JohnSeito

Hello,

Could someone let me know how to oxygenate my tank with a canister filter that I just replace with the hang in the back filter?

I say this is because right after I change the filter, I start to see all my fish in the tank go up for air. I thought something was wrong with the air pump and yes there is, is not that efficient because petland that sell the air pump doesn't work very well after a while. it's not powerful enough to do the job, but this is not sole reason at all.

I know because before I change my filter, my fish were fine, they didn't go up for air, it's only when it is right after the change. So then I did a little research to see why fish go up for air, and I found out this:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_are_al..._levels_are_ok

my old hang back filter have a water fall, and so after reading this, I went back and put the old filter back on and after a few minutes the fish were fine again. this tells me that the water fall bring in oxygen in the tank.

But I want to use the canister filter without the old one hang in the back with water fall, how would I oxygen the tank? I could only think of putting a air pump, but I have this problem before where I buy air pump from petland and then 3 months later it doesn't work very well. Even the pump that I buy are twice the gallon that I am using. and Don't look at the air pump as the problem, it is not as I just explained.

So again the question is how do i oxygenate the tank with a canister filter?

10gallonmadness

I'm assuming you have no specialty LFS near you? If that's the case maybe you could drive to a nearby Wal-Mart? They sell the Tetra Bubblers which are pretty good quality.

coffeebean

using the canister filter, aim the output nozzle in such a way that it creates disturbance at the top. in out of my tanks its half in and half out of the water so it creates some bubbles. otherwise i suggest a new air pump

JohnSeito

I will try both so do you think air pump like this one or from this place is good?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...m?pcatid=14684


Look like petland have the same quality Tetra that wal mart have no?

10gallonmadness

Yes if it's the same Tetra brand it will be the same quality. If they have it in stock get the size for your tank. My friend has had an old Tetra bubbler for about 3 years without any breaks.

JohnSeito

I am doing this right now and it looks pretty good, my fish are fine. My canister is 3 times my tank. But it works normal.

enthusiast

with a canister filter all you would have to do is fill the waterline up to roughly the tip of your output nozzle.

surface agitation will create the oxygen replacement

aquarist48

Good morning. That pump seems like it would do the trick although I've never used it myself. However, I have ordered many times from Drsfostersmith.com and I recommend them highly. I've never had a problem with their service.

pepetj

Ruling out that your fish are gasping at surface due to other possible reasons (such as ammonia and nitrites), I'll focus on low dissolved oxygen levels.

I've dealt with low oxygen levels that indeed harmed some fish.

Things to look for/consider: water temperature. As it reaches 30C (86F) its ability to hold bio-available levels of dissolved oxygen decreases dramatically. I had to use in-line chiller to solve this since the tank with that problem reached 31C (88F).

Life plants: Some are genuine, somewhat easy to keep, oxygen factories (e.g. Egeria densa, Hornwort). Just provide enough lighting and they should help you out.

CO2 saturation: although not likely a problem unless you inject CO2 into your tank, a heavily overstocked tank might create problems here.

Since I have heavily planted tanks with CO2 injection I need to keep a balance with minimal surface water agitation for O2/CO2 exchange (I have a professional, field use, dissolved Oxygen test because of this). I run air at night once the lights are gone.

Solutions at hand: If you can't adjust the output of the canister's height so it matches your water line, use a small powerhead placed close to surface level and create a stream of running water. In addition, consider using longitudinal air diffussors that produce micro-bubbles instead of large ones, In your case I would keep using your old cheap pump and just add another one.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

misterblobby

I have a fairly deep tank that won't absorb enough oxygen on its own, and had a similar problem initially - I seem to have solved the problem with a good sized air pump, an air curtain that goes the full length of the tank and an internal filter with an air intake. This worked well with no plants at all.

Blowing air into the tank won't get it to absorb much oxygen, but it does create a larger surface area on the top and breaks surface tension.