BrendanIgnatius

Hi
I have a 29 gallon tank with two lloydiella and what I think is an anubais on a piece of driftwood. Will my plants be affected in a negative way (such as C02 loss) from my single airstone?

Beth1965

I don't think that the airstone will effect in a negative way. Do you plan on adding more plants? Why do you have the airstone to begin with?
Beth

BrendanIgnatius

My filter only circulates about 1/2 of my tank and i wanted to make sure my fish had enough oxygen. My blue gourami was constantly at the top of the tank which is a sign the oxygen level is lower than it should be.

And yes i am looking to add about 2-3 more plants (1 anubias and 1-2 backround plants, probably java ferns).

coffeebean

you will loose c02 using an air stone with plants. ideally you are going for just a ripple across the surface so that it promotes gas exchange but you dont loose too much co2. however, if your plants arent putting out enough o2 then you need the air. im finding it hard to find a balance in my 25g actually. it was much easier in the 55.

prairielilly

My canister filter's output is a spray bar I've turned vertically so it doesn't disturb the surface at all, so I wanted an airstone too. I put a 3-way valve on it and then fiddled enough that I got it where it's just barely disrupting the surface. I've got active, happy tetras and the anubias is putting out new leaves every day!

Fish_wise_man

Gouramis are always going to be up at the top. They have a labyrinth organ type meaning that they can breath the surface air. In fact they need it otherwise they would drown. Gouramis are just like the Arapaima (arapaima gigas

So you don't have to worry about putting in an air stone diffuser. Plants produce enough oxygen already, and if you put that in the C02 will decrease, and the oxygen in the tank will begin to fade along with the fishes will probably die.

I've done it before in my 29 gallon tank and a lot of my fishes suffered. So then I turned it off and let the plants rebuild more oxygen inside the tank. Small fishes will be affected to the low oxygen levels in the tank more than the larger fishes. larger fishes have larger lungs and probably can withstand low oxygen levels but smaller fishes have small lungs and are very affected to slight changes. Although gouramis will not be affected very easily because of their ability to breathe the surface air.

BrendanIgnatius

Thank you that is very useful advice I turned it off last night and this morning my fish looked a bit more lively.

Fish_wise_man

Yehp time does help. Just try and ask more frequent questions before you turn something on

You might get into big problems just from something that seems very small.