Aeration 24/7 good or bad?

[A. Scott]

Have a smallish tank (12 gal) and ran in to a situation that called
for aeration to sort out some water problems. Added a bubble wand
that runs the length of the tank at the back with an adequately sized
pump.

Now that things have settled down, I'm wondering if the aeration is
still necessary on a 24/7 basis. Should I put it on a timer and let
it run for a few hours a day, or is it best to just let the bubbles
keep flying?

Thanks!

[Private Pyle]

I have 3 tanks ( 110g, 40g, and 10g ) and I run air in all the tanks
all the time. I have a 10" wand in the 10g, two 14" wands in the 40g
and the 110. My fish seem to love the bubbles and I often see them
playing in these back wall "massagers". I like the look and the extra
current and surface movement that the bubbles add as well. If it was
me, I'd let it run, just make sure that you have check values
installed on your airline.



A. Scott > wrote in message >...
> Have a smallish tank (12 gal) and ran in to a situation that called
> for aeration to sort out some water problems. Added a bubble wand
> that runs the length of the tank at the back with an adequately sized
> pump.
>
> Now that things have settled down, I'm wondering if the aeration is
> still necessary on a 24/7 basis. Should I put it on a timer and let
> it run for a few hours a day, or is it best to just let the bubbles
> keep flying?
>
> Thanks!

[Dinky]

"A. Scott" > wrote in message
...
> Have a smallish tank (12 gal) and ran in to a situation that called
> for aeration to sort out some water problems. Added a bubble wand
> that runs the length of the tank at the back with an adequately sized
> pump.
>
> Now that things have settled down, I'm wondering if the aeration is
> still necessary on a 24/7 basis. Should I put it on a timer and let
> it run for a few hours a day, or is it best to just let the bubbles
> keep flying?
>
> Thanks!

Aeration via an airstone or similar does little for oxygenation, and
seriously lowers CO2 levels, detrimental if you have live plants.
Oxygenation is achieved by surface area, not a real problem in most tanks,
with a little surface turbulence such as from a power filter stirring things
up a bit.


--

billy
--
Need tech help?
news://news.winextra.com

[Craig Williams]

> Aeration via an airstone or similar does little for oxygenation, and
> seriously lowers CO2 levels, detrimental if you have live plants.
> Oxygenation is achieved by surface area, not a real problem in most tanks,
> with a little surface turbulence such as from a power filter stirring
things
> up a bit.

Thats a pretty silly thing to say when every single buble that comes from
aeration has a surface area that exchanges O2 & CO2 with the water the same
as the surface area. Aeration is an easy way to in most cases double the
surface area of your tank without increasing its size. There are a lot of
fish in aquariums that don't absolutly require but do benifit from the extra
oxygen in the water. 9 times out of 10 the fish are the more important
lifeform in the tank & CO2 systems can be added for the plants.....

[Boris]

That's simply not true. An air stone or wand or whatever does absolutely
nothing to the tank water chemistry. It is strictly decorative (i.e..
you like the way it looks). To each his own, but when you start implying
that there is an oxygen exchange with the tank water, it ain't so.

"Craig Williams" > wrote in message
.. .
> > Thats a pretty silly thing to say when every single buble that comes
from
> aeration has a surface area that exchanges O2 & CO2 with the water the
same
> as the surface area. Aeration is an easy way to in most cases double
the
> surface area of your tank without increasing its size. There are a lot
of
> fish in aquariums that don't absolutly require but do benifit from the
extra
> oxygen in the water. 9 times out of 10 the fish are the more important
> lifeform in the tank & CO2 systems can be added for the plants.....
>
>

[Dinky]

"Craig Williams" > wrote in message
.. .

> Thats a pretty silly thing to say when every single buble that comes from


I know it doesn't seem to make sense, but it's true. Air stones, outside of
driving a skimmer or UGF, or being used for surface agitation to remove a
protien layer, are nothing more than decoration.

[Craig Williams]

How can you say that. Each bubble has a surface area the same way the
surface of the tank does, if exchange happens there it happens at each
bubble.

