Air pump & Lighting running time.

[777james777]

Most people have either a filter or an air pump for the tank. Water is also oxygenated without a pump or a filter, but with good agitation you have higher oxygen content in the water, good for the fish, especially if you have many fish in a small volume of water. Gentle water movement is also good for live plants.

You can get a mechanical timer to turn your pump on / off. One in the photo costs me under $A 10, I set it to turn on a small filter between 10am and midnight. I have one small fish in a 50L tank, I think the fish wouldn’t know any difference even if there was no filter, but it’s good for live plants.

Many people don’t like air pumps because of the noise and vibration, although pumps these days are fairly quiet. When first turned on out of the box it’s a bit noisy, but it’s a lot quieter when you attach an air tube to it. Placing air pump on the carpet also reduces the vibration.

Okay thank you for the information.
I defiantly will be getting one. I think they really finish off the mood and look of the tank, and if its good for the plants and the fish then this is a bonus.
The filter pump I have has one of the bars that you can attach about 10cm long that allows water to trickle into the tank from above the water level im going to be putting the air pump just in front of my heater and there will be a tall ornament with plant their too. (The plan is to essentially hide the filter etc - see the picture next to my profile name)

 

[Essjay]

Gas exchange happens at the surface of the water. Oxygen get used up in the water and more dissolves from the air. Carbon dioxide is made in the tank by respiration and that leaves the tank into the air. The more water surface that's exposed to air, the more gas exchange can happen.
Filters take water in at one end and push it out at the other. The outflow water moves across the tank under the surface, hits the tank wall at the other end and goes down, then across the lower part of the tank and back to the filter. This constantly pulls water from the bottom to the top so the surface is always changing.
The bubbles from an air stone pull water up from the bottom of the tank, and this also changes the surface water.
So with a filter, an air stone is not necessary, but if you like the effect use one.