Is An Airstone A Bad Idea For My 65 Gallon

[Jeff Lange]

I have had my 65 gallon aquarium up and running almost a year now. Lately I have been getting an oil slick film at the top of the water.

My current Equitment is as follows: 2 Rena XP-3 Filters, Turbo Twist 18 watt UV, Orbit 36" 192 watt Fluorescent w/ Lunar Lights, azoo battery backup connected to airstone.

My current fish are: 6 coradora's. 2 clown loaches, 2 lg angelfish ( Male & Female, lay eggs all the time ) 1 6" Black Ghost Knifefish , 1 3" Royal Pleco, 2 tiny otocinclus Catfish, 1 Flying Fox.

Light feedings 2x day. Beefhart for BGK 1/2 cube. & either flake, frozen bloodworms or frozen brine shrimp for other fish.

My Water Parameters have been maintained@ Ammonia-0 Nitrite- 0 Nitrate - 5-10 PH- 7.4

I was getting green stringy alge after I tried to grow live plants, failed and went back to plastic some time ago so I purchased the Royal Pleco and 2 tiny ococinclus, and flying fox at different times to take care of the algee. I think the ococinclus do a great job, don't know about the others.

Anyway my problem within the past month or so is im getting like an oil slick film on the top of my water. I was told i needed more surface agitation ( I have both Rena XP 3's returns at top of water line, always have.
I added a powerhead which did not help alot.
Currently my airstone which I really did not use much before does a much better job of keeping the oil slick film from the top of the water than the extra power head I purchased which i have turned off and left the airstone going.

Any suggestions would be appriciated.

 

[bronzecat]

Hi

I cannot see any reason why an air stone would be bad for your tank We get that oil slick type film on some of our betta tanks. Its due to having little or no water movement.

 

[Athena]

Airstones are great, especially in larger tanks to create surface turbulance of water and help with dispersing toxins. It all helps to maintain a cleaner, healthier tank.

That oily film you mention can be caused by the type of foods you feed the fish or from the water conditioner you use during water changes.

When feeding frozen foods do you defrost them slightly first in a little cup of tank water and then strain off the yucky water? Or are you dropping the cube straight in?

Athena

 

[Jeff Lange]

Hi

I cannot see any reason why an air stone would be bad for your tank We get that oil slick type film on some of our betta tanks. Its due to having little or no water movement.

Well, I have had 2 rena XP3 canister filters up since day 1, i would have thought that would have been enough water circulation. I was more worried the airstone could be bad for my fish as I have read mixed results on the advantages disadvantages of using them.

I also do 25% waterchages w/ gravel vac every week so I think my water quality is very good. Guess the film slick gave me a reason to use my azoo pump with airstone

 

[Davo86]

I'd say the beefheart content may be the issue, two feedings per day is a lot, especially of beefheart which is something that personally I wouldn't feed at all.
My BGK gets fed once everyother day and is rotation fed on frozen bloodworm, and frozen block mixture (daphnia/krill and spinach) as well as bloodworm, shrimp and mussel pellets. I also feed him one whole prawn once per week as a treat

 

[Jeff Lange]

I'd say the beefheart content may be the issue, two feedings per day is a lot, especially of beefheart which is something that personally I wouldn't feed at all.
My BGK gets fed once everyother day and is rotation fed on frozen bloodworm, and frozen block mixture (daphnia/krill and spinach) as well as bloodworm, shrimp and mussel pellets. I also feed him one whole prawn once per week as a treat

Yea, maybe i am overfeeding him a little. I usually mix frozen bloodworm and frozen brine shrimp. Maybe I will cut back on the beefhart as I was feeding approx 1/2 to 3/4 day ( Part in AM and Part in PM )
What is prawn ? & where can I obtain it ?

