Do fish like bubbles?

I was looking into airstones and bubbles wands etc because I saw we had some whisper air pumps available locally.

My question is, how do the fish feel about these bubbles?

I can't picture any of my fish actually going anywhere near the bubbles, and I don't want to cause any of them unnecessary stress.
Looking for people's experience with this type of product?

 

my fish seem to like bubbles, plus it provides oxygen flow for them. my oscars play in bubbles that shoot straight up from an air stone.

 

Some fish like im.. others dont.

3 guppies that we used to have used to LOOOOVE playing in the bubbles that the airstone made. They were just the cutest little guys.
The cory that we have also really liked swimming in the bubbles made by the airstone in the main tank.
My male betta really likes his airstone as well.
He floats in his side and just watches the bubbles from the stone. He'll watch them coming from the stone or at the very top. He's so weird lol

Now the new guppies we have don't like bubbles at all.
So yeah.. just really depends on the fish.

 

The only fish that I have that dislikes things like that (bubbles, currents in the water) is my betta.  All of my other fish LOVE bubbles, even the frogs and the eel.  In fact, they liked them so much that I have 3 bubblers (2 stones and a wand) in my 30 gallon.  I just have a wand with fine bubbles in my 10, since all the fish are smaller.  My otos even suck on the wand when algae grows...they don't mind the bubbles at all.

 

bubbles are very beneficial. They provide oxygen and water movement. Plus it gets rid of the odor in the water.

 

So basically in order to setup bubbles I would need the pump, tubing (does this come with the pump?) and either the bubble wand or the stone. How do those square stones work exactly? Does the tip plug into the tubing and then you stick the stone in something to make it look like bubbles are coming out? or the circular plate type stones lay flat on the bottom?

Here's a question: How do you hide the tubing in the tank????

Thanks!!

 

You could place some plants in front of the tubing.

Here are some pics of 2 of my tanks....

This one is our little quaratine/hospital tank. You can see that we just connect the airstone to the tube that connects to a valve so we can control the bubbles, which then connects to the air pump heh.
We just have it free floating in this tank since we have to take the lid off of it so often to do daily water changes and such.



Here's a pic of the valve thing that lets you control how much air will be coming out of your stone or wand. The blue tube goes to the pump and the clear tube is going to the air stone.



And here is a pic of my 10gal divided. You can see on the red side, the airstone in the back. I just took a suction cup that came with an airwand we're not using and put it onto the airstone to keep it in one place. Think you could just get suction cups for the tube at petstores.



I don't think tubing usually comes with most air pumps.. least I haven't seen any that do. You're also going to have to buy the airstone or air wand seperatly as well, but those are usually fairly cheap.

 

I have a valve guage on my 30 g. like shollia does, since I have 3 different air accessories in the tank. You'll have to buy the tubing and accessories seperately. As for disguising your tubing, I just run mine up the corner and planted in front of them. You also can get little ornaments like treasure chests and alligator heads and clam shells that you put an airstone under them and they open and close as the air bubbles cause pressure on the lid. I have my wand suctioned to the glass right at the gravel level, to cause a "sheet" of bubbles, and then the two airstones are inside the big castle ornament that is in my 30. The bubbles come out of the windows in the tower of my castle...it looks really cool. The single wand in my 10 is also suctioned to the glass at the gravel level, to cause a sheet of bubbles. Oh, and if you're going to place the pump at a lower level than the water (on the stand or table or whatever) then you're also going to need a valve to put in the tubing line that makes sure water doesn't back up into your pump in case of power failure or turning off the pump. Bubble are good for the fish's environment, plus they're pretty!

