Toby96

Can you have too much aeration?

thorpbrian

Someone else might have a better answer but I think that you can. If you have to much aeration you could create a current that will blow (er swish?) your fish around inside the tank and cause them stress.

bolivianbaby

IMO-you can't have too much aeration unless your fish are being blown around. The smaller the fish, the more careful you need to be. However, I run air pumps in a lot of my tanks and haven't had a problem with any of them.

I hope this helps!

Llama

If you have plants in the tank, then it could be that you're reducing the amount of CO2 in the tank to such a point where they have problems photosynthesising.

But I'd say that's only if you have a lot of plants.

bruiser

I asked the same question not all that long ago.. and I personally find it trial and error. (unless you have plants as Llama mentioned..)

I not, just turn it on, and monitor your fish.. My aerator is adjustable, and I found some airline "T's" that allow me to adjust air pressure as well..

Just keep an eye on the fish, and like the others said, if its not causing them any sort of stress, your good!

Rearden

Unless you're running air powered filters your air pump is being used to add dissolved oxygen to the water for your fish to absorb. Depending on the water's TDS and temperature it can only hold a finite amount of O2, so yes, beyond that saturation point you're just making bubbles for nothing. The excess aeration is a waste of energy from a heating and evaporation point as well.

Higher TDS (Total Disolved Solids) will reduce the water's O2 carrying capacity. Also cold water has a higher O2 capacity. This is why a lot of native trout populations have been destroyed by new construction (sediment run off in streams = increased TDS) and farming (tree removal lessens shade = higher water temps). Higher TDS & water temps = no more trout. Same principals apply to our aquariums.

Red Sea makes a dissolved O2 test kit for about $15. Hanna has a floating pH,TDS, temp. & ECC meter for about $130 on Ebay and there are a bunch there that only measure TDS for a lot less.

Lastly, the more you agitate the water, especially in a deep water tank, the less light will reach your plants through the additional refraction and reflection caused by the surface turbulence.