air pump question

[tszabo86]

Do you need an air pump for an aquarium? If so, what would be a good one

I got a 20g aquarium with 3 plants

 

[JimL]

No, an air pump is not a must have, unless you want an air wand or a air powered filter.

 

[lateinningmagic]

If you have plenty of surface water agitation than it's not needed. If you find your fish gasping for air or just want to keep it as backup in case the filter fails, go for it.

I have the Whisper 20 for my 20g tank.

 

[Lupin]

It's always a good idea however to have battery-operated airpumps for emergency purposes and power outages.

 

[tszabo86]

If you have plenty of surface water agitation than it's not needed. If you find your fish gasping for air or just want to keep it as backup in case the filter fails, go for it.

I have the Whisper 20 for my 20g tank.

i have a whisper 20 as well.

 

[corrieberry]

It also depends what fish you have...some require more O2 than others. If you have plants, bubblers tend to take the CO2 out of the water and the plants may struggle a bit.

 

[Rbishop]

It can also be a good idea to have one for times when required...like at elevated temps when treating ich or dosing Prime to the high end....

 

[bazil323]

Ditto, not necessary for most tanks, but it is good to have a battery-operated one on hand for emergencies. Someone on here lost power for several days, and they had a major fish loss. I think they were able to save one tank or something out of many. The main thing for O2 is to have good surface agitation. This is where most of the O2 exchange is completed, and air bubblers generally aren't very effective. You should get a diffuser which turns it into a large amount of very fine (very small) bubbles to increase the surface area of the bubbles which helps maximize their effectiveness.

That said, bubbles look pretty cool, and I used to have a bubble curtain until the wand got plugged up. Oh, and I use them to power my sponge filters.

 

[tszabo86]

Thanks for all your input!