for years and years I never gave a thought to fish being able to see beyond the glass. about 10 or so years ago I was watching a program on the big screen and they were showing the Great Barrier Reef, I looked at the aquarium and every fish in it was at one end watching the tv.
we're retired so anytime I feel the need to see the fish in action. my 125gal tank is about 7ft. from the big screen tv so every commercial I watch fish!
I wish I had a pic of the pump we used to have. that drive shaft and motor look larger than ours. our fly wheel seemed larger. it put out a lot of air for our little 12 gal tank. I had one of those hinged clam shell big bubble trinkets. about every 10 seconds it belched out a big bubble and it...
I've had my Fluval Q2 vibrator air pump for quite a few years. I've re bellowed it once and those parts are on amazon.
this is the quietest pump I've ever seen.
on those long air stones that get clogged over time, I've used a thin sharp paring knife and lightly skimmed it across what ever edge is up and sometimes it's back to working normal. sadly sometimes not.
that plastic stone looks like what I used to use in my fishing minnow bucket.
those old piston air pumps used a leather seal that you had to put drops of oil on. really messy if you handled It as time went on.
they cost $45 back in 57 and that was a lot of money back then.
I like the sound of bubbles, like camping out beside a flowing stream.
if the sound of the vibrating air pump is a bother, you wouldn't believe the sound of the old 1950's aquarium piston air pump.
I use the long stones about 12 inches. I usually get a couple years out of one. the only down side is they are fragile and will break in a heartbeat if they are not handled carefully.
I had two of those noisy tetra air pumps, they didn't hold up well either.
bought a Fluval Q2 and never looked back. quiet and last long. after 10 years I had to order a set of baffles from amazon and it's still working well and that was 3 years ago.