Are Air stones good or not??

[steffi0122]

My 5.5 gallon tank is slightly overcrowded. I have 4 platies, 4 rainbows, a betta and a cory. The fish seem to be doing fine and acting normal. I am kinda concerned about aireation though. i was thinking about getting an air stone to help with oxygen in the tank, but i wasn't sure that it would be a good idea. Can anyone give me an opinion or some advise? I would really appreciate it !

[OrionGirl]

Not slightly--way overcrowded. I wouldn't have either the platies or the rainbows in there. Some kinds of rainbows get 5-6 inches in length! Adding a bubbler will not help with the primary problem, which is too much waste. Time to buy a new tank--one that will hold those fish at their adult sizes.

[steffi0122]

oh no...my rainbows are dwarf and they are staying at about an inch in length...so are the platies....i don't want to just get rid of the fish so my question was will the air pump help with keeping the oxygen in the tank?

[carpguy]

You're not slightly overcrowded. You're extremely overcrowded.

I'd skip the airstone and get a bigger tank. Airstones can enlarge the surface a bit for better gas exchange but they don't add water or reduce pollution. The fish will be under a lot of unnecessary stress, won't look their best, won't behave normally, won't grow normally, will be prone to disease, and will at some point die before their time.

[carpguy]

If they're staying an inch in length, its because they're becoming stunted. This will eventually kill them.

A Dwarf Rainbow (http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile45.html) should grow to about 2 and a half inches and needs a much bigger tank. The site I linked to recommends a 36" tank.

Platys also should grow to about 2 and a half inches.

A 5 gallon is really much too small for the fish you have in there. An airstone won't fix it…

[aquariumfishguy]

It might do you good to do a simple search on airstones/bubble wands/aeration. There is a new thread on this topic about every week...sometimes 2 a week.