air or not to air

[bad_fish]

Question from a rookie. Do you need to airate (sp) the tank or not? I had originally, but LFS said it was harmful to salt water fish. I have a couple of fish and a couple of inverts in a 25g. Should I run an airstone or not?
Thanks.
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[j21kickster]

i do in my 30- b/c i have no other place where water breaks- no problems so far- it has been a while too

 

[nucknfutts]

Your tank should'nt need alot, just make sure that your ph levels stay where they need to be. Most of the time an air stone just adds a different effect. But it can mess with the balance of the tank levels. Does your water break anywhere in your system?

 

[shadow678]

Aerating the tank will only have detrimental effects if you have boxfish(if bubbles are ingested, they can get trapped in the swim bladder, causing bouyancy problems), or if the air is shut off and turned back on in cycles, it can make certain levels fluctuate slightly. As a nuisance, air bubbles popping at the surface will increase salt creep rather highly. As far as necessity, if you have good surface agitation, you shouldn't need the air stone. On a side note, I have had an airstone running on my 100gal reef for 9 months with no harmful side effects, just so you know. HTH

 

[bad_fish]

Thanks all. I do have pretty good surface aggitation, so I guess I will do without the air stone. I remember when I had it on there originally it did make the salt crust all over the tank lid and light.
Thanks for the help.
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