"Dinky" > wrote in message
nk.net...
>
> "Craig Williams" > wrote in message
> .. .
>
> > Thats a pretty silly thing to say when every single buble that comes
from
>
>
> I know it doesn't seem to make sense, but it's true. Air stones, outside
of
> driving a skimmer or UGF, or being used for surface agitation to remove a
> protien layer, are nothing more than decoration.
>
>

[Dinky]

"Craig Williams" > wrote in message
.. .
> How can you say that. Each bubble has a surface area the same way the
> surface of the tank does, if exchange happens there it happens at each
> bubble.
>


I'm no scientist, So I cannot explain why an airstone doesn't significantly
increase oxygen levels. I know this from experience and from the teachings
of more experienced aquarists. Perhaps the bubbles are not in contact with
the water long enough? I don't know. I'll ask my wife, she's a science
major.

b

[Happy'Cam'per]

An air stone would be adding oxygen to the water but not directly from the
bubbles! The oxygen exchange would come from SURFACE AGITATION caused from
the bubbles. Much like a power filter would agitate the surface, as Dinky
stated earlier.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**


"Dinky" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> "Craig Williams" > wrote in message
> .. .
> > How can you say that. Each bubble has a surface area the same way the
> > surface of the tank does, if exchange happens there it happens at each
> > bubble.
> >
>
>
> I'm no scientist, So I cannot explain why an airstone doesn't
significantly
> increase oxygen levels. I know this from experience and from the teachings
> of more experienced aquarists. Perhaps the bubbles are not in contact with
> the water long enough? I don't know. I'll ask my wife, she's a science
> major.
>
> b
>
>

[NetMax]

FWIW, here is my 2 cents. Any water contact with the air (bubbles or
surface) will cause the gaseous mixture (O2/CO2 etc) in the water to
equalize with the gaseous mixture in the air. This is scientific fact,
and I think beyond refute.

The question "Will airstones help aerate the water" can only be answered
by 'yes' (see science above). If you want to know if it will
_significantly_ help aerate the water, then the answer is 'it depends'.
In a high fish-load, and/or underfiltered tank, then 'yes, absolutely'.
In a nominal fish-load with adequate water movement provided by modern
filters, then 'probably not'. What was found was that the surface area X
contact time of air bubbles from an airstone, is not a major contributor
to re-oxygenation when compared to the re-oxygenation capability of a
modern filter turning the tank water over several times an hour.

Happy'Camp'per, how does CO2 injection work if the gas bubbles did not
move molecules back & forth? Ask billys' wife ;~)

NetMax


"Happy'Cam'per" > wrote in message
...
>
> An air stone would be adding oxygen to the water but not directly from
the
> bubbles! The oxygen exchange would come from SURFACE AGITATION caused
from
> the bubbles. Much like a power filter would agitate the surface, as
Dinky
> stated earlier.
> --
> **So long, and thanks for all the fish!**
>
>
> "Dinky" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> > "Craig Williams" > wrote in message
> > .. .
> > > How can you say that. Each bubble has a surface area the same way
the
> > > surface of the tank does, if exchange happens there it happens at
each
> > > bubble.
> > >
> >
> >
> > I'm no scientist, So I cannot explain why an airstone doesn't
> significantly
> > increase oxygen levels. I know this from experience and from the
teachings
> > of more experienced aquarists. Perhaps the bubbles are not in contact
with
> > the water long enough? I don't know. I'll ask my wife, she's a
science
> > major.
> >
> > b
> >
> >
>
>

[Craig Williams]

Yeah what he said! :)

"NetMax" > wrote in message
. ..
> FWIW, here is my 2 cents. Any water contact with the air (bubbles or
> surface) will cause the gaseous mixture (O2/CO2 etc) in the water to
> equalize with the gaseous mixture in the air. This is scientific fact,
> and I think beyond refute.
>
> The question "Will airstones help aerate the water" can only be answered
> by 'yes' (see science above). If you want to know if it will
> _significantly_ help aerate the water, then the answer is 'it depends'.
> In a high fish-load, and/or underfiltered tank, then 'yes, absolutely'.
> In a nominal fish-load with adequate water movement provided by modern
> filters, then 'probably not'. What was found was that the surface area X
> contact time of air bubbles from an airstone, is not a major contributor
> to re-oxygenation when compared to the re-oxygenation capability of a
> modern filter turning the tank water over several times an hour.
>
> Happy'Camp'per, how does CO2 injection work if the gas bubbles did not
> move molecules back & forth? Ask billys' wife ;~)
>
> NetMax