quick ? doea any one use air stone's?

[wastedincome420]

Well I know know that most people, my self included try to make sur that we have no micro bubble being returned to tank from our sump,etc. Well do any of you have an air-stone or two in your tank? Do I need to have one, or does the protien skimmer stir enough oxegen into the water??

 

[@knight]

typically, you dont want bubbles in your tank, unless they're from the DSB.
IMO, leave the cute little bubbled for the FW tank, cuz all they will do is make the water cloudy.
the skimmer and water movement should give you more than enuf O2 in the tank.
is there a reason you think your tank is not aerobic enough?

 

[adrian]

As long as you have a skimmer and proper surface agitation you shouldnot have to worry about O2 levels. Tiny bubbles can acutually irritate corals tissue if they get stuck to the coral and remain there for an extended period of time. I have an airstone in my tank, but it only kicks on when the power kicks off. We have very poor service here and the power is constantly going off, when it happens the air pump kicks on and allows for some gas exchange until the power comes back on. I agree with @knight, leave the bubbling diver and shipwrecks in the FW ditch fish tanks
[ November 21, 2001: Message edited by: Adrian ]

 

[wastedincome420]

LOL Thats what I thought but just wanted to make sure

 

[krustytheclownfish]

Adrian,
How did you rig your pump up to come on when the power goes off? Do you use those battery powered pumps?

 

[adrian]

I bought them from a mail order company, I think they were something like $15. They are plugged into an outlet and turn on when the power goes out via batteries, and I think they can run for up to 12 hours. They are pretty easy to hide and they help to ease my mind when Im away, although I think the power would have to be out for more than a few hours before the tank would really be affected, of course I really dont want to find out HTH

 

[fish fry]

What about tanks that don't use skimmers. I'm working on a tank filtered by Macro Algae, DSB and LR. I assume I need some type of areration.
Although my freshwater planted tanks have no areration, but they have tons of plants producing O2
Thanks
Tom

 

[adrian]

All you need is sufficent surface agitation produced by overflows or power heads. A skimmer is not a must as far as oxygenation goes. HTH

 

[fish fry]

What if there isn't that much surface agitation? PH will operating, but I don't want them aimed up splashing everything, as you might see with some return pumps.
Fish Fry

 

[adrian]

Is your tank self contained? Do you have a sump? How big is your tank? With smaller tanks, ever a small hang on filter stripped of its bio media and used only for carbon or current will provide adequate surface agitation. You dont have to have the PHs actually spraying up out of the water, just enough to move the surface. HTH

 

[kris walker]

Hey everyone,
Has anyone actually observed direct evidence of airstones affecting corals detrimentally? If so, could you tell me the type of corals they affected? Or is this sort of commonly passed advice one heard from somone else sometime ago?
I've dove on a few shallow Carribean (1-20 ft.) reefs before, and I can tell those who have never been that it is pretty bubbly. The waves hit the stony corals constantly, and lots of bubbles are produced.
Now I know that there are many different coral-growing envs., some of which are not bubble (eg. lagoons), but I just wanted to point that out. After all, I have an airstone, and I think it makes the atmosphere look more natural. And to me, the more O2 the better, as long as the air bubbles aren't small enough to create foam in your tank. An airstone helps to stabilize your pH when the lights are turned off, and thus they effectively add to your alkalinity.
sam

 

[wally]

I would think that the bubbles from wave action are different than from an airstone. If bubbles from waves get stuck on a coral the next wave will knock them off. However if they come from an airstone there will be no next wave to come along and knock it off. It will just sit there. I think its the bubbles just sitting there that cause problems.
I have seen in many large public aquariums awesome reef tanks with large surge wavemakes that send a real wave crashing into the reef. The corals all seem to be doing great and they have a TON of air bubbles in them.

 

[fish fry]

The tank is a 30 gallon, no sump. It will have a HOT filter for Macro Algae and of course PH's for circulation.
I just wanted to make sure that you don't need to actually break the surface of the water to exchange gases.
Thanks
Fish Fry

 

[@knight]

theres nothing wrong with breaking the water surface, which prooly will happen with the filter. what you want to stray from is thousands of microbubbles clinging to the corals.

 

[just_got_tanked]

I wanted to ask a question on this topic. I have a built in protein skimmer on the back of my tank. Could I benefit from using a airstone in the bottom of the protein skimmer. How it is set up is the protein skimmer has its own compartment (sump) there is a power head towards the middle of the protein skimmer itself. There doesnt seem to be alot of bubbles though. Can I put a airston at the front of the powerhead just inside the protein skimmer?

 

[adrian]

Just got tanked, try it, a skimmer is rated for efficiency by the size and amount of bubbles produced. If you aren't getting too many bubbles, an air stone may help, or it may introduce too many bubbles. You may also want to check the venturi of the skimmer to make sure it is not some how clogged and that your powerheads are big enough to drive your skimmer properly. HTH