Turning the Air Pump off?

[skatuska]

Hi all. I recently got an old tank from my parents house, and after testing it out for a couple of days to make sure the built in air pump was working properly, I purchased two small goldfish that are now living in this tank. I have searched around but couldn't find any good information on turning the air pump off at night. The fish seem to always be swimming hard against the current, so I am leaning towards turning it off to give them a break, but I don't want to cause them any harm. Now, they have only been in a few days, so they might just still be getting used to the tank, but I just wanted to make sure. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Fishsmurf]

Hi Skatuska,
Firstly welcome to AC
Is the airpump just an air pump or is it the filter? If it's just an airpump and you have a seperate filter that is providing some surface agitation you can turn the airpump off, if however it is the filter you are going to have to leave it on and find a way of reducing the flow (sometimes there is a valve that you can adjust to increase/decrease the flow)... HTH

 

[Sponge Bob]

I always turn off my air pump ( not a filter ) at night. Since my air pump did not come with an ajusting valve, I just purchased one at the LFS. About $1.

Cheers !

SB
PS : If your air pump is below water line, make sure you make a U shape with your hose at the top of the aquarium, inside or outside, doesn't matter. This will prevent water from reversing back to the pump when you turn it off. I forgot to do it and fortunately for me, discovered it soon enough... ¼ inch of water in cabinet.

 

[skatuska]

Thanks for the replies. Fishsmurf, It is the filter too, so I guess that means I will leave it on. I checked on the fish when I got up this morning, and they seemed to be relaxing alot more, so I imagine they were simply still getting used to the tank. And Sponge Bob, thanks for that advice. The pump is indeed below the water, so again I will leave it on. The more I think about it I will probably end up going out some day in the not so distant future and purchasing a better tank with separate filter/pump, but it might have to wait until I have some more space than my dorm room can provide. Thanks again for your help.

 

[amosf]

If the pump is below the waterline then get yourself a checkvalve for the line just in case the power goes off or whatever.