are my fish getting enough air? pls help

[neupane00]

hello, i recently bought http://www.reefbuilders.com/2009/04/09/illuminata-trimless-aquarium-series-oceanic-video-walkaround/.

that kinda tank.. its 57 gallon with footprint of 36 X 18. its open top. I am making that my new discus tank. So temp is about 85 degrees. Currently i have moderate amount of plant, school of 12 cardinals, 5 rummynose, 3 german blue ram and 3 panda cory.

i want to add 6 discus to the tank.. (and possibly small school about 6 rasboras)..

I am using canister filter, and 2 aquaclear 50 filter, and its open top (but temp is about 85 degrees).. now my question is do i need a airstone?? thanks a lot.. also, will i have overstocked for my 57 gallon (after i put 6 discus and possibly 6 rasboras?)

thanks a lot

[Patr1ck]

Yes, that will be overstocked. I always like to have lots of air in my tank so I would put an airstone in it if it was my tank. The biggest concern that I have about your tank is that it is an open top tank. Discus like to jump and usually its your favorite that does it. I would put a lid on that tank. I know the aesthetics arent as pleasing, but neither is a dead discus.

Pat

[Eddie]

I know the aesthetics arent as pleasing, but neither is a dead discus.

Pat

Wicked phrase Pat, good line! ;)

Take care,

Eddie

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

When in doubt, air it out! haha. Seriously though, an airstone or two is recommended for any warm water tank. If you really want to see where your oxygen levels are at, invest in a dissolved oxygen test kit. LaMotte makes a good one. They're not 100% accurate but it'll definitely give you a close enough idea of where your DO is at. You want it to be at minimum 5mg/L...7mg/L is great, but often hard to achieve in a single tank. Anything below 5mg/L has the potential to stress your fish and even put a strain on your filtration (nitrification is an aerobic process after all...).

-Ryan

[phat nguyen]

Hello there,
This is a True and was a sad lesson for me.
I got a batch of Millenium gold from Midwest Discus in June of 2009.
I put 60 of them in a 55 gallon tank with no air stone.
I raised the juvies about 2 months from a dime size to about 1 dollar size with out the air stone.
One night i got a Strange feeling about something, went out to my fish tank and found 58 Discus laying DEAD all over the tank. Only of the 2 smallest discus survived.They were perfectly fine 3 hours before.

The lesson learned was the Fry/small juvies may not required lots of AIR in the tank up to certain size.The bigger the fish the more air they might need to survive.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO HAVE AIR FOR YOUR FISH.

Perry Nguyen

[Scribbles]

Airstones are always a good idea, especialy in a warm tank where oxygen levels are lower. Adding 6 discus would be overstocking but a mated pair would be ok. As others have said, discus can and do jump so a lid is needed.

Chris

[Darrell Ward]

I use to not add air to my large tanks because they have trickle filters. Then I moved a dozen grow outs from a 75 gal. to their own 125gal. with a trickle filter, and their activity decreased noticeably. I added a new sponge filter I had with an air stone in it for more air just to see what would happen. They perked up overnight. I now add air to all tanks. It sure doesn't hurt.

[discusjoe27]

When in doubt, air it out! haha. Seriously though, an airstone or two is recommended for any warm water tank. If you really want to see where your oxygen levels are at, invest in a dissolved oxygen test kit. LaMotte makes a good one. They're not 100% accurate but it'll definitely give you a close enough idea of where your DO is at. You want it to be at minimum 5mg/L...7mg/L is great, but often hard to achieve in a single tank. Anything below 5mg/L has the potential to stress your fish and even put a strain on your filtration (nitrification is an aerobic process after all...).

-Ryan

when in doubt air it out?:argue: it's when in doubt lay it out.:p
but yes air is nice.