Filter as aerator

[spotty]

Hello,
I was browsing through a fish shop the other day and saw a power filter (of the type that goes in the tank) which had a fitting on it causing it to suck in air and blow it out the outlet.
Can this be used in place of an air pump/stone? It does seem to make as many bubbles as the air stone.
What I like about it is how quiet and cheap it is.

 

[david27]

Spotty I've got a fluval 4 with this feature I found it made quite a bit of noise, but then my air pump is in a cupboard so if it is any noisier than the pump i don't know.
The other factor to consider is that you are combining things and i always feel that is better to have 2 seperate systems.

hope this helps

David

 

[Alien Anna]

It's not really necessary to have loads of bubbles in your tank (unless you want them). If your power filter is working correctly it should provide sufficient aeration as it is - after all, its the disruption to the surface that causes oxygen to be absorbed into the air. You can't pump oxygen into the water from an air-stone or whatever!

Air-stones are useful in some situations and I think you should always have an air-pump and air-stone on hand, in case of emergencies. An air-stone can produce more disruption to the surface than normal and could therefore increase oxygenation. However, once water is 100% saturated with oxygen, you can't stuff in any more!

I'd say don't waste your money, unless you like it for cosmetic reasons.

 

[Sinuhe]

I have a Fluval 3Plus internal filter that's got an option of leading air into the water that's being blown out of the filter. However, it really is quite noisy, and after a while I decided to go without. The flow of water coming from the filter breaks the surface of the water, anyway, and makes the surface move enough to oxygenate the water, I think.

 

[pondfreak4365]

We use the venturi on our powerheads that run the undergravel. This is in addition to our regular filtration and air curtains. They are very noisy, but we only use them on the large tanks, 55 and 75 gallon, which are in the living room. Don't know whether they help a lot, but we like the turbulence and our fish are healthy.