Dumb q about airstones

M

mary

Guest
hi there-i read quite a bit about airstones in tanks- how do they work? is it plugged in like my air pump?
i asked at the pet shop once and they showed me these white flakey bars- i am sure you feed them to birds. I put one in the tank and it went all murky so i removed it!i don't have a filter so would an airstone help?
 
No, that would have been an oxyshell and is made of of bicarbonate of soda. An airstone (you can get in shapes, little blue cylindrical ones, starshapes, long rectangular ones) connects via a tube directly to your airpump and just sits in your tank, releasing air bubbles in your tankwater. If you have stones/rocks in your tank you can place the airstone under them to secure it and the bubbles will come up between the stones. If you ask at the petshop they will be able to point you in the right area. They cost from $0.95 up to about $3.75, depending on what you get. You will probably have to buy some plastic tubing as well to connect airstone to your airpump, 0.99-$1 a meter (they have it on big rolls).
 
Yes, it attaches to an air pump. Go to Google Images and search "airstone". I'm sure every pet shop that carries aquarium stuff has them (usually right next to the air pumps).

If you don't have a filter, an airstone will help. It will maintain oxygen level in the water (which helps the animals, and also helps the breakdown of waste products), and it will prevent the formation of film across the water surface.
 
I have a filter, is it a good idea to have a small airstone as well, or is that overkill?
 
Kat, my axie has both filter and an airstone. She absolutely loves the air bubbles coming out of air-stones! Sometimes she attacks them, and then burps lots of air out. Other times she 'rides' on the bubbles, looks like lots of fun. So myself I would recommend it for the entertainment value as well as maintaining oxygen in the water
lol.gif
 
Hi there, actually we did have one ( why its called an air"stone" i am not sure)- didn't realize thats what it was.
i took it off coz the axies were always gobbling the bubbles and one of them couldn't sink when he was a babe so i thought he was full of air!
 
Whether you need an airstone with a filter depends on the kind of filter and the kind of lid on the tank. If the lid is the solid glass type, or if the filter does not agitate the surface of the water, then an airstone is beneficial (possibly essential).
 
we have no lid on the tank- i am always peering in there , vacuuming with the baster, feeling the "kids" etc etc so a lid is a pain ( for me!!) may be i should to keep the water surface cleaner!.
 
They also make adjustable air pumps, where you can turn down the flow. I have one which I keep around medium.
 
I was looking at getting an airstone in my tank, I didn't fancy the pipe being visible going down to the bottom of the tank, So could I bung it in the casing in the corner for my filter?

It's one of the Juwel aquariums with the tank-height corner unit for the filter and all the media, There are also grills at the top where I guess the bubbles could come out of, There is plenty of spare room in the corner unit, And all the water that is in the tank passes through it during filtration, So I guess it'd work properly?
 
It's pretty hard to understand the exact situation from the description, James. But if you don't like the appearance of the tubing, hide it behind plants. Also, you can buy black airline tubing, which is less conspicuous.
 
Lol sorry I'm not the best at describing things =P
http://www.aquacare.co.uk/filter_assembly2.jpg
That's a link to a diagram, the "top" two sides of the filter are in the back-right corner of the tank,The powerhead slots into the kind of thimble-shaped hole on the wall inside the housing, And points out through the bend tubes you see on the upper-left.

The water is drawn down one side through all the filter media through the grills on the right-hand nearside wall, Back up under the wall and up to the powerhead and back into the tank.

Now I propose to put the airstone at the bottom of the powerhead-side of the wall so the already-filtered water is aerated by the stone and pumped back into the tank.

I hope with this description it is a bit clearer and maybe easier to know if it would work or not?

Sorry for the lengthy post and many thanks =)
 
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