Air Pump

[miltiadis_s]

hi i am a begginer. i have just bought an air pump its a 2 outlet and it came with 2 of these connecters, i dont no what they are inside them theres a spring... anybody no where i put them?

also do both outlets need to be connected to work and where do i situate the pump?

thanks

 

[crazie.eddie]

Those sound like the check valves. They allow air to go through one way, but when the airpump stops, it will stop water from back siphoning into the airpump, which would damage it. There should be an arrow on the check valve, which will show which direction the air flow should go. If there is not, blow into the check valve. If you can easily blow into one end and the air comes out the other, this will be the direction of the airflow from the pump (going into the check valve), then going into the airstone or tank (going out of the check valve). The airpump can be located either tank level or below the tank.

 

[miltiadis_s]

ok done thanks. can i only use 1 outlet and let the other one with nothing connected to it.. also how many hours can i run the air pump.. is it ok if i stop it at night? thanks

 

[newtotropical]

If your tank is planted its at night that the plants use oxygen so i would keep it running 24/7 i do with mine it powers a bubble wall across the back of the tank.

 

[miltiadis_s]

thanks. i have the airstone in the corner of the tank... the bubbles are only floating to half way then pop .. is this normal??

 

[breezer40]

If its a twin outlet pump but you only want to use one of them then you will need to do a loop or the power drops..let me try and explain. Attach a 4" cut off peice of airline to each of the outlets..so now you have two short peices of tube that are attached to nothing but the pump. Next get something called a tee piece which looks the shape of a t and has 3 places to attach airline. Attach the two pieces of airline from the pump to the tee piece so that they come together. Cut another small peice of tube and attach this to the remaining space on the tee piece. This is where you add the check valve and then to the other side of the check valve add the airline with the airstone.

I hope you understand this...there is probally someone who could explain it better but I tried

 

[miltiadis_s]

u explained it really good. i understand .. thanks..

 

[Torrean]

the whole bubble popping thing sounds odd...actually it sounds impossible...can you elaborate? do the bubbles burst into smaller bubbles or just pop and poof gone....very strange

 

[miltiadis_s]

the bubbles rise to surface level then they get pushed by the movement of the filter and they pop.. they dont even last long like 2 seconds lol

 

[ihasanzongi]

the bubbles rise to surface level then they get pushed by the movement of the filter and they pop.. they dont even last long like 2 seconds lol

i think most peoples bubbles do that..

 

[Torrean]

yeah I was under the impression that they popped under water.