breese31

What's the best way to hide an air pump hose?

Tony G.

i hide all my wires with the background. i just hang it as normal, the background covers it perfectly

Borisbbadd

I usually run them down behind some tall plants.

breese31

Is it possible to suction it to the wall and wrap aquarium background around it? Is there such thing as a battery operated air stone?

Craig-D

He's talking about an airline hose, not a power wire. Since the airline hose is in the tank, a background won't hide that. I find that clear airline hoses are not really too noticeable. I just run mine down behind the filter inlet tube and hold it in place with clear suction cups. To me the big, black heater in my tank is much more of an eyesore than the airline tubing.

aquarist48

Good morning Breese. I know PetCo carries air line suction cups. Too, on my last visit there I also noticed they have black air line hose. If you have a black background this would be good to help hide them as well. The rest of the hose you could hide with gravel, if you need the hose to go to the bottom of your tank. Behind plants and intake tubes for filters are great hiding spots as well.
Hope you can share some photos of your tank with us sometime.
Best wishes.
Ken

breese31

I bougt a tetra whisper air pump but its generating way high too strong of a current, almost geyser like. I dont see any air pressure controls, guess the only solution is an air control valve?

Craig-D

Correct. The air valve comes with all Whispers, so you should have one. Just insert it in the line somewhere. Make sure you have a check valve too if the pump is located below water level. This prevents water from back-siphoning into your pump motor.

breese31

Feel dumb for asking this but is it ok to cut the existing hose in half?

Craig-D

Don't feel dumb. It's a good question to ask before doing something that can't be undone. Of course it's okay to cut it. How else you can insert vavles into the line?

Borisbbadd

It's better, and more cost effective to ask what should I do,
than it is to ask what should I have done, and how do I fix it now.............

breese31

What about placement of the valve? Does it matter how far down the hose line you cut?

Tony G.

oops! haha sory i didnt notice! thats what happens when youre up later than usual! I used to have an airline hose, i used to hide it with the tall plants...

Craig-D

No, it doesn't matter. My total airline run is about 6 feet. The control valve is about 2 feet upline from the pump and the check valve is another 2 feet upline from that.

breese31

does it matter if the valve is submerged?

breese31

I have my stone under a fake log ornament, large bubbles form and flow with a little force, are these dangerous to the fish?

jdhef

I keep my valve outside of the tank close to the air pump, this way I don't have to get my hand wet to adjust it.

gremlin

Large air bubbles shouldn't hurt the fishies. If you wanted, you could get a T junction and divide the flow between 2 or more stones. There are also multi valves where you have the one main tube going in and it then comes out 3, 4, 5, or even 6 different hoses for multiple airstones and decorations. That would help with the strength of the airflow.