How safe are air pumps ?

[Country joe]

I saw on line a tank had emptied through an air pump, I thought the non return valve would have prevented this happening.

 

[Magnum Man]

I never trust a mechanical safety, weather on a gun, or a cheap plastic check valve… all my air pumps are mounted above the tank…
BTW… it’s unlikely that an air pump would syphon, while its running… it’s actually the air lines, again, my air lines don’t run lower than the tank, and my air pumps run 24-7, I don’t put them on timers or anything… there is no guarantee that a 2 cent plastic part is not going to be defective

 

[Country joe]

What's the best material for an air line ?

 

[Magnum Man]

I’ve tried several… the old fashioned vinyl seems to work good, stays on fittings well, but does seem to get hard over time… not an issue if you aren’t intending on making changes all the time…

I figured the new clear silicone would be the best, but I’ve been pretty unhappy with it so far… it’s too soft and flexible to easily push on to all the fittings, and I’ve had many fittings repeatedly blow off… sometimes 4-5 times on the same fixture, but eventually most of them seem to be staying on…

Something about the black silicone lines seems better… it still as soft and flexible, yet I haven’t had one line blow off… granted most of my lines are the clear silicone, and I’ve not used the black for as long… it doesn’t disappear in most tanks as well, but it’s nice if you have a dark background

BTW… I have shelves that are higher than my tanks, but not directly over them ( since most of my tanks are open topped ) that I put my pumps on

 

[MaloK]

If the diaphragm pierced, the pump has good chances to start pulling water instead of pushing air.

But as cheap has they can be, I never had a check valve fail on me.

Better still like Magnum said. No check valve, no control valve, no junctions. Just the pump higher than the aquarium and the tubing attached so it cannot fall lower if it pops from the pump.

There will never be a problem installed like that.

 

[MaloK]

I’ve tried several… the old fashioned vinyl seems to work good, stays on fittings well, but does seem to get hard over time… not an issue if you aren’t intending on making changes all the time…

I never tried the black silicone ones but the pale and clear also becomes hard an very ugly with time.

 

[Colin_T]

Air pumps are safe and don't drain tanks. However, if you have a power failure and the air pump is lower than the aquarium water level, and the water level is close to the top of the tank, sometimes water can back syphon down the airline and into the air pump. This can cause the pump to short out if the power comes back on, and it can cause water to drain out of an aquarium. It takes a long time to drain an aquarium this way and doesn't happen very often, but it has happened.

To prevent this from happening:

1. Install a non return valve (check valve). Make sure it's installed in the correct direction. or
2. Have the air pump on a shelf that is higher than the aquarium. Then it will never happen even if you have a power failure and no check valves installed. or
3. You can run the airline up the wall a foot or more above the aquarium and then back down to the pump and that will also stop water syphoning out of the airlines during a power failure.

Clear plastic airline is fine for normal aquariums.

 

[Archerfish]

I use air pumps and they are very safe if properly used. They power my sponge filters and together, work great. Look at the attached image and see on the left my five blue silicone hoses held together with a carabiner. As the others said, get the hose above the tank and as Colin_T mentioned, best to have the pump above the tank.

 

[Uberhoust]

If you have the pump below the aquarium put the check valve at the point where the hose leaves the aquarium, likely the highest spot. That way if you blow the junction between at the valve the hose to the pump falls to the floor and the hose to the aquarium falls into the tank.

Speaking of the hoses my experiences are that the vinyl holds up well and tends to not fall off the connections, black silicone does ok but doesn't hold as well as vinyl. I have thrown away all my clear silicone hoses because I cannot get them to stay on the connections.

Putting the pump below the tank is a risk but my tanks are sort of decoration and I don't want a bunch of equipment mounted on the wall above the tank.

 

[Magnum Man]

my main air pump, is between the rafters in the ceiling of the basement ( most of my tanks are in the basement ) one that is in my entryway, I made a wood shelf over a double stack of tanks, for a standard air pump... for my tilapia tanks, that is a linear pump, & uses a 3/8 inch hose... so that pump ( this set up is outside ), is on a shelf, in a tin shed for Tilapia raising supplies, 25 feet from the tanks... the pump in my basement is also a piston pump, and also uses 3/8 inch hose to my huge 16 valve gang valve above the tanks, where it steps down to standard air lines... out of 4 different air pumps, only a little of the standard air lines are visible in the double stack tanks in my entryway

 

[MaloK]

Me too, my air pumps always ends below the tank. So check valves there is.

I use an old trick Santa Claus gave me: I put them in a pair of socks hanging from the top in the cabinet or anywhere out of view I also put silicone tubing over the Jerry-rigged hanger. It's as silent as it can get. An helps the pump not getting too much dust inside with time.



It also keeps them warm in the winter

 

[Magnum Man]

with my piston pumps, they all came with 8-10 inches of 3/8" hose... they make a lot more noise & heat than a standard pump... I found getting them more than 10 or 12 feet from the gang valve, kept the gang valve from getting so hot it could burn you... & took the noise level at the tanks down a lot... the one I have in the basement, is actually sitting on the top of the foundation & has a closed cell foam box I put between the rafters, & now I only hear the bubbles, not the pump

 

[Essjay]

best to have the pump above the tank.

The instructions with my pump said not to put it directly over the tank, just higher than the tank. I think that was in case clumsy people like me managed to knock the pump into the tank......

 

[Magnum Man]

I've actually put mine, in the past, on the glass aquarium cover... now I actually only have a couple with covers... most are open topped now, with plants growing out

 

[FishyD]

If you have the pump below the aquarium put the check valve at the point where the hose leaves the aquarium, likely the highest spot. That way if you blow the junction between at the valve the hose to the pump falls to the floor and the hose to the aquarium falls into the tank.

Speaking of the hoses my experiences are that the vinyl holds up well and tends to not fall off the connections, black silicone does ok but doesn't hold as well as vinyl. I have thrown away all my clear silicone hoses because I cannot get them to stay on the connections.

Putting the pump below the tank is a risk but my tanks are sort of decoration and I don't want a bunch of equipment mounted on the wall above the tank.

Higher than the tank is obviously better, but your plan requires two things to fail for a problem to occur, so probably good enough. I mean a side panel could blow out of a tank too. Some small amount of risk is going to remain for water spillage. I think I am going to try two check valves soon.