]

I found a good article which says you can go the other way and kill the fish! http/www.lenntech.com/why_the_oxygen_dissolved_is_important.htm
 
I had a spate of fish death and some of my fish did appear to have "air bubbles" on them, on their fins, everywhere. I thought it might have been velvet but they did look like air bubbles...

 
This isn't a good article at all. Especially since it focuses on fish that inhabit water that, normally, doesn't reach the temperatures that our fish will face in their natural habitat. 
There are a lot of fishes for aquariums that can survive surprisingly low oxygen levels. So a oxygen deficiency isn't a very common problem in a tank.