I’ve heard both that air stones are great, and others say they’re totally unnecessary. Through my experimentation, my fish seem noticeably healthier/happier with an air stone. Plus I like the look.
I've heard of people running an airstone at night in their tanks w/ Co2. (Because plants give off Co2 at night and they feel it helps regulate the levels) Obviously, they have their Co2 only run during the day. Thanks for another great video, Dan.
I use airstones in all my tanks..with my understanding that it helps the fishes breathe better....that's what I have learned. Your tanks looks really nice...all fishes look vibrant.
Here's a kicker for ya; I placed an airstone in front of the return of a h.o.b. filter and had massive dieoff of fish!! then i moved the airstone to the other side{away fr in front of hang on back filter} everything was thriving just fine. out of curiosity i tried again a few weeks later & had same effect. So i'm figuring when airstone was placed in front of h.o.b. it released more O2 into the filter intake disrupting the good bacteria causing ammonia spike killing my fish. Now this is just an assumption of my own,.. but does that sound about rite??? Oh and also want to mention that the h.o.b. is for a 75gal or larger on a 20 gal heavily planted & stocked tank. I control the flow with coarse and medium sponge along with filter media, kinda hot rod my hang on backs,w/ massive intake sponge as well. My ph stays around 6. the substrate is 3-4in. thick pool filter sand, live plants, driftwood.. some neutral stones. I'm aware opinions vary,.. Anybody have an insight on this?? Dan?..
@@DanHiteshew-oneandonly ,.. the water flow is very slow, so i thought maybe kinda toward anoxic type filtration, with anaerobic bacteria living in the h.o.b. from what i can gather, they thrive in low oxygen atmospheres. but i also wasn't sure if anaerobic could form in that type of setup{ ceramic & clay media in bottom w/ mult. textures sponge, & floss lastly b4 entering back into tank. It does really well until placement of airstone previously mentioned. I'm still tryna figure out what happened there.. oh and just wanna say i dig the channel, u do some interesting stuff. Keep at it!!
Maybe the deaths were caused because of the pH shift, if incresing O2 also rises pH and your tank was in pH 6 then a sudenly change in pH to let's say 7,8 could harm all the fish that were used to pH 6, that may caused the deaths, I'm just guessing, i also heard that amonia is far more dangerous in higher pH.
@@Edu_Tlls ,.. amigo that's a good guess but i didn't notice any fluctuation in PH level, although it's definitely a possibility.The ammonia levels is the biggest killer of fish in my opinion. Thx for the reply, i'm just a fish nerd enjoying the hobby, & i am never above learning something new from other like minded individuals.
I know 1 rule and follow it: If you have something that does surface agitation (even the spray of a internal or external filter) while your tank isnt overstocked with fish.. they are fine. The other rule is also have some natural plants. There is a saying that in the day they give oxigen and at night they kinda take it.. but if you already had the surface agitation this aint a problem.
I have seen a few people experienced with CO2 running air stones, but I know nothing about the adding of CO2. Something I learned as a wee tike in the 60's... The box filters we used in the smaller tanks not only helped with the nitrogen cycle but also all the bubbles disturbing the water surface. Same with the undergravel filters and their lift tubes. It was explained to me as... Think of a piece of Saran Wrap floating on top of the water. The more you can lift the Saran Wrap off the water the better. That way bad gases can leave the water and oxygen can get in. A rather simple explanation but for a six year old it made sense and obviously a lasting memory.
With more oxygen less CO2, basically with an airstone turned on during photosynthesis period wont actually help, turn them on at night where the CO2 are low and plants can benefit from the oxygenation
It’s a scientific fact that fish love bubbles. Bubbles agitate the surface and cause water flow as they rise. If they gas off too much CO2 then oh well, i personally am not too worried about it. :)
Do dwarf gouramis attack the live bearers sometimes and do they jump or only the real gouramis do that? A few months ago I bought some replacement tetras and they bullied the guppies I had until they killed them. would guppies platys or mollies need strength to outnumber tetras or how can you introduce guppies to existing tetra community? I have had this combination in the past with no aggressive fish problems. I think the Buenos Aires tetra pair that I got this summer has calmed down a lot since then.
I’ve heard both that air stones are great, and others say they’re totally unnecessary. Through my experimentation, my fish seem noticeably healthier/happier with an air stone. Plus I like the look.
I've heard of people running an airstone at night in their tanks w/ Co2. (Because plants give off Co2 at night and they feel it helps regulate the levels)
Obviously, they have their Co2 only run during the day.
