Airstone Positioning

[jonny]

Guys and Gals,

I have a 210l Malawi set up with a Eheim 2126 thermo filter. I always change around 30% of water weekly but still have problems with fish hanging around at the surface if i turn off my airstone.
The water parameters are always ok, i test regularly.
I am sure that my problem is that my spraybar is positioned vertically and does not create any surface agitation, this is from when i used to run a planted tank.

So why do i turn the airstone off? Well it makes a mess. With it on it stirs the tank up and i get lots of floating debris in the water. When i say lots i don't mean it's filthy because to most it would look crystal but once i switch my blue light on it really shows it up.
So i have decided to move the airstone from the bottom of the tank to about an inch below the surface. IS THIS OK?

I believe that the bubbles do not do anything other than look pretty as they are ascending. Is it not the case that the real work takes place when the bubbles break the surface?

So my question is ... Does it really matter where the airstone is and how deep it is?

Due to the make up of the tank i cannot really position the spraybar horizontal without ruining the look of the entire setup.

Cheers

Jon

 

[Ferris]

I would forget the airstone and invest in a powerhead positioned at the water's surface to create agitation. This is far more efficient and effective than an airstone IME and they are easy to get hold of and relatively cheap.

 

[zaman]

in my tank i have my airstone an inch deep and nothing seems wrong.

 

[jonny]

I would forget the airstone and invest in a powerhead positioned at the water's surface to create agitation. This is far more efficient and effective than an airstone IME and they are easy to get hold of and relatively cheap.

Thanks, i will look into that.

Do you think a Tunze nanostream 6025 position at the surface will be OK?

 

[Ferris]

That looks fine - you can get decent powerheads for far less than the cost of the Tunze though on Ebay etc.