what is the purpose of presoaking air stones???

[Magnum Man]

over the years, I've put them right in, and soaked them, and didn't really see a difference in the long run... I've been pretty much exclusively been using 10 inch air bars, but have some set ups, that placement makes the hob filters, suck up bubbles, causing more filter noise, so I've bought another pack of 4 inch by 2 inch cylinders, like I use in my tilapia out side tanks... I never presoaked those, but see they recommend that???

• Easy to Use: Soak the stone completely in water for 1 hour before use.

???

 

[gwand]

New air stones can have tiny air pockets within their porous material. If not pre-soaked, these trapped air bubbles can cause the air stone to release bubbles unevenly, or only from a few spots, until the trapped air is displaced. Soaking allows water to fully permeate the stone, forcing out any trapped air

 

[Magnum Man]

over the course of a week, they always end up the same...

 

[GaryE]

over the course of a week, they always end up the same...

Yeah, but in the meantime, customers will be launching complaints over defective airstones. Captain Obvious is a noteworthy peacemaker.

 

[Back in the fold]

I’ve soaked them and not and can’t tell the difference but I buy cheap ones .

 

[Back in the fold]

Hey , but you know what ? I do recall , now that I think about it , that new airstones that I’ve put in without soaking do have more and finer bubbles after running for a few days .

 

[fishorama]

I thought it was just to rinse off any loose bits not really soaking...but it's been many years since I used any type of air stone. I'll keep it in mind if there's a next time

 

[Colin_T]

I have never soaked airstones, never heard of it until today too. I doubt it will make any difference.

 

[GaryE]

I won a bunch of small airstones as a door prize at a club. I find that if you take a pair of pliers and crush the stone part, removing it all, you have an excellent airline hose connector. That's all I use them for...

 

[Magnum Man]

I like these big heavy ones, they are as heavy as rocks, so they stay put... in the tilapia farming tanks I've had them 3 years, and they don't plug up as easily, as normal sized stones...in my 24 inch deep tank, the furthest from he air pump, the 10 inch air bar, after 3 years, the flow was getting weak... with one of these new big stones, it's rolling again

 

[Uberhoust]

One reason to presoak, or at the minimum, rinse any new equipment is to clean off any materials left over from the manufacturing process, or any contaminants the equipment might have from the storage or packaging. I don't exactly know how airstones are made but I would suspect that they are molded in some fashion, a lot of this type of production uses materials to ensure the product breaks free from the mold.