Airstones - Needed Or Not?

[AquaticRex]

bubblers are used to put oxygen into the tank so that the fish can breath. there is arguments about whether or not it is necessary, but if your filter disturbs the water surface you should be OK. what i did was i got just the hose, no end piece, blocked the end wiith the stuff used to seal fish tanks, and put holes along the length of the tube as long as the tank. make shapes with it around your plants, under the stones. or just put it along the back wall under the stones. it will save space, and still make a nice effect. up to you really.

 

[Twinklecaz]

It's hard to know how much gasping at the surface is normal.....

 

[22Midnight]

I would assume that if there were live plants in the tank they would add O2 also. Again I agree with others here that surface agitation is the main ingredient

 

[CrystalClear16]

It's hard to know how much gasping at the surface is normal.....

Depends on the fish I suppose. A bottom feeder reguarly gasping at the top can't be good, whereas you would expect a guppy to do it more. Plus you can also consider how many fish as at the top - it they are all doing it then that indicates something is wrong. If it is just the one then it is probably ok.

I guess thats why you should watch your fish - so you can keep an eye on what is normal for them.

 

[waterdrop]

It's hard to know how much gasping at the surface is normal.....

gouramis are air gulpers...

 

[Twinklecaz]

LOl yeah I found that out today.

The Platys do it less but they copy each other. If one swims up the other 2 will see them and go up too........then they barge each other ( I think top dog is still being decided) and go back to what they were going.

 

[Harlequins]

If airstones aren't needed and don't necessarily do anything like some peeps say...then why when we add meds do peeps say pop in an airstone to increase aireation??

I personally have airstones in all my tanks,the main tank has plenty of surface agitation with 2 flow bars running across the tank and i have the bubbler between the 2 where there is an inch gap.

And small airstones in each of the 10 gals. During this heatwave i have turned them up has the fish kept diving up to the surface due to the tanks getting 3-4 degrees warmer,they're now quite happily swimming around again.
So they must do something surely?

 

[Tolak]

If airstones aren't needed and don't necessarily do anything like some peeps say...then why when we add meds do peeps say pop in an airstone to increase aireation??

This is often an easy way to increase surface motion. You can accomplish the same thing by dropping the water level a couple of inches with a hob or external filter.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with Tolak, I think there's just a lot of "overlap" in advice to make sure a beginner or a person with a new illness situation they haven't had before gets as much of a chance to help their oxygen situation as possible. Circulation and surface movement are things that are hard to communicate on forums. I still find myself helping on cases where I was feeling pretty confident about how well the beginner was doing, only to find later that they probably had a tank that was so "dead" in terms of movement that I would have noticed it right away if I'd been in the room looking at the tank.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Big Dog]

I do not think you need to use them unless you like the look of them.

 

[waterdrop]

I do not think you need to use them unless you like the look of them.

Yes, this is correct in terms of promoting oxygen exchange, the full scientific discussion is archived in the science section. Its surface movement that's significant. Of course, an airstone boiling the surface somewhat is a source of surface motion, so it can be useful to some extent, but the bubbles coming up are not really adding to oxygen exchange significantly compared to surface exchange. Bubbles and airstones also are a mild form of circulation for some tanks. But overall they are really mostly for looks.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[JoshuaA]

So injecting air through a co2 ladder would work right? Same principle as the CO2 injection.

Of course you wouldn't achieve a much higher O2 saturation than the atmosphere around the tank, though in theory it would work?

 

[waterdrop]

Ladders work by slowing down the progress of the bubble. Diffusers and Reactors work by making the bubbles really, really small. I imagine either of these techniques might work to raise oxygenation although I don't whether there's a significant difference in the exchange rates between the two gases (O2 vs. CO2.) I do know that they are separate, changing the level of one doesn't necessarily effect the level of the other significantly (sometimes people think when you raise one you lower the other or vice versa but they're independent.)

And I believe you're correct, with that big surface area at atmospheric pressure, its easy for O2 or CO2 to seek the lower pressure, if you've elevated it in the tank water.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Rainbow67]

Are airstones needed or can an aquarium environment do well enough without one?


I have a 10 gallon aquarium with 1 approx 4 inch airstone. Would a smaller one work just as well in my tank? It is taking up space that I would like to use for more plants or decorations.

Sorry for coming in a bit late on this thread!

The answer isn't necessarily "black and white".

There are many varibles to take into account which will affect whether your fish have enough oxygen and gaseous exchange in your particular aquarium set up. i,e what works perffectly well for one set up may not work as well in another set up.

So whilst Katty is correct in saying that your filter'spump can produced enough water movement and sufficient water agitation at the surface for adequate oxygen levels that your fish feel comfortable with........on the other hand your filter may not be sufficiently powerful enough to cause enough movemment or surface agitation to make your fish feel comfortable.
That is not to say that your filter isn't sufficiently powerful enough to do it's job, which is to "filter" the water.....but it may not be poweful enough to help oxygen/gaseous exchange levels, and this depends on such factors as tank size, types of fish, amount of fish, temperature of water, Plant levels, size of tank hood, location of tank,blocakages in your filter or filter pipes,positon of outlet pipe etc etc.
I would suspect that your Local Fish Shop would be hard pressed to tell you if your partucular set up is good enough for your fishes oxygen needs without actually seeing your fish in action and seeing how they behave.

The short anwser is is make sure your filter is first creating the maximum surface agitation it can by pointing the outlet pipe upwards towards the surface, If you notice that your fish are STILL breathing rapidly with lots of opening of their mouths, then you probably need some airstones which create more circulation and gaseous exchange because of surface agitation.
Generally the larger the area of bubble column the better as more water is being moved upwards and agitated at the surface, so bubble discs are much better than your standard airstones.

I myself have 2 tanks one with airstone bubble disks and one without any airstones.
The bigger tank by the way has a filter which does cause surface agiation however it isn't sufficiently strong enough on it's own so does need the aid of air bubble disks.
So even though your filter might provide surface agitation, it doesn't necessarily follow that suface agiatation is vigourous enough for decent oxygen exchange

So in short are airstones needed?

Yes and no, depending on your particular set up.
No one here can tell you if YOU need any airstones.......but your fish can give you some big hints........watch their gills and mouths!

 

[BethK]

simple answer, no, airstones are not needed.

If your fish are struggling to breath, then that is a stat issue, water changing and simply stirring the water a couple of times a day will sort that out, well, unless your tank is over stocked

I have an air bubblebar running in my 125ltr, only because I have a sponge filter and a foam box filter. Until my main filter has cycled, I will be keeping all those 3 running but that is for my own personal benefit, as my fish seem better with it, than with out it for now.