As to the above question Athena, I dont really defrost or strain the beefhart. I cut every cube into 4 sections and for my BGK i use a pair of plastic prongs and lower it to him right in front of him when he is in his log or Stump. He nibbles at it until it thaws a bit and then he takes the rest of it with FORCE

When I feed the other fish I sometimes thaw it in a bowl and just use my fingers after it has thawed to drop it onto the tank. I am guessing because I feed my bgk frozen food daily be it bloodworms or beefhart which is the only way for me to get the food to him, this may be causing some of the problem.

The airstone has seemed to help against the oily film at the top howerver, but was just not sure if it was a good thing for my tank to be on all the time?

 

[Davo86]

just pop into your local supermarket and pick up a bag of normal frozen prawns, then simply defrost as much as you need in warm water then either dice them up or add them whole.

The oily film at the surface is going to be excess proteins from the beefheart, so assuming you reduce the feeding of this, the film should also be reduced, if not disappear,

provided you don't have live plants then there are only benefits to having an air pump in the tank, mainly increased 02 and circulation

 

[Athena]

Oh, you don't need to leave it running all day, Jeff - it's quite alright to just put it on for several hours a day. It will still help break up that oily film that you're getting. My airstones are only put on for about 4 hours a day (evening).

The reason I think it could be the frozen bloodworm/beefheart causing the problem is that one time when I was feeding frozen bloodworms (defrosted in a little tank water in a cup) I fed half of them (using tweezers) and then meant to put the rest in the fridge for the next feed - but I forgot and they were left out at room temp. By the evening, when I noticed the cup on the side, it looked pretty disgusting with fatty deposits and nasty film on the top.

Regards - Athena

 

[doresy]

Hi, I have just put an airstone in my Tanganyikan tank and rigged it up to the light timer so it's just on when the lights are.

They seem sooooo much happier

 

[8inary]

airstone is ok - however i agree with davo - x2 feeding of beefheat wow, thats a lot

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I agree, there are other threads about beefheart and bloodworms where people have cleared up protein slick problems once they lowered or stopped these feedings.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[dcarmor927]

i have a couple of bubble tracks that i put together under the substrate so i have bubble along most of the tank (55 gal), idk if that helps but i agree air pump would help

I might copy Dorsey and rig my pump along with my lights

 

[8inary]

i have an hiblow65 which pushes out a whooping 4000ltrs/hour.

I have around 17/18 aircurtains which are placed under the coral sand in my tank, looks alright - and yes, this does actually create
surface disruption lol

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLGa8d9L1SY...re=channel_page

theres the vid as always lol

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Jeff,

Long time no speak. Where have you been?

I agree with the others.

2 feedings per day is unnecessary in 99% of circumstances. Cut back to once per day.

Also, defrost all frozen foods before adding them to the tank, and discard the waste water produced when defrosting. I always maintain that it is good practice to defrost and then wash frozen foods before putting them in the tank for the very reason you complain of (and that the waste water can't possibly do anything other than pollute the tank).

An airstone would help, but treating the symptoms is nowhere near as effective as treating the cause.

Let us know how you get on.

BTT

 

[Jeff Lange]

Hi Jeff,

Long time no speak. Where have you been?

I agree with the others.

2 feedings per day is unnecessary in 99% of circumstances. Cut back to once per day.

Also, defrost all frozen foods before adding them to the tank, and discard the waste water produced when defrosting. I always maintain that it is good practice to defrost and then wash frozen foods before putting them in the tank for the very reason you complain of (and that the waste water can't possibly do anything other than pollute the tank).

An airstone would help, but treating the symptoms is nowhere near as effective as treating the cause.

Let us know how you get on.

BTT

Yea, been a while since I posted. My tank is going strong. I will cut back my feedings to 1x day. I don't think I can thaw all the frozen food however. Depending on if im feeding frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp etc. It is very hard to get thawed food down to my BGK unless its frozen. He usually nibbles at the frozen part of the cube i put in front of him and as it thaws a bit he grabs the rest. If I just thawed it and put it in the tank he would starve The other fish its really no problem to thaw the bloodworms and brine shrimp. For the others ( catfish ) I just throw in a veggie waffer or other pellet in for the coradora's, Royal Pleco and 2 clown loaches right before the lights go out.