Air Stones

[Notsofab]

When I first set up our tank, we went for 2 'gimmick' style air features - a snappy crocodile and an oyster shell. I hadn't really considered how important it was to get adequate amounts of oxygen into the water for the well being of my fish and purchased these 'toys' purely because they looked good.

We quickly realised that the shell particularly was releasing very large oxygen bubbles that was making the surface of our tank quite turbulant. Because of the amount of water movement we also used to switch the air features off at night as well as I didn't think the fish would rest in such turbulant water.

We have subsequently removed the oyster shell feature and replaced it with a longish ( 3" ) air stone that creates a great bubble curtain at the back of our tank. The croc still remains though but the water is much less turbulant than before.

My question, should we leave the water features on 24/7? I know that you can't have too much oxygen in the water, but will the fish appreciate more tranquil waters to rest in? Should I switch the air flow off at night to enable them to rest?

Thanks.

 

[trace1]

not sure if you are supposed to turn them off at nite i know mine are on all the time, i've also got the big air stone curtain thingy lol. but i leave them on all the time, i also have my filter running so it creates water movement just in case

 

[Fry Lady]

I aerate all of my tanks heavily. It can't hurt and water movement is good!

 

[Saz]

I keep mine on all the time. I don't think it matters to fish if the water is quite turbulant, it will only be at the surface anyway so if they were disturbed they could move away-i mean it would be like that in the wild in streams as the current is usually strongest at the surface. It is more important that you get plenty of dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[The-Wolf]

the airstones do not add O2 to the water directly, they create surface aggitation and that is where O2 enters the tank. airstones also drive out CO2 which is not good for plants.
Remember plants are opposite from us, they breath in CO2 and exhale O2.
at night this process is reversed though so they need O2 at night
other than that, for non-planted tanks, the bubbles created are more a gimick than a necessitiy

It can't hurt and water movement is good!

[snapback]911197[/snapback]​

overairation can lead to fish suffering from gas bubble disease, so it can hurt
if there is too much.

 

[Saz]

Yeah exactly all the more reson for having one! If plants respire at night as well as the fish, the fish are going to be competing for oxygen at night so agitation of the surface would be necessary to stop the fish from suffocating!

 

[andywg]

It is very hard to get the tank to a level where the fish are truly competing with the plants for oxygen and I am yet to read of a single person having a fish die in such a way.

I'm no fan of airstones and the like as they look a little tacky and do not function very well. Strangely enough NotSoFab, by removing the most turbulent one you have removed the most effective airator. As Wolfy rightly says, the bubbles in the water have next to no effect on oxygenating the water but the turbulence at the surface helps with getting the gas exchange going. I find that better positioning a filter outlet does far more for water turbulence.

But they're just my opinions.

 

[KeddyPie]

I don't use any airstone in my tanks. For one, because all but one of my tanks are male betta tanks.... My community tank, I leave the filter on high. It disturbs the water just fine. Also, though I might be making this up, I think that the water plunging into another body of water (as the outtake does) probably creates more air in the water then air being released from the water going towards the surface does...

Not to mention my tanks are pretty heavily planted, which adds at least a minute amount of air to the water. My fish are all in perfect health.

 

[Weaver]

I leave mine on all the time and Ive noticed the clown loaches,dwarf honey gouramis and some of the tetras play in the air curtain sometimes so they obviously enjoy the turbulence.

 

[Ani]

I don't use ornaments in my tank because of my Pearl Gouramis. They don't like too much 'splash' as they seem to find it difficult to breathe. But if you don't have labyrinths, it should be fine. Interesting what Weaver says about his playful Honey Gouramis though. Maybe mine are just whinging!

xx

 

[SirMinion]

we used to switch the air features off at night as well as I didn't think the fish would rest in such turbulant water.

[snapback]911170[/snapback]​

Not so in most cases.
Remember that most of the fish we keep come from rivers or large lakes with tides & currents. These fish have evolved to be comfortable in a constantly moving enviroment.

Some fish that come from white water streams such as most species of plec positively benefit from a strong current and extra aeration.

Of course there always exception such as the Betta which evolved to live in water so still that it has become stagnant and hold very little oxygen at all (known as oxygen debt) ... hence the Betta's ability to breath atmospheric oxygen.

 

[trace1]

I leave mine on all the time and Ive noticed the clown loaches,dwarf honey gouramis and some of the tetras play in the air curtain sometimes so they obviously enjoy the turbulence.

[snapback]911497[/snapback]​

think all my fish at one time or another have played in the bubble curtain, the cories seem to love it its really funny watching them swim all round the tank & then into the bubble curtain