Shine

How do fish usually react to an air stone? I just got one for my quarantine tank, and to start with the fish was swimming around in the bubbles; but is now hiding out either right beside it or under it (depending on how I have it situated)

Meenu

Mine ignore the bubbles (although they play in the filter outtake)

Prince Powder

It depends on the fish I think. My bettas either ignore the bubbles or enjoy playing in them. My king betta, King Koopa spent the better part of the first day in his new tank trying to swim down the bubbles from the top and also sticking just his head into the bubbles. My veil tail Mako will spend about 5 full minutes every few hours just riding up the bubbles and swimming back down.

Do you have any kind of hiding spot in your QT tank? Your fish just might want to relax a bit and feels more secure relaxing in his/her strange new place being hidden. If there's not a hiding spot for him/her you might want to add a decoration, plant, or terracotta pot for him/her so s/he can relax a bit and feel more secure.

Raamiah

My shark sometimes hangs out next to it. Sometimes he hangs out over it letting the bubbles get on him. Other times he just swims around the tank. I don't think it really bothers them. But the suggestion of a hiding spot might be good in general in case the fish is a bit shy.

stefjane

My fish generally ignore their bubble wall, however if I'm lucky, I can catch a couple of kuhli loaches chasing each other in it

Shine

No... and after watching him for the last day, I think thats the problem. If I use a small terracotta pot does it have to be boiled first?

Prince Powder

No, if it's new you don't have to boil it. If it's been used for plants I personally wouldn't use it as I'd be freaking about possible fertalizer poisonings. Just make sure it is not a glazed pot and you'll be fine. You might notice some slight fizzing from the pot when you first put it in water, don't worry that's normal and will only last a few minutes.

Akari_32

i used to have a guppy that would eat the bubbles (which was bad when i was killing off ICH with those fizzing Jungle tablets....). one of the guppies i have now likes to swim up and down the stream while the other just ignore it. if u have a spazy fish that freeks out at everything, u may want to start off with a pump rated way less than the size of ur tank just to see their reation

Shine

Well, he now has a little pot, and a couple rocks to wedge it in place in the QT tank... so now he's hiding in the pot instead. Which is at least an improvement to trying to wedge himself under the air stone...

Kind of a nervous little fellow. The others don't act near so skittish; not in QT nor the tank. They swim all over the place. *sigh* maybe he just hates being alone

blasto172

I currently have 2 neons in a 3 gal eclipse that I'm using for quarantine. I had to turn off the airstone till I can get a regulator of the pump. I think the stone was causing too great of a current in the tank, the pair were taking shelter in a corner by the heater.