Well, not exactly. You can probably picture that treasure chest held open by the air bubbles pumping through a fish tank. It’s a classic image of an aquarium air pump in action. If it’s hard to imagine a tank without one, an aquarium air pump must be necessary.
Why Would You Get an Aquarium Air Pump?
Decoration is the primary purpose of a fish tank air pump for the majority of tanks. Movable aquarium decorations, air stones that diffuse the water into tiny bubbles, and bubble wands are all examples of this. Like any great aquarium decoration, they add to the experience.
Are There Any Other Benefits?
There is one other benefit to an aquarium air pump. They help aerate your aquarium water. The air bubbles produced bring oxygen in touch with more water. It is almost like increasing the surface area of your tank. Now you might be thinking that this is probably a good thing, and it is. The reason they are not really necessary is because most filters do a good enough job of aerating your aquarium water already. Your aquarium filter is constantly moving your water and exposing it to air. Bio-Wheel filters arguably do the best job of aerating your tanks water just by design. Other aquarium filter types, while not as great at this as bio-wheels, still get the aerating job done. One other point is that the majority of commercially sold tanks have enough surface area to provide adequate oxygen exchange already. No need for overkill.
Here’s What I Suggest
The thing to take from this is that you probably don’t need an aquarium air pump. If you like the way those cool little bubbles look, get yourself one. They surely don’t hurt anything. Otherwise, you’ll want to save your money.
I’ve got a 90 gallon fishtank, which is the regular rectangular shape so it’s four feet long. Because I keep three goldfish and a plecostemus in it, I have a heavy duty canister filter in it, with a spray bar attached at the end of the tank to keep the water moving along the surface of the tank.
Even with these conditions, I found that without a bubble bar along the back of the tank, the end farther from the spray bar had a lot of stagnant looking water on top. Deposits of organic material, etc. would collect there, and the lack of movement on the top bothered me because I felt that there wasn’t enough oxygen exchange in the tank. And, of course, the fact that I have all fish that are native to rivers means I probably need a higher oxygen exchange rate to begin with.
I found that a good 24# bubble bar placed along the back of the aquarium, combined with the spray bar at one end, fixed this problem nicely. Now I feel that I’m getting the best air circulation along the top of my tank as well as adequate filtration along the bottom because of the canister filter. Not everybody has a huge tank like me, of course, but it’s definitely something that has helped me, especially on the occasions when I have had to medicate the fish and oxygen exchange is lower because of the medication.
Hope this helps!
Great input Jenn! Thanks for your story.
Whilst I’m not disputing your knowledge about whether air pumps and bubbles are actually needed, I would like to add a couple of benefits that I have found in installing air stones and pumps.
I have an internal filter, although, shortly I will be changing it over to a brand newhigh quality Cannister filter which I got at a bargain price (Actually cost less than my current internal filter which I bought about 3/4 years ago,and comes complete with both filter pads and substrate!), anyway back to my current internal filter, the flow rate is very good for about a week, and then gradually the flow rate slows to almost zero after 2-3 weeks. During this flow rate slow down I often increase the rate of my air stone bubbles to create water movement.
The other advantage other than asthetic is that some fish actually like visiting the bubbles and getting their fix, I have a 10 year old Black Shark that loves to put his mouth up to the bubbles and it looks as if he is taking in the bubbles via his mouth.
He certainly enjoys it at any rate.
Also I have noticed in my mothers tank the clown loached love to sit in between the air bubbles on her large circular air stone that I installed for her.
So really, getting an air pump and airstone is well worth the cost, not only do you get a great air bubble feature, you also get something that some fish really like and make full use of.
Actually, from what Klam said:
I think back and almost every fish I’ve ever had has enjoyed playing in the bubbles. It’s like a reverse slide or something. Hehe!
Great story KLAM! Almost like a fish playground 🙂 I have noticed the same thing. Fish like to play in all sorts of things. I have even seen them playing in just the current from the filter output. Sort of like Jenn’s slide 🙂 It’s fun to watch.
I was just wondering if anyone knows what effect an air stone would have on a planted aquarium? Also, on the surface of my tank there is an oil like film that forms. Anyone know how to get rid of it? (fresh water)
Maria,
The easiest way to get rid of the film is just to skim it off. Here are my thoughts on air pumps of any sort.
http://www.fishtanktutor.com/you-need-an-aquarium-air-pump-right
They can’t hurt, but are usually not necessary.
Well even with my 55 gal I have two air pumps, both pumps are deul outs on them. The reason behind this is simply that I wanted both pumps work with the under gravel filter (with 4 up tubes). The filter has both a power head and a rev-power head (power sponge), the other pump is set up with air stones going down the other two up tubs like the filter is suposed to work.
I like this filter because it has air/water movement under it and with the power head to create curent and O2 circulation through out the tank and the sponge that draws some of this back down to the plant roots. This for me creats a good enviroment for the tank in a whole.
I am however looking at changing the other two extertior-filters to a hanging canister with bio wheel in order to keep a real crisp & clean tank, seeing as I have a Biotope Aquarium specifically set for African Cichlids-Lake Malawi. I have a lot of rocks, some plants and a chunk of wood to duplicate a area where the river would enter the lake.
Sounds like a great setup Royce. Thanks for sharing.
some of the artificial plants have brown marks on the leaves, any reasons why?
If the brown marks rub off with your fingers, they’ve probably got brown algae on them. You can scrub that stuff off with plain water and a brush or with your hands.
i cleaned them with water but they are dull and not as bright as they were . my tank is rio 125. any ideas how to clean between glass and side of filters. thanks .
Hi Rob,
I wouldn’t use anything more on the plastic plants. Just water and rub them clean as Jenn said. Don’t know the tank, but you’ll probably have to just pull the filters out every once in a while to clean.
What Eric said. 🙂
Also, I’ve noticed that my plastic plants just dull over time, even with cleaning, because the tank light leaches out the color. So maybe the dullness is just that – the plastic color is fading from being exposed to light?
I wouldn’t know without looking at them but that’s been my experience. Good luck!
i had ammonia in the water when i tested it which killed some fish. i treated it with ammo lock. and have done some water changes since. its been a couple of weeks and the rest of the fish are ok but water still tests positive for same amount of ammonia.nitrites and nitrates are 0. any ideas? thanks
Hi Rob,
Filter full of waste, need changing? Siphoning deep in the gravel with water changes? Those are a couple of places waste can accumulate and sometimes are overlooked. Remove the waste, and you should be in good shape.
i have changed most of filters at this stage but am still only getting used to keeping fish. not as easy as it looks. thanks for the help.
Hi Eric
Excellent set of articles, only just found this site.
I personally dont like bubble streams in tanks, but I have noticed that on a couple of my tanks that have evaporation lids on them, the air layer just above the water starts to smell after a while, as although there is a lot of water movement on the surface, the air flow there is almost nil, due to the evap lids and hood. In both cases, I have added air streams (hidden as much as possible) which of course force a small air flow through that surface air an out into the room, and the problem went away in a few days!
I think this small air surface part is usually overlooked. Think of a lake, open surface, wind etc clears the duff gasses that are exchanged from the water, in a closed tank, if there is no REAL air movement, it wont clear, and as a result fresh oxygen doesnt get back onto the water surface and back into the water.
Alot of modern tanks dont have evap lids, so I guess the problem is reduced.