Do I need an airstone?

[jiffy]

My 10g tank is now home to 6 cardinal tetras, 4 longfin zebra dainos, and 2 skunk cory cats. I realize it is a little overstocked, but I will be doing a 20% waterchange and a 40% with gravel vac weekly.

I am running a penguin mini filter, but should I add an airstone to increase surface agiation or am I alright without one. I would prefer to not have one, but if I need one because of my fishload, then I will get one.

 

[nutter]

I would add one to be on the safe side

 

[Aquascaper]

I agree with nutter, i would add one just to relieve the pressure on your tank a little. You could perhaps put it somewhere it will not be too noticable if you don't really like the look of them.
I have one in my 30g which sends bubbles up the side of the filter chamber where they get swirled into the tank by the powerheads when they reach the surface.

HTH

 

[Blazer]

What does an Airstone do? Create Bubbles?? I always wanted one but my dad used to always tell me that they are jsut for looks. Im using air pumps to power my Under Ground filter and it would be easy to set on up in my tank...could I use one? Look at my specs below in my signature.

~Dan

 

[Aquascaper]

Airstones agitate the surface of the water increasing the surface area. This is beneficial as it promotes more diffusion of gases, ie. o2. Because of the increased o2 saturation it can allow higher stock levels in a tank but this is really not a good thing to do
It also provides something for the fish to play with, as my goldfish do constantly

 

[nutter]

Better to have one than not have one in my opinion

 

[yhbae]

Cardinals don't create much bioload, and neither do cories. I'd imagine zebras occupy little more space but still none of your fishes really create large quantity of waste nor consume O2. Penguins are supposed to create pretty good surface disturbances as well.

Perhaps you can do a simple experiment to see if you need any air stone at all - see if the fishes come near the surface frequently. If this is the case, they need more surface disturbances (e.g. air stone).

At the end though it's up to you...