Air Stone In A Hob?

[Homeslice]

I ordered some wooden air stones on someones suggestions that they put out more, finer bubbles than other ones. The problem is, they float. So I need to weight them down. However, for the time being, I just stuck one right near the intake on my HOB.

Thinking about it, maybe that is an excellent place for it? It is fully submerged, and tank water is constantly flowing through there, replacing the more-air-saturated water with water less so.

Sure, you could lose a little efficiency because water exiting the HOB already has a bunch of air in it, so it may be less keen to pick up air from the atmosphere as it exits the HOB and falls into the tank, but maybe that is less of a potential loss than constantly having the pump pump new water directly through the path of the air stone.

Although, maybe the air stone in an aquarium ITSELF creates enough water flow through it with its bubbles.

Thought I'd get y'alls opinions! Thanks!

 

[Asomeone]

I feel like the HOB is already creating a lot of surface movement (the point of an airstone)....so to stick it in your hob would be counterproductive. Less surface for the bubbles to spread out on. Yes wooden airstone create finer bubbles but they also clog faster than other air stones. If you don't want to stick it in the main tank I would remove it alltogether. The surface area of the hob isn't enough to make a difference.

 

[Islandvic]

What about using those suction cup holders made for airline tubing to secure the air line?

 

[A201]

When an excess amount of air bubbles are allowed to be sucked into the filter intake you risk the syphon to abruptly stall, which could stop the the water flow. Even lesser amounts of bubbles tend to make the filter run rough & become noisy.

 

[JayH]

If the air stone produces very small bubbles, you'd be better off putting it under the outflow from the filter. The water movement there will take the bubbles with it, giving the smaller ones more time in the water. The longer they spend in the water, the more air that will go into solution. This is the same principle used with injecting CO2 -- produce lots of very tiny bubbles and do what you can to make them spend a long time in the water.

That said, you're not likely to make an enormous difference in the O2 level in the water. Maybe 1ppm if you're lucky. The single biggest thing you can do to increase O2 levels is to keep floating plants from covering the surface of the water.