Aeration System

[omega59]

quick question here. this is my fish stock atm..

~20 Gallon 75x30cm~

5 platy
2 balloon mollies
1 LyreTail Molly
2 gold dust mollies

the tank is divided on one side for a few fry.


I was looking into this one, "Tetra Whisper 40 Air Pump" it says it supp0orts up to 40gallons. any suggestions and thaughts on this and do i really need an aeration system??

 

[OldMan47]

You should not need an aeration system. The filter circulating water so that there is water movement at the surface and thus keeping the water from forming a layer will be enough to keep the water aerated. If you look at the surface area of the tank and then at the puny surface area of the air bubbles, you will understand. An air stone will provide the mixing if you don't have a filter.
The rating is a little strange, an air pump is more often rated in terms of how many air stones it can operate at different depths, that way if you wanted to run 3 stones a foot deep in a tank you could pick out the one that would work. I have no idea what a tank size rating means but try looking for the other chart in the manual or on the box. It is much more helpful. You can figure an ornament running on air is about the same as an air stone.

 

[omega59]

okay ty, also if i get anymore live bearers will it be a problem for the size of my tank?? i was hoping to get 1 more female platy and 1 more balloon mollie, as i thought the pair i got were 1 female 2 males.. but one male turned out to be a lyre tail mollie not a balloon mollie. thx!

 

[OldMan47]

You could probably get away with 2 more mollies but you already have 5 of them. I would think they would be starting to make the tank look fully occupied already. If the tank starts to look crowded its not as nice to look at. It seems to me the impression starts to become more a look of fish trying to avoid bumping into each other. Maybe that just reflects my bias, I hate crowds and crowding.

 

[omega59]

haha okay i just might not get anything at all. i'm giving away 3 males from my 10gal tank as they are super agressive towards one of the females. the store will give me credit so i have to see what i can use it towards hehe. thanks!