Air Pump

[jamie2010]

hi all.my pump runs,producing a bubble wall all day and night,but after reading a few posts on here it seems many people only use they'rs a few times a week,or just at night.
any suggestions?
jamie

 

[Pheonix]

hello Jamie im also a fellow Essex'er!

At the end of the day its up to you, do you use live plants in your tank? it is possible to over oxygenate the tank but you would have to be going some to do it and your plants would soon tell you as they wouldnt be getting enough Co2 and would start to die back.

alot of people do it during the night if they have live plants as hardly any oxygen is begin produced at night as the plants arnt photosynthesising(spelling?)

look at your fish, see if they seem happy, if they are reduce it until they seem less happy, then increase till you get the best medium, youll save yourself a few pence on the electricity bill lol

HTH
Andy

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah it depends a bit on your set up and what you want to do, my big tank isn't planted and I have a small air stone running 24/7, other tanks we only set up and run one if it's really hot or we're treating as a lot of meds remove oxygen from the water so you need to add some back in.

 

[jamie2010]

hi ,thanks for the response.i do have live plants and a co2 unit(wondered why i wasnt seeing results) so i think i'll turn it off for a few hours in the day and blast it again at night.
cheers essexonian thanks also miss wiggle

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hi ,thanks for the response.i do have live plants and a co2 unit(wondered why i wasnt seeing results) so i think i'll turn it off for a few hours in the day and blast it again at night.
cheers essexonian thanks also miss wiggle

yup you'll be countering the co2 input by putting extra oxygen in. People with planted tanks generally put the air stone's on at night if at all

 

[scubadoo]

If you're trying to increase the amount of oxygen in your water, an air pump isn't particularly effective.
IMO they are really more decorative, but I do still turn mine on when medicating - otherwise I tend to leave them off.

If you want to oxygenate your water for the fish, yu're better off making sure that the outlow from your filter ripples the surface of the water which increases surface area and allows for greater gas transfer.

 

[demonmagus]

hi ,thanks for the response.i do have live plants and a co2 unit(wondered why i wasnt seeing results) so i think i'll turn it off for a few hours in the day and blast it again at night.
cheers essexonian thanks also miss wiggle

yup you'll be countering the co2 input by putting extra oxygen in. People with planted tanks generally put the air stone's on at night if at all

actually I don't think people with planted tanks have airstones, as people have said it counteracts the CO2

 

[PrettyDiscus]

I have it running 24/7 because after opening the lid only 5 seconds to feed my fish my Gourami`s star gasping for about 20 minites.

 

[raptorrex]

for decoration imo but used well you can create excellent effects. and they can be used to create strong water flow in specific areas. though if you can stand the water loss, a big pump running full blast makes a hell of a storm on the surface, and can be as effective as anything. lots and lots of evaporation though. oh my arms. some deccos that hold a bit of air help a little too.

 

[MoMa]

Unless extremely oversized for the tank they're in airstones are ineffective at oxygenating the water.

What you're looking for in order to oxygenate the tank are surface agitation, substrate agitaion, and plant life.

If you have live plants, check the Planted Forum for advice on adding co2 to your water. The plants will use co2 and give off oxygen.
Surface agitation can be done with an airstone, if it's overpowering. For example, an air pump made for a 50 gallon tank, will produce a significant amount of surface agitation in a 10 gallon tank. Usually, however, this is done with either a HOB or Canister filter.
Substrate agitation is pretty much only done with a canister filter, aiming the output towards the substrate.

A larger than necessary HOB filter can achieve this in smaller (<40g) tanks.


I am not saying you should rid yourself of an airstone. Many people don't like them because of aesthetics. However, you know better than we do if your fish like them. For example, I once had clown loaches, oto cats, and even a pleco that all loved to swim downwards into the bubbles. It's a bit of fun for fish who otherwise can end up with rather dreary lives in a much smaller than natural environment.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hi ,thanks for the response.i do have live plants and a co2 unit(wondered why i wasnt seeing results) so i think i'll turn it off for a few hours in the day and blast it again at night.
cheers essexonian thanks also miss wiggle

yup you'll be countering the co2 input by putting extra oxygen in. People with planted tanks generally put the air stone's on at night if at all

actually I don't think people with planted tanks have airstones, as people have said it counteracts the CO2

yup, i said if at all.... i.e. they probably don't but if they wanted to put one on for a reason like when medicating then they'd have it on at night.

 

[scubadoo]

I have it running 24/7 because after opening the lid only 5 seconds to feed my fish my Gourami`s star gasping for about 20 minites.

I'm sure you know, but your Gourami's are labyrinth fish - ie they can breathe air directly from the surface, not just extracting oxygen from the water through their gills.

I wouldn't worry too much about a 'gasping' motion.

turn your stone off if you want to and monitor it - I'm sure it'll be fine.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I have it running 24/7 because after opening the lid only 5 seconds to feed my fish my Gourami`s star gasping for about 20 minites.

I'm sure you know, but your Gourami's are labyrinth fish - ie they can breathe air directly from the surface, not just extracting oxygen from the water through their gills.

I wouldn't worry too much about a 'gasping' motion.

turn your stone off if you want to and monitor it - I'm sure it'll be fine.

ahh correct, didn't spot it was a gourami.... yeah we had a little mishap with the co2 in Ian's tank yesterday and all the other fish we're suffocated and on the brink of death (all ok now, thankfully not lost any) and the gourami's we're swimming around completely fine.

 

[spudgun2k]

In my hunble opinion it really helped my tank having the airstone, a lot of my livebearers were gasping it seemed, after adding the airstone and leaving it running 24/7 they no longer do this.

I also had 2 fry and i turned off the pump one night to clean and forgot to turn back on, my fry were dead the following afternoon when i realised i had not turned it on. (poor lil things)

I think they work well and makes me happier knowing it running. i have a new fry and will not be turning off at all!!