Opinions On Air Pumps

[TomShootsPhoto]

Get an airstone and put it under gravel. It's invisible and only the bubbles come up. I recommend these for tanks that want to have a nature look to them, and not some plastic ornaments. If you want a more solidute option, buy an bubble curtain (i think that's what it's called ) .

 

[afremont]

If you use a control valve to regulate the air flow, your pump will last longer if you regulate it by bleeding excess air from an unused port. This makes the pump do less work since it won't have as much back pressure. The diaphragm will last longer too.

thats Interesting, mainly as it makes no engineering, psychs or logical sense.
any airpump worth its cost, has one diaphragm per outlet. leaving one unsused will have no effect on the pumps overall longevity.
indeed leaving one unused will, most likely, actually damage that diaphragm.
i suppose if you have a 2 inch stone on a 600lpm pump, sure it will definitely help
however, if you buy a descent pump, it will have variable control, for just such circumstance.
but, as a rule of thumb its pointless.

I'd be very interested to read your source though.
or is this all because of the mistaken impression that multi outlet pumps have only one diaphragm?

You misunderstood me; I should have explained myself better. I don't mean to leave ports on the actual pump unused. I'm referring to the case that somebody is using a ganged control valve to run multiple stones or whatnot. If there is more than enough pressure available don't turn the controls down to limit the output of the stone. Instead, open an unused valve on the ganged control to bleed off the excess air. This will minimize the back pressure to the pump, leading to less stress on the diaphragm.

 

[andyg81]

like i say i have 2 outlets, one under my pirate ship and one in an ornament, wouldnt go for these things that are like treasure chests that open with the bubbles and then close again, not interested in that, I was also thinking that in about 6 months I may have to move house so at that point my scaping will change and looking at getting a big airplane with lots of holes for the fish to swim in and out etc so at that point the air pipes may come out the tank.

my fish seem to enjoy swimming through the bubbles, specially the corydoras and guppys they go mad in the bubbles, its nice to sit and watch them lol