aerator

On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:02:40 -0500, Sconad wrote:


i'm sure i'll get jumped for asking what some will see as a dumb
question, but how many of you use an aerator? how absolutely necessary
is it?

In a heavily planted tank, running an aerator at night can compensate some
for the plants oxygen consumption. There's not a lot of oxygen absorbed
from the bubbles themselves. Most additional oxygen comes from the
surface turbulence created by the rising bubbles. At least that's what
most of the books say.

That said, I don't use one. In my only tank with a lot of plants and a
normal fish load, I have a canister filter with a spray bar. The
turbulence from the spray bar seems to be sufficient.