is airstone ok in fowlr tank

deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
well i have to change my opinion on this one.
of course i have never lost a fish to air bubbles.
i found an article about airstones and swf.
basically it says it can be used for decoration purposes.
it is not going to be a source for oxygen in the water.
there were a few drawbacks but nothing that would harm the tank.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3121843
Did not say they are good, just said they do facilitate gas exchange, post #3 looked like it was saying they did not.
your right about post three.
Ive read enough articles written by labs that air stones do not increase significant oxygenation.
surface aggravation is what does that. personally it makes no sense to me since bubbles floating through the water to the surface eventually break thereby causing surface agitation.
But evidently that isn't enough, and since I dont have a PHD, Ill take the scientists word for it. But only after I heard it from multiple sources. Hence my statement in post three.
I was highly interested in air stones in my sump, but now Ill just keep a power head down there to churn things up a bit.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Ive read enough articles written by labs that air stones do not increase significant oxygenation.
In what setting? If the only way I can attain surface agitation is via an air stone is not the air stone my only way of agitation
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Could you point out some of these articles? If they are not allowed to be publically viewed due to forum rules, could you PM them to me?
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Use google. Thats how I found them, its been a couple years. Finding something that old and obscure would probably be a couple pages back.
It was a university test lab on oxygination, Im pretty sure it came out of the UW if I remember right. Maybe it was WSU, like I said it was a while back.
People will fight bitterly on the air stone issue. Just like DSB's, and scrubbers. This is one of the taboo topics I will never again comment on.
I can buffer the PH in my water by peeing in it, but doesn't mean its the right thing to do. I will never use air stones. Others can, I wont.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
I used google and didn't find any hits, that's why I was asking. Maybe it was easier a couple of years ago to find the right combo of search terms.
I don't want to fight.... and all discussions on such topics will only go "that way" if we allow it. I like to read the things peeps are basing their "arguments" on. It helps me to understand all sides. I don't believe I even voiced my opinion one way or the other... I was just researching.... it's what I do for the threads that florida joe is in :)
 
outsdr2

outsdr2

Member
Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/3123045
I will never use air stones. Others can, I wont.
Really? I bet you would happily use one if your power was out. and I will venture farther to say you would love it. especially if it saved your tank.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
A battery-powered air pump. Like used for keeping bait alive when fishing. If you lose power for extended periods of time, it's wise to have some type of water movement. Since a traditional circulation pump (powerhead) would kill the batteries quickly, airstones are used instead.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
and im digging for that article, Im having trouble locating it too. it was back in 07 I read it. Not sure when the publication date was. I jsut remember bits and pieces and the over all consensus was surface agitation is the way to oxygenate the water since thats where the gas exchange occures predominately.
not that thats news. ive seen that enough times on half dozen forums, including here, maybee some digging here will produce some results.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
The search may have indeed been easy a couple of years back. Now all I get now is forum hits and very little in the way of studies. That's the problem with the interwebz/forums.... we are smothering out studies and opinions are becoming accepted facts. That's why these discussions are good... you re-examine how you formed your opinion in the first place. Sometimes it re-affirms your opinion and some other times you find you are partially or totally wrong. Great stuff.
And if you don't have portable airpumps or a generator... go get one.
This is what one of my drawers look like.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
we have generators. power outages is an annual occurrence out hear. I'm thinking Ill get a private one specifically for me, so I don't have to share with the rest of the family.
Ill ask my brother for a link next time i talk to him.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
We have a generator as well, but I don't want to get it out for a couple hour outage. Never know when things will shake, rattle and roll over here.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
sounded like the article was claiming you needed it at a depth of 20feet to get optimal oxygenation. Might be why air stones in a sump/tank don't oxygenate well, since they have such shallow depth.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top