what to do with unwanted airstones

[jimbooo]

ok i have 2x foot long airstones that used to be a bubble wall buried under the substrate in my 40G planted tank joined with a T section leading to my unused air pump.

when i decided to go the planted route i turned the air pump off and forgot about the airstones (couldn't be bothered to uproot everything to remove them)

well i was a little disapointed at first as i liked the look of bubbles rising through the plants and bogwood etc..

i guess there are a few of us in this situation so heres what i've done.

my 2 hagen co2 units dont quite give me enough CO2 for 40 Gallons so i have made a diy bottle (5 litre ribena bottle - tough plastic) with an airstone at the end to top up the co2 content.

last night i had a brainwave. i disconnected the air pump from the tube leading to the bubble wall and plugged it into the top of my diy co2 bottle.

i now have random very gentle bubbles rising randomly from all over the 2 foot of airstones. no way near strong enough to ripple the surface but enough to look really cool and at the same time adding co2 to the water.

what do you guys think good idea or not..

 

[George Farmer]

Great idea! You won't notice a big increase in CO2 levels as the bubbles won't dissolve efficiently but it will look pretty and the small increase in CO2 will benefit.

 

[jimbooo]

thanks gf225,

i already thought of that!!! as i'm sure you know riccia is a massive pain in the behind. every night i get home to more floating stuff that has broken away from the "carpet". but spreads out all over the water surface.

to try and get it to clump together i had another idea.

take a piece of clear airline, fold one end stuff it in the other end to form an airtight loop about 7 inches across.

chuck it in the tank and yeehaa you have a floating fence.

then cram all the floating bits into the inside of the loop and leave to grow. (okay the odd feisty fish will mess it up a bit but should work to some extent.

i have placed the floating riccia (in its new fence) directly above the co2 airstones so some of the bubbles get trapped in the riccia and dissolve a bit more....

i'll try to get some up to date pics this weekend to show you my redone 40G. looks a lot different now

 

[Dubby]

Jimbooo:

I like your idea of a fence!!!

 

[Iron Man]

Ever had your IQ tested....I think you're a borderline genius.

 

[jimbooo]

cheers everyone my fence is still working by the way, only a small ammount of riccia has escaped.

oh and by the way eSHa algae treatment kills red claw crabs......

 

[chris allsop]

Ive been doing that for a while and it does work.

 

[Dubby]

Ever had your IQ tested....I think you're a borderline genius.

I like that