eagerinsight

My plants leaves are turning brown, my LFS guy told me to cease all aeration. I was told to stop any air stones and to raise my water level so the filtered water doesn't break the surface of the water. Any validity to this? I'm worried because the guy isn't too bright, for example he told my friend that canned air used to clean keyboards can be used to inject CO2 into an aquarium (friend listened and dropped his water temp 10 degrees quickly)!

Chief_waterchanger

What plant are you dealing with?

The plants need CO2 and the only reason to stop aeration is if you were injecting CO2 by artificial means. If you are not using a CO2 injection system then the aeration is good for your plants. I believe I heard that plants use CO2 during day and O2 (oxygen) at night. The bubbles caused by the air stones disturb the surface which causes more CO2 and other gases to get into the water. More CO2 escapes than goes into the water in this method if you are injecting CO2.

Basically you are right to say that the guy isn't too bright. From everything I've studied from Dino and Butterfly, to the best of my memory and knowledge, that guy is incorrect aside from afore mentioned situation(s).

Also, you should never, in my experience, use any sort of aerosolm such as compressed air, on aquariums.

If anyone thinks I missed anything or am mistaken on any point, please, do correct me.

sirdarksol

It's possible that a lack of CO2 is causing your leaves to turn brown. Surface agitation can cause a loss of CO2, but this is usually only a problem in tanks where CO2 is being injected. Normal gas exchange will even out CO2 and O2 levels between air and tank, so if you aren't adding any CO2, you're not going to be losing much to gas exchange.

Isabella

I agree with Sirdarksol and Chief. The only thing I can imagine the guy had in mind was that aeration during daytime (i.e. when tank lights are on) will remove CO2 from water faster (plants cosume CO2 during daytime). At night, on the other hand, when plants consume oxygen, aeration is beneficial. But like Chief and Sirdarksol have said, aeration or no aeration doesn't really matter in a tank that is not being injected with CO2. When you're injecting your tank with CO2, then this is a different story since you're also dealing with pH fluctuations (as a result of CO2 injections), and this is where - I suppose - aeration during dalight hours would have an impact on a CO2-injected tank. Otherwise, you don't need to worry about that.

Butterfly

If you are not injecting CO2 having surface water movement will actually allow CO2 to come from the surrounding air into the tank water in the attempt to equalize CO2 between the water and air this is done through diffusion.
If you are running CO2 and you have surface movement it will allow the CO2 you are injecting to cross over to the air which would be lower in CO2 in the attempt to equalize.
So only if you are injecting CO2 is surface a movement a bad thing.
Carol

sjlchgo

Surface water movement should be kept to a minimum with live plants. Especially at night with the plants are "working the most". With the biowheel systems and other high filtration systems aeration really isn't neccesary, unless you just like the bubbles. I found my plants did much better after I discontinued the aeration. I don't use Co2 either.