How Do Airstones Work?

[firefighter1588]

i want a bit more oxygen in my tank, how do airstones work?

 

[nmonks]

When the air bubble reaches the surface of the water, it causes a disturbance. This increases the surface area of the water. The bigger the surface area, the better oxygen can diffuse in and CO2 diffuse out. For this reason, not only airstones are useful, but also splashes (e.g. waterfalls on ponds) and turbulence (little waves at the surface, as caused by strong canister filters).

How airstones DO NOT work is by "forcing" oxygen into the water. The air pressure they generate is miniscule, and not enough to inject oxygen into the water. All the oxygen in the water in an aquarium gets in by diffusion across the surface.

Cheers,

Neale

i want a bit more oxygen in my tank, how do airstones work?

 

[LiveLifeGoJump]

The airstone is porous so air pumped into it by an airpump is released as very small bubbles into the tank. As the bubbles rise & break the surface oxygen is absorbed into the water.

The same can be achieved by having the filter outlet disrupt the water surface either by fitting a spraybar or setting the output at the water level.

The airstone & pump method is probably the most efficent but under normal circumstances either filter method should be enough.

If tank is heavly planted then best not increasing aeration as it reduces co2 levels which the plants need.

 

[SmileyMan]

Air stones, Filter outputs, Powerheads all do the same thing, Break the surface tension allowing oxygen to disolve.