air stone VS. tube

[sharpie]

whats the difference between putting an airstone with a tube in the water or just submerging the tube in the water with out an air stone?
-just askin :hi:

[YuccaPatrol]

Not much difference except for the size of the bubbles.

We now know that the bubbles don't add oxygen to the water. It is only the fact that the bubbles disturb the water surface that allows oxygen from the atmosphere to move into the water.

[Hannys_Papa]

I think a lot of people use an airstone for looks. (fine bubbles)

Just having the air line in the water creates a LOT of noise. (bubblebubblebubble)

[sharpie]

thats kinda what i was thinkin'

[wannabefishguru]

well bubbles work on two levels one is for looks and two is for water agitation which is good b/c it releases gases in the water in exchange for oxygen.

[echoofformless]

An air stone is a better idea because it diffuses the force of the air bubbles. When you don't use one the bubbles that come out of the airline are huge and come up powerfully, taking considerable amounts of water up with them. This current that it creates is not only too strong, but since it is so unsteady it really knocks things around in the tank. Not something you want.

Plus it is believed that finer, more numerous bubbles make gas exchange easier.

There are only a handful of scenarios when I would use, or advise using artificial aeration:

* In a tank that has a very tight-fitting lid, where little new air is getting to the water surface for gas exchange. This only applies when there is an internal, canister or no filter, as a power filter would be providing plenty of exchange just through its normal running mechanism. (When I had an Eclipse Corner 5 I didn't like the idea that the whole filter was encased in this sealed package of a hood, so even though it was a bio-wheel, it was still being smothered in a way. In that case I actually ran just an airline under the hood, but not actually under the water. It was only to introduce a constant supply of fresh air to the water surface.)

* In a tank with current-loving fish that doesn't have a lot of current in its filtration system.

* At night in a heavily planted tank that is using CO2. When the lights go out, the plants start breathing oxygen instead of the CO2. This small addition of extra surface agitation and increased air circulation above the water is believed by some (Most notably Takashi Amano) to keep O2 levels elevated enough to lessen any stress on the fish who are competing with the plants for the O2.

Otherwise it's aesthetic; and it generally has some benefit in keeping the tank water a little fresher. If you like it, use it. But definitely use a stone, wand, pad or diffusor.

[csdax]

I use a bubble wall right across the back of my tank, but not really for aeration. It looks pretty, and a lot of the fish seem to enjoy playing in there - especially my tetras!

[lucas68]

I use an airstone under the gravel just for the looks of the bubbles coming up through he gravel. The fish like it and it looks good in the tank. I think just a tube would just make big bubbles in one spot.

[joephys]

The force of the bubbles thing is the main reason to use an airstone. I don't know exactly what size this happens, but if the bubbles are too small, they don't move water up with them, and if they are too big they just push the water out of the way and don't bring water up with them either. I would use the airstone.

[sumthin fishy]

Echo, you forgot one ;)

Some of us still have a few UGFs

And I know I could do this other ways, but I use my airstone to circulate heat. I have a HOB on one side and the heater/airstone on the other side.

[echoofformless]

Echo, you forgot one ;)

Some of us still have a few UGFs

And I know I could do this other ways, but I use my airstone to circulate heat. I have a HOB on one side and the heater/airstone on the other side.


Oh most certainly....UGFs.

Funny you mention the heat circulation, as I just added air to my planted tank to make sure the fish have night-time O2 now that I'm injecting CO2. I just happened to place the stone under my heater and then I realized that I probably just upped my heating efficiency with all of the circulation that now runs around it.

Good points.

[fishieperson321]

I have found that airstones move more water. They can move up to 100 GPH. It all depends on the size of your air pump and the type of bubble stone. The smaller the bubbles, the more water that is moved which means there will be more oxygen in your tank. If you are going to use a 1 inch airstone, I would suggest for you to get a small corner filter such as the Penn Plax Clear Free Corner Cartridge filter and hide it with some decorations. The more filtration, the better. If you have this filter hidden by plants, it will look like you just have a bubble stone in the tank.

[echoofformless]

Those Clear Free filters are in my opinion one of the most overlooked and unappreciated little gems of the air-powered filter units.

[fishieperson321]

Are those filters any good? My grandma used them, but she got rid of her tank years ago and I can't remember if they kept the water clean. She had a 55 gallon with a Secondnature Whisper model 3, fluval internal, UGFs, and a Clear Free. She only cleaned her gravel and changed the filters every 6 months!!! I wonder how she got away with that? LOL!!!!

[sumthin fishy]

Are those filters any good? My grandma used them....Was that a joke? :laugh:

Any time you do gravel vacs every 6 months, you are effecting the fish negatively. UGF's deffinatly work when properly maintained and do have some high qualities, such as low overall tank current. Especially used in smaller tanks, where maintenance is easy and air pumps small, they are wonderful things for bettas, dwarf puffers, etc.

Echo, I was wondering if anyone else did this. I've heard of putting the heater near the intake, but my cutouts for the filter are to one side, and the heaters for the other. Since I added the airpump, I have gone from 2-3*F fluctuations, to <1*F.

[cherrypie]

Airstone is better, it's all to do with surface area vs volume. 1cc of air broken into many small bubbles has far greater surface area in contact with with the water than 1cc of air as one large bubble, more surface air creates more drag on the water and more surface for gas exchange.

[Waverider]

I use a 4 inch airstone under the gravel and position it so that the bubbles rise right where the freshwater from the filter is falling. I figure the mixture of the two forces hitting each other creates more exchange of gases. Seems to work for me.

[fishieperson321]

I am not joking. She only cleaned her tank once every 6 months. I clean mine every week. Her fish lived a really, really long time. Actually, she got them in 1990 and give them away 2 years ago. The people that she give them to cleans theirs only every 6 months. I don't see how they did it, but they are still alive. I guess they just adapted to the water parameters. Everytime she vacuumed the gravel, she cleaned her filters and changed the cartridges. If the filter stopped, it just stopped until the 6 months was up. She fed them only once a day.