Tank Aerator?

[RyanTheFishGuy64]

Hey Guys!
 
So this is my first post so ill tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Ryan, im 13 and I am an aquarium enthusiast! 
A couple of years ago I had a 30g livebearer tank and it went downhill from my lack of knowledge on cycling and just immature keeping in general. So I now have a 10g in my bedroom with 2 platies and 2 mollies and I am loving it so far! 
 
I found an old aerator from my last tank and decided to try it out. The aerator itself makes quite a loud buzzing noise. Also, they were kind of scared when I put it in. After a little bit I turned it off and the fish stopped making laps around the aquarium and kind of chilled

 . I know it helps with oxygen flow which I would like to have considering I dont have live plants keeping a natural flow. So here are the options I have thought of.
 

1. Keep it on 24/7....they'll get over it
2. turn it on when I wake up...turn off going to bed
3. only have it on for a couple of hours in the evening
4. put back in the drawer I found it...

Thanks for any responses! I really hope to get more advanced into the hobby in the future! 

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

Aerators are for water surface agitation as well as helping to circulate oxygen around the tank. Your livebearers are pretty hardy and would rather love a slightly steady water than a turbulent one. Plus the buzzing sound can only create vibrations that may stress them out. A good filtration system would be suffice than having an aerator in my experience

 

[Ninjouzata]

I would go with option 4 as TF says the filter should create enough surface agitation.
If they start gasping at the top this could be a sign that it needs to be increased (or that you have high nitrite levels).
 
Hope you enjoy the forum

 

[RyanTheFishGuy64]

Ok Thanks everyone! appreciate the help!