New Tank

[dalewatkinson]

hello every one im new here but got loads of advise so far
just got a new tank and its got a external pump so the in and out flows are under the water
so i need a bubble put now so there is some air in the tank and the surface is moving? or is this not important?
thanks for your help guys

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

You need water movement on the top to make sure that oxygen can enter the water and carbon dioxide can escape. Either putting the outlet of the pipe can cause this or you can use an airpump and an air stone to oxygenate the water.

Chris

 

[Bendover]

Moving water helps with the wonderfully termed "gaseous exchange" - allowing oxygen to be absorbed. Not essential as such depending on fish volume but looks cool. You could attach a spray bar to the outlet and point it towards the surface as this produces the same result. Good luck with your new tank

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Dale,

Bubbles in the water are not important. Believe it or not they actually give the water very little oxygen.

The best way to get oxygen into the water is through the gaseous exchange on the surface. Basically, the atmosphere draws carbon dioxide from the water and replaces it with oxygen.

This is commonly known as oxygenating the water. This is helped greatly by, as you said, surface movement. This is because the more surface movement, the more water available at the surface for gaseous exchange, and therefore more oxygen in the water.

Surface movement is the best way to get oxygen into the water, and far more important than having bubbles.

Although, despite not having much effect on oxygenating the water directly, bubbles can contribute to making surface movement and many people use them for this purpose (and because they look nice).

To summarise the main point, the more surface movement, the more oxygen there will be in your water.

Hope this helps.

BTT

P.S. Welcome to the forum.

 

[dalewatkinson]

right so its an air pump and an air stone i need then so that bubbles break water at the top of the tank
cool thanks alot

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

right so its an air pump and an air stone i need then so that bubbles break water at the top of the tank
cool thanks alot

yea that will work fine.

Chris

 

[jeej]

right so its an air pump and an air stone i need then so that bubbles break water at the top of the tank
cool thanks alot

yea that will work fine.

Chris

I'm thinking of getting a 32" long airstone and positioning it at the back of my 65gal to create a wall of bubbles at the back of the tank. This wont upset my fish will it? They will be mainly Tetras.

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

Nah, they will be fine, thats a huge airstone.

Chrus

 

[jeej]

Nah, they will be fine, thats a huge airstone.

Chrus

Yeah I know!

The airstone has inlets at both ends, so I'm thinking I might actually have to get two air pumps and attach one to either end. It will take a bit of testing I guess.

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

just get a Y splitter for airline. Only one pump needed.

Chris

 

[dalewatkinson]

great thanks alot i will keep you posted on my new tank and maybe some pics when its all done. its a 190L corner tank. just getting the water right and plants then some fancy pants fish. and some panda cories and clown loach.

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

great thanks alot i will keep you posted on my new tank and maybe some pics when its all done. its a 190L corner tank. just getting the water right and plants then some fancy pants fish. and some panda cories and clown loach.

That will look lovely, make sure you get some photos up when its ready, or turn it into a jounal.

Chris

 

[jeej]

just get a Y splitter for airline. Only one pump needed.

Chris

Cool, thanks for the tip.

 

[Thirdfloor]

you will love the panda cories, make sure to get 5 or 6 of them at the least, the more the merrier. they quickly became my favorite fish in my tank.

 

[dalewatkinson]

just did tests on new tank everything is at about 0 but the ph is way high!! well over 7.5 is there a way to soften this with out buy more chemicals?