Thanks for another great video, Dan.
I've heard of people doing that, even in low tech tanks, just to keep the O2 levels up at night, without having to see the bubbles in the day.
@@DanHiteshew-oneandonly that's exactly what I do
I have been using air stones for 40 years. I don't know; something that I was taught and always did.
I use airstones in all my tanks..with my understanding that it helps the fishes breathe better....that's what I have learned. Your tanks looks really nice...all fishes look vibrant.
Here's a kicker for ya; I placed an airstone in front of the return of a h.o.b. filter and had massive dieoff of fish!! then i moved the airstone to the other side{away fr in front of hang on back filter} everything was thriving just fine. out of curiosity i tried again a few weeks later & had same effect. So i'm figuring when airstone was placed in front of h.o.b. it released more O2 into the filter intake disrupting the good bacteria causing ammonia spike killing my fish.
Now this is just an assumption of my own,.. but does that sound about rite??? Oh and also want to mention that the h.o.b. is for a 75gal or larger on a 20 gal heavily planted & stocked tank. I control the flow with coarse and medium sponge along with filter media, kinda hot rod my hang on backs,w/ massive intake sponge as well.
My ph stays around 6. the substrate is 3-4in. thick pool filter sand, live plants, driftwood.. some neutral stones. I'm aware opinions vary,.. Anybody have an insight on this?? Dan?..
No. The more O2 your nitrifying bacteria get, the happier they are.
@@DanHiteshew-oneandonly ,.. the water flow is very slow, so i thought maybe kinda toward anoxic type filtration, with anaerobic bacteria living in the h.o.b. from what i can gather, they thrive in low oxygen atmospheres. but i also wasn't sure if anaerobic could form in that type of setup{ ceramic & clay media in bottom w/ mult. textures sponge, & floss lastly b4 entering back into tank. It does really well until placement of airstone previously mentioned. I'm still tryna figure out what happened there..
oh and just wanna say i dig the channel, u do some interesting stuff. Keep at it!!
Maybe the deaths were caused because of the pH shift, if incresing O2 also rises pH and your tank was in pH 6 then a sudenly change in pH to let's say 7,8 could harm all the fish that were used to pH 6, that may caused the deaths, I'm just guessing, i also heard that amonia is far more dangerous in higher pH.
@@Edu_Tlls ,.. amigo that's a good guess but i didn't notice any fluctuation in PH level, although it's definitely a possibility.The ammonia levels is the biggest killer of fish in my opinion. Thx for the reply, i'm just a fish nerd enjoying the hobby, & i am never above learning something new from other like minded individuals.
I know 1 rule and follow it: If you have something that does surface agitation (even the spray of a internal or external filter) while your tank isnt overstocked with fish.. they are fine. The other rule is also have some natural plants. There is a saying that in the day they give oxigen and at night they kinda take it.. but if you already had the surface agitation this aint a problem.
I have seen a few people experienced with CO2 running air stones, but I know nothing about the adding of CO2.
Something I learned as a wee tike in the 60's...
The box filters we used in the smaller tanks not only helped with the nitrogen cycle but also all the bubbles disturbing the water surface. Same with the undergravel filters and their lift tubes.
It was explained to me as...
Think of a piece of Saran Wrap floating on top of the water. The more you can lift the Saran Wrap off the water the better. That way bad gases can leave the water and oxygen can get in.
A rather simple explanation but for a six year old it made sense and obviously a lasting memory.
It's not a bad analogy either.
My fish and fry love the bubbles
With more oxygen less CO2, basically with an airstone turned on during photosynthesis period wont actually help, turn them on at night where the CO2 are low and plants can benefit from the oxygenation
It’s a scientific fact that fish love bubbles. Bubbles agitate the surface and cause water flow as they rise. If they gas off too much CO2 then oh well, i personally am not too worried about it. :)
All we know is that sirstones work. First real comment fools! Lol
Do dwarf gouramis attack the live bearers sometimes and do they jump or only the real gouramis do that? A few months ago I bought some replacement tetras and they bullied the guppies I had until they killed them. would guppies platys or mollies need strength to outnumber tetras or how can you introduce guppies to existing tetra community? I have had this combination in the past with no aggressive fish problems. I think the Buenos Aires tetra pair that I got this summer has calmed down a lot since then.
Buenos Aires tetras are one of the fin nipping variety if I'm not mistaken, and any tetra can get nippy if not kept in schools of 5 or more.
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There’s an article in this quarter aquariumhobbyistmagazine.com/ on Oxygen in aquariums. Thought you might like to read it.