PlanetCatfish.com

Hi

Have been wondering whether to add some kind of airing system to my tank before i put my fish in it. I want to do it before its too late

Okay i have made up my mind that i am going to add some kinda air/bubble generator!

But i'm unsure whether to add a powerhead- if so what kind do you guys use? do they hang on the side of the aquariums or by suction?

Not sure i want to bother with a pump and airstones.

The other way is to use the two internal fluval 3's that i currently use as extras in the tank that will be dispanded into this one. The only downside to doing this is that they will then be visible in the tank when i have tried my best to hide most other things.

Your views and comments most welcome

Paul

I use a hydor koralia on my 75 and 55. It is really cool and has a magnetic attacher! They come in 4 diff sizes. I would highly recommend them.

I use the one labeled #1:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/p ... atid=15955

Pump and airstone will be the best way to introduce air-flow into the tank. Any of the venturi devices that attach to filters or powerheads have the drawback that they generally introduce air only in the upper layers of the tank. Lifting water from the bottom (with an airstone) will turn over more water.

Also, since most tanks are pretty much closed at the top [commonly, at least], it's a good idea to introduce some new air into the tank this way. This also pushes some of the carbon dioxide rich air that comes off the tank out of the tank.

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Mats

There really isn't much to bother with when using pump and airstone. Stick the airstone on the hose, plug in the pump and that's it!

For super quiet operation I suggest the Whisper air pump. It comes in lots of different sizes and is silent.

http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe ... 1214496956

Yes, I have a few of those airpumps, and yes, they are very good and very quiet. Definitely better than the Interpet ones that I've also tried.

They sell under the name of TetraTec APSxxx where xxx is the amount of air pumped per hour (in liters). I have two or three of the smaller models. My fishroom is running a 4-line AquaOne model. It is noisy, but doesn't matter that much. More info here:Tetra web-page.
Aqua One air pumps page.

If you can't find a good place above the water level, I'd also spend the £1-2 for a anti-siphoning/non-return valve, like this:
. That way, if your pump suddenly decides to not work correctly any more, it won't suck 200 liters of water onto your floor in the process!

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Mats