Bill

As I have finrot meds in my tank at the moment, the oxygen carrying capacity of my tank water is apparently inhibited, so as directed I have optimised aeration.

For the first time I tried the venturi spout thing on my Fuval 4 Plus filter without it being jammed under the light holder, and it's working properly - really quiet and bubbling well. My air pump (Hydor Ario 3) is really noisy, but I keep it on in the day. It's much nicer without it on (it also takes up space in the tank and makes vacuuming a pain), and if I could just have the filter aerating I could have it on at night and during the day and it'd be quiet... bliss.

So the question is, is the filter bubbling enough to oxygenate my tank? It's pretty big (same surface area as a standard 55 but a few inches shallower) and when I add some new fish to replace the ones I lost it'll probably end up being completely full or an inch or two overstocked, so I'll need good oxygenation (my plec likes to be in a well-oxygenated tank, too). I do have plants to help, and I have a feeling just having the filter would be fine, btu i thought I'd better get your advice first.

Here are pics to give you a feel for how bubbly they are

Filter


Air pump


Air pump is on full blast, filter is on minimum flow rate.

I just looked at the packaging and the filter does up to 1000l/h, the air pump 200l/h. I don't know how this balances out though as the filter has a smaller outflow and pushes water as well as air

What do you think? Can I ditch the noisy air pump?

Thanks

~Bill

sgould

I think you'd be fine.

Toddnbecka

The purpose any pump, whether an air pump, powerhead, or other type, is to circulate the water. Almost all of the O2/CO2 exchange takes place at the surface of the water. As long as the water is being circulated sufficiently you don't need bubbles at all.

Bill

Excellent! Thanks for confirming that, guys The filter circulates the water really well, so I'll be fine.

armadillo

I love filters with air output. Somehow, the bubbles are more chaotic, and smaller, so more evenly distributed in the tank. Only one thing, though. Do make sure that the bubbles also go downwards too, not just upwards. The way I do that is by pointing the filter output to one of the walls of the tank.