kkw

I am new to the whole aquarium world, but am very interested and wanting to learn. I am getting a 29 gallon tank soon and I have a question about air pumps and air stones. I know about cycling tanks and all that so no need to worry. I realize that with a tank that size aeration would be necessary. My question is, how exactly do you set it up? Obviously, the tube runs from the pump to the tank and the stone on the end of the tube. But where do you put it all? Do you run the tube down a corner and put the stone under the gravel? Put the stone on top of the gravel? What exactly does the stone do? Does the stone release oxygen? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Alessa

Ok, you can pretty much put it under the gravel so that it does not show. Air pumps and airstones work pretty much in two ways:

1) when the bubbles formed are small enough they introduce oxygen to the tank and take out carbon dioxide.

2) Nevertheles, this is not always enough because the bubbles sometimes arent small enough and dont stay in the water a long time, so what they do is create some current in the surface, creating gas exchange and introducing oxygen to the tank.

Welcome to FL! you will get a lot of great advice in fishkeeping and great advice from awesome people!

pepetj

Hi kkw: Welcome to fishlore!
Airpump-Airstones are a nice looking complement for tanks. I personally use them in all my tanks, not only they look good, but fish tend to enjoy them. You could either let the tube hand in there, attach it to the corners with sylicon, or use ventose-clips that are sold for that purpose (the ones available down here are black). The major problem I've had is the noise they make. I have Elite 801 for 5.5 and 10gal , and Tetra Whisper 40 for the 29gal bow. The Whisper is definetly less prone to rattle. I place my pumps at the rear side, over a plastic platform (easy to find accesory); but have noticed that sometimes they are placed either hanging from the wall (hooked) or in a small shelf above the tank.

Most dissolved O2 comes from agitation of the water surface (e.g. HOB filters, powerheads). I do place them (buried) in the substrate (either gravel or sand, or both) and place them along the rear wall of the tank. I use a check-flow valve (to prevent water entering/damaging the pump) at the output of the pumt, and use a plactic distributor -two or three outputs- to regulate airflow. Some stones can be connected in serial, but I rather use individual lines for ease of maintenance (airstones should be replaced at some point).

Make sure you get a model of airpump that can handle multiple airstones. In my opinion, it's worth it.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

COBettaCouple

Welcome to FishLore.

I like to run an air hose from the air pump to a gang valve. Then an air hose from the gang valve to the aeration device in the tank. Air stones, I like to put about 2/3 of the way down the tank wall but I mainly like to use flexible bubble wands.