Air Stones

[atmmachine816]

i am slowly changing my tank to a planted tank and i have a air stone and sometimes put in a bubble wall i have heard these are not good for planted tanks is this true should i get rid of them

thanks

 

[kenneth_kpe]

Air stones contribute to surface agitation so it also contributes to the loss of co2 in the water...

 

[Jer-]

and so yes, they are bad for a planted aquarium.

 

[iggy01]

The information you have been given is correct if you plan on running CO2.

However, if you don't intend utilizing CO2......... running an airstone won't do any harm at all.

Good luck!

 

[Ste_J]

I only run an airstone through the night to reset my CO2 levels ready for the next day this is only because I am trying out a period of super pumping CO2 into my tank 50 -60 ppm. When doing this I find that my water holds a high CO2 content right the way through and if I didn't degass then my fish would be floating by mid afternoon

Finding that increased CO2 has paid off though

So if your running CO2 then don't run an airstone whilst CO2 is being added to the tank but if your not then no worries

 

[atmmachine816]

ok well i dont use CO2 and dont plan on doing it either but would running a airstone in a tank without CO2 running would it still be taking out oxygen that they plants need or is it harmful to the plants

 

[iggy01]

ok well i dont use CO2 and dont plan on doing it either but would running a airstone in a tank without CO2 running would it still be taking out oxygen that they plants need or is it harmful to the plants

No, it won't be harmful to the plants.

Running an airstone will keep the water aerated, which will benefit the fish as well.

 

[smithrc]

I only run an airstone through the night to reset my CO2 levels ready for the next day this is only because I am trying out a period of super pumping CO2 into my tank 50 -60 ppm. When doing this I find that my water holds a high CO2 content right the way through and if I didn't degass then my fish would be floating by mid afternoon

surely you are systematically sufficating your fish...

ok the levels are not that high... but if you have to take measures to reduce it it is only a matter of time before you have an incident of overdosing and lost fish.

I've pulled our co2 system off and shelved the planted tank plans in favour of fish health...

 

[Ste_J]

surely you are systematically sufficating your fish... sly.gif

Not by the looks of it as none of the fish spend any amount of time gasping nor are their gills working overtime. The only time that I get fish at the top is when they are feeding or sucking scum - molly and occasional platy.

The master plan as it stands is to get the water flowing a bit more as it's currently still on the surface, once this is done there should be no need for air at night as the Tank should reset with a gradual PH swing.

50 - 60 is a drop in the ocean compared to some of the amounts that I have seen people pumping in and I don't see any benefit from running 30 in my tank although all setups are different so others may well disagree.