Do you use an airstone?

[otterblue]

Do you use airstones in your tanks?

 

[Magnum Man]

much bigger than average

 

[GaryE]

They clog fast here, and IMHO, don't do much except look very unnatural. I do use air driven filters - why waste good air on airstones when you can have an entire filter for the same energy use?

 

[anewbie]

I do not rather i use a sponge filter.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I mostly used airstones in my pleco breeding tanks. Most of my plecos come from pretty warm water, 84-86F is typical and it can get over 90F at the peak of the dry season. In the wild they live in fairly fast flowing rivers with lots of rapids which serve to keep the warm water well oxygenated. In most of the pleco tank I had air central air running. I was not using all the outlets I could run on my air pump so i was using the spare outlets for airstones to help oxygenate the water via surface agitation.

While the plecos are adapted to thrive in rivers with flow and to handle warm water, they still need oxygen to breath Since the warmer water is the less i it can hold. So it is important to insure adequate oxygen in the water. However, where I use Mattenfilters, I like to have an airstone for both more circulation and aeration.

Like GaryE I use a lot of air driven filters in a number of my tanks. But in my planted community tanks I use Hang on filters for the most part (AquaClears) and canisters. I will run an air powered filter with the ACs as they tend not to restart after a power blink or outage.

 

[f_luxus]

For heavy planted tanks, that doesn't work very well, because it expels CO2.
For breeding setups or tanks with only easy plants or floating plants it's not bad, especially if you hide it behind filter medium. It's easy to plant it with moss to make it almost invisible.
Maybe someday i will start such a oldschool tank But for sure not in my bed-/living room, because air filters are a bit noisy.

 

[jaylach]

They clog fast here, and IMHO, don't do much except look very unnatural. I do use air driven filters - why waste good air on airstones when you can have an entire filter for the same energy use?

Since I use under gravel filtration I use stones for the risers and/or power heads that have tubes to draw air to make bubbles. Why do I want the bubbles? Two main reasons...

• My favorite fish like to play with them.
• They cause surface agitation which increases the oxygen level.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

The only use I have for air stones is in my Inle tank; the popping bubbles keep the mosses on the island moist. They work surprisingly well for that. Other than that? I can do without them.

 

[squirley]

Since I use under gravel filtration I use stones for the risers and/or power heads that have tubes to draw air to make bubbles. Why do I want the bubbles? Two main reasons...

• My favorite fish like to play with them.
• They cause surface agitation which increases the oxygen level.

how do you know the fish like the bubbles?

 

[Magnum Man]

I have many fish, in many tanks, that hang out in the bubble stream, as opposed to calmer areas of the tank

 

[MattW]

how do you know the fish like the bubbles?

They told him

 

[lottabubbles]

I use the long stones about 12 inches. I usually get a couple years out of one. the only down side is they are fragile and will break in a heartbeat if they are not handled carefully.

 

[jaylach]

how do you know the fish like the bubbles?

Purely speculation. If they didn't like they would avoid instead of swimming in them and chasing.

 

[Uberhoust]

I don't run an airstone, but instead run an airline with holes every 2" across the back of the tank. It generates random larger bubbles that are quite noiseless compared to a stone, that flow out of the fine gravel. It was placed there for aesthetics only. I don't like anything that generates a lot of noise in the tank.

 

[jaylach]

I don't run an airstone, but instead run an airline with holes every 2" across the back of the tank. It generates random larger bubbles that are quite noiseless compared to a stone, that flow out of the fine gravel. It was placed there for aesthetics only. I don't like anything that generates a lot of noise in the tank.

That is an interesting way of doing. If I ever get off my back side and setup my new tank I just might consider as I happen to like bubbles. On the other hand I'll be running four risers for my under-gravel filtration, all putting out bubbles, it would probably be way overkill. For the under-gravel there are two filter plates and each will have a riser driven by an air stone and another riser driven by a small power head that will also put out bubbles due to passive air lines that will suck air due to the water flow causing a vacuum in the air lines..

Still, not counting that I like bubbles, they do cause surface agitation which helps bring oxygen into the water column. This can help a lot especially if you push the limit as to fish population which I will be doing. The tank is a 21 gallon high and I plan on 3-4 Panda Garra ( the ones that seem to like bubbles. ) and 10-12 Ember Tetras. The current tank that has no fish bit is keeping my plants going is a 20 gallon cube. I have found that I detest cubes especially with built in sponge filtration.