Getting Fed Up And Put Off The Hobby Of Fish Keeping!

[chefjamesscott]

I CANT SAY THIS FAST ENOUGH YOU NEED AN AIR PUMP

There are people who have told me that air pumps are not needed, they dont add anything etc.....

But, if they would actually do some science research they would find that yes indeed air pumps and bubblers do not only agitate the water surface to release trapped gasses in the water, they actually add micro bubbles to the water and so add O2 to the water a item that fish need to be able to live since the absorb disolved O2 through their gills

Another thing I would do is regular moving around of your substrate so as to release any possible trapped air from decomposition and when you do your filter maintenance i would also suggest cleaning the inside of the filter etc. in tank water when you do a wc

For a water conditioner I prefer to use seachem prime as I have found it to be not only cost effective but very effective.

Sorry if i overlapped as i did not read the thread but posted to your first post

 

[pauly]

I'm not sure that an air pump is that essential. If your aquarium was lacking oxygen then the fish would be gasping for air at the top. However as you have real plants, this could be happening at night when the lights are off and the plants use the oxygen in the water. Keep an eye on whats happening in your tank at night, it might be very different to what's happening during the day.

 

[three-fingers]

I CANT SAY THIS FAST ENOUGH YOU NEED AN AIR PUMP

There are people who have told me that air pumps are not needed, they dont add anything etc.....

But, if they would actually do some science research they would find that yes indeed air pumps and bubblers do not only agitate the water surface to release trapped gasses in the water, they actually add micro bubbles to the water and so add O2 to the water a item that fish need to be able to live since the absorb disolved O2 through their gills

Another thing I would do is regular moving around of your substrate so as to release any possible trapped air from decomposition and when you do your filter maintenance i would also suggest cleaning the inside of the filter etc. in tank water when you do a wc

For a water conditioner I prefer to use seachem prime as I have found it to be not only cost effective but very effective.

Sorry if i overlapped as i did not read the thread but posted to your first post

Old post is old .

Anyway, perhaps apart from the Seachem prime recommendation, I don't agree with your advice.

Post some decent sources for your claim about 'microbubbles', as I've not read anything to suggest this.

Most regular shaped tanks don't need air pumps - there is already enough surface area for the O2 in the air and water to reach equilibrium - the water movement from the pump means that the water is usually already saturated with O2 and the only way to get more would be from the product of photosynthesis or using a pure O2 cannister to inject O2 into the water similar to how CO2 is injected.

Unless the tank is overstocked or has an unusually small surface area (like a bowl), an airpump will be doing nothing to help O2.
In most cases where the O2 is below saturation - the fish are fine with it anyway.

Also, moving the substrate around to stop it getting anerobic (at least, that's what I think you were meant by "trapped air") is pointless unless your doing a gravel vac at the same time - without the gravel vac, you would just be putting organic matter and inorganic chemicals like ammonia into the water column and bringing no benefit.

 

[chefjamesscott]

I'm not sure that an air pump is that essential. If your aquarium was lacking oxygen then the fish would be gasping for air at the top. However as you have real plants, this could be happening at night when the lights are off and the plants use the oxygen in the water. Keep an eye on whats happening in your tank at night, it might be very different to what's happening during the day.

if the op is puttin fish in and they are dead the next day and his water tests show parameters are within whats good then what is killing them

im pretty sure its that they are either dying from the gasses that are not being released due to lack of surface break or lack of dissolved O2

but as well i agree with you i really dont keep plants as they always seem to die on me so for me a pump is totally needed as well if he has a red tail shark in his tank they can be nasty

 

[three-fingers]

Could be lots of things that are killing them.

Personally I'd guess there was ammonia spikes and the test kit is out of date, not being read properly, or the OP was just too slow with testing.

Could be some other chemical that's somehow in the water, could be internal bacteria or parasites, could be virus, or could just be very stressed fish that had gone through a lot at the LFS, and the change in water conditions really didn't do them well.

As usual on forums, we are left with a very incomplete picture, and there's not lots that can be done about that short of us actually being there to see the OP's tank and watch what they have done.

But there's nothing at all to suggest a shortage of O2 or excess CO2 any more than there is to suggest Bigfoot is walking in and stealing the fish .