Planted tank with air stone?

[aquesada001]

Hey everyone,

I am new to the forum but have had a Discus tank for a few years now. I have just decided to change it up and make a planted Discus tank. My question is, is it okay to have an air stone in the tank as well? I have been reading up and see mixed reviews. I would like to keep it as I do like the look. It is currently on fairly low; if it is safe I would probably turn it up a little..



90953

[strawberryblonde]

Hi there and welcome to the forums. =)

I don't have an air stone in my tank, but I do run 2 hydroV sponges as filtration and they produce a ton of bubbles. I'm not sure why air stones would be bad. I only know that all that air never seems to bother my discus or my plants.

[aquesada001]

Thanks for the reply!

I run 2 Fluval 405's so no bubbles being produced from that. Apparently the water disruption can release the co2 which is not good for the plants. That's what I read at least, good to know your tank is find with the bubbles!

[rickztahone]

You typically want to run an air stone at night when the plants use up the most oxygen, but this is typically in co2 injected tanks. HTH

[pastry]

Huh? Wait, I've been running two air stones in low tech planted with canister; is that a no-no?

[DJW]

I don't think air stones can hurt anything in a low tech tank as long as they aren't stressing the fish with too much current. My Ram tank is so heavily planted you have to search for the fish. Keeps them from too much fighting. Like Ricardo says oxygen in a tank like this can get low at night. I always seem to have a spare sponge filter bubbling away in there anyway.

The general consensus is that air stones help with oxygen not from the bubbles but by turning over and stirring the water from the surface where the oxygen exchange takes place.

[rickztahone]

I don't think air stones can hurt anything in a low tech tank as long as they aren't stressing the fish with too much current. My Ram tank is so heavily planted you have to search for the fish. Keeps them from too much fighting. Like Ricardo says oxygen in a tank like this can get low at night. I always seem to have a spare sponge filter bubbling away in there anyway.

The general consensus is that air stones help with oxygen not from the bubbles but by turning over and stirring the water from the surface where the oxygen exchange takes place.

correct. With co2 injection it is a necessity or you will see your fish gasping for air in the morning.

[cellingson]

correct. With co2 injection it is a necessity or you will see your fish gasping for air in the morning.

Not to take anything from Rick, but I have CO2 injected tank and I don't run an air stone. My fish don't seem to be any different in the morning from the night. I do turn the CO2 off at night, maybe that is the difference. My rate is 1-2bpm rate in a 60g tank. Just enough to get a green color change on the CO2 indicator.

[rickztahone]

Not to take anything from Rick, but I have CO2 injected tank and I don't run an air stone. My fish don't seem to be any different in the morning from the night. I do turn the CO2 off at night, maybe that is the difference. My rate is 1-2bpm rate in a 60g tank. Just enough to get a green color change on the CO2 indicator.

If you turn it off then it shouldn't be a big problem. Have you ever accidentally left the co2 on all night?

[DJW]

As long as the filter return roils the surface and provides good circulation of the tank then an air stone shouldn't be a necessity. Some of this depends on how much plant growth is going on. Air stones can be handy for augmenting and fine-tuning the water movement in the tank. And I just like the look and sound of the bubbles.

[dprais1]

air stones will off-gas co2 from the water, which is a problem during the day if you are injecting co2.
--if you aren't injecting co2 it isn't an issue.

if you are injecting co2 and you run an airstone at night you could off gas too much co2. then, during the day, when the airstone goes off it may take hours to get your co2 concentration back up.

it is all a balance.
basically, imo, if you are not injecting co2 then do whatever with air stones, it won't impact anything.
if you are injecting co2 then stay away from airstones. as Nemonic said just the rolling surface agitation should be enough.

as a side note water movement using powerheads of some sort will do loads more for your plants than an airstone ever will. water movement is often overlooked in planted tanks and can make a huge difference. the extra circulation will also aid gas exchange and distribution of gases through the tank for your fish

[Filip]

For plants and fish also,its better to have more surface movement than an airstone.
The theory behind what you heard is that o2 bubbles attach and strip co2 microbubles from the water on their way up.
So in non co2 ,planted it is better to have strong surface movement to inject co2 from atmosphere to some minimal point, while airstone strips it away further.
With that said , this is so fine-tuning diference that you really dont need to worry that much IMO.

[pastry]

I didn't start this thread but definitely appreciate all info