Airstone

[Lizzie71]

Is an airstone an optional extra, or should every aquarium have one?

I'm thinking of adding one on my larger aquarium. I think the water needs more movement or oxygen or something as the fish, especially guppies, are spending more and more time at the top of the tank, looking as if they need to breathe in the air at the top.

Quite frankly I could do without the expense, but I think it might help, especially as I'm quite heavily stocked now.

 

[darknirvana217]

Air stones are optional. There are several ways to create surface tension other than an air stone. If you notice your fish are having trouble breathing, then adding an air stone would help with aeration, but not filtration. If your overstocked I would use a sponge filter. You connect it to an air pump just like you would the air stone, but it filters the tank and creates aeration.

 

[celaeno]

some people say that airstones provide very little aeration, but i think most would agree that they provide needed circulation in larger tanks.

 

[Bignose]

Air stones are optional. There are several ways to create surface tension other than an air stone. If you notice your fish are having trouble breathing, then adding an air stone would help with aeration, but not filtration. If your overstocked I would use a sponge filter. You connect it to an air pump just like you would the air stone, but it filters the tank and creates aeration.

darknirvana, I'm going to correct you again because you are not using the term "surface tension" correctly. Surface tension is an energy of the surface that causes minimal energy shapes to occur. It's why soap bubbles are spherical, and water drops have rounded edges (not corners).

It has nothing to do with oxygen content which is the term you are looking for. If you insert "oxygen content" or "dissolved oxygen" into your first sentence in the place of "surface tension" then the sentence is correct.

Again, please read [URL="http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_tension"]http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_tension[/URL] to learn what surface tension is and isn't.

Surface tension doesn't affect too much in fishkeeping, especially freshwater. The only process where seuface tension becomes important is in the the use of a protein skimmer, most commonly found on saltwater tanks because freshwater doesn't have enough surface tension to create the foam protein skimmers need.

 

[Lizzie71]

Thanks for that. I have added one of those long airstones and the fish seem to be enjoying the novelty. The guppys have been playing in the bubbles, as have my otos - I didn't realise they would be so keen on it!