Quick question about air stones

[justin]

Alright, I hooked up my pump (rena air 50) into limewood. I plan on buying a stone to replace it because I'm having a problem:

It's creating a white film on the top of the water... at first I hoped to turn town the air pressure, but a control knob is only available on bigger pumps. The bubbles produced by the lime wood create quite a current for the 5 gallon tank and I had to shut it off.

I DO plan on swapping my current tank for a 20 gallon I attempted to grow Daphnia in, butttt I'm waiting for a few more supplies to be delivered (2 more newts, a bunch of gravel, my stone).

My question is: Is the pump just too powerful, or is it the microbubbles of the lime wood?

 

[joan]

Is it a film or a foam? I sometimes get foam from my airstones. That's just a buildup of proteins and such. If it's a film, I have no idea. I've never used limewood. Try taking the airstone off and just using the hose bare. That's what I do in a few of my tanks.

 

[justin]

Heh, what I would call a filmy foam.... it goes away after about 5 minutes. Anyway to turn the pressure down?

 

[joan]

Split the air hose with a T connector. Run one end to just a glass of water or something and the other to your tank. You need to have them both in water somewhere, because if you don't, the end of the line you're not using will have no resistance to the air coming out, and no air will go to the airstone in your tank. Does that make sense? lol.

 

[justin]

Thanks Joan; I actually had a similar idea as you and bought a T connector... now running into another tank. Thanks for the help.