 

They also have tubing that looks like a plant. on petsolution.com

 

yeah my fish love dashing through the bubbles. my girly guppies werent keen at first and kept getting stuck in the current, so had to keep turning it off! but now it stays on all the time (turn it off for a couple of hours on a night as the pump is a bit noisy so can't hear the tv!!). even the girly guppies swim through it happily now! my plec will lay down on the bubble wand and isn't phased at all by the bubbles coming all over him!
it helps oxygenate the water so is good, and loks fab too! the equipment is all very cheap to buy as I was looking for some, but then I was lucky and got mine free with my tanks!! i'd recommend them! i'm gonna get one for my 15 gal at some point.
Tan

 

I think I mentioned in another post... I have a school of 10 Serpia Tetra's and the other evening they were all hanging out at the top of my bubble stream. 2 or 3 would dash into the bubbles, swim as hard as they could to the bottom, and ride the bubble stream back to the top. Then a couple more would do it, over and over. This went on for about an hour. I was laughing so hard I didn't think to get a video of it. But if I catch them doing it again, I'm taping it for all of you to see. It was absolutely the funniest thing to watch! :

 

I think I mentioned in another post... I have a school of 10 Serpia Tetra's and the other evening they were all hanging out at the top of my bubble stream.  2 or 3 would dash into the bubbles, swim as hard as they could to the bottom, and ride the bubble stream back to the top.  Then a couple more would do it, over and over.  This went on for about an hour.  I was laughing so hard I didn't think to get a video of it.  But if I catch them doing it again, I'm taping it for all of you to see.  It was absolutely the funniest thing to watch!   :

bubbles are fab!!!

 

Ok another airstone/bubble question - I was noticing at the store the different sized air pumps. How do you know which size to use?
I'm thinking for my 55 gallon. Does it depends on how many bubbled items will be using the one pump? I can't see how tank size would matter but some are listed according to tank size

Thanks

 

wish I could help you on that one icicle, but I was just given 2 pumps with my tanks which were 2nd hand. I have no idea on any tech info!!! they blow bubbles and that's all I know!!!! and one of them is noisier than the other!! that;s something to check before you buy!! my noisy one gets switched off when i'm watching tv as I can't hear the tv over it!!! the tank is right next to the sofa though!!!! maybe some blow more air per minute than others/blow gently or rush loads of air in quite forcefully? hope someone helps you soon!
tan

 

Considering you can always turn them lower, but can't push them harder... it's a good rule of thumb to get more then your tank needs. One of the brands that I saw in the store had a chart on the back showing how many airstones it would deliver air to at various depths under water. For example:

-- Pump Rating --12" Depth Tank --18" Depth Tank --24" Depth Tank--10 Gal.4 Stones2 Stones1 Stone20 Gal.6 Stones4 Stones2 Stones

This is something along the lines of what it displayed, but of course had about 6 different pumps on it and more depths. But you get the idea. It's basically saying (the somewhat obvious) that the larger the pump the more air it's going to push. But what it is also saying (the not so obvious) is that because of the water pressure at lower depths you will need a larger pump to operate more stones/devices. So even though you may have a 10 Gal tank and getting the 10 Gal pump seems like a good idea, if you have a tall 24" tank you will see that doing this limits you to only operating 1 Stone. Whereas if you got the pump rated for the 20 Gal. tank for that same 24" depth 10 Gal tank, you could operate 2 stones.

So Icicle, it would appear that knowing that your tank is 55 Gal. isn't enough of a description to know how big of a pump you will need. A shallow 55 Gal tank with a pump rated for 55 Gal would work just fine, but if you have a deep tank rather then a long tank it wouldn't work well at all and you would have to step up a pump or 2 depending on the depth.

 

just like Jim's situation, my four tiger barbs will do the same thing. I have a bubble strip in the front of my tank, and as it turns out, the flow from my back-hanging filter pushes water right at the middle of the flow of the bubble strip. I was watching my tank the other day, and I noticed one at a time, the tiger barbs would swim under the filter, ride that flow towards the bubble strip, then without swimming at all right the upward flow of the bubbles, then swim out. they would do this one at a time for a while, then would start chasing each other around the tank until congregating in one of the corners, almost as if to discus what they had just done. its one of the coolest things ive ever seen, and I would definitely recommend a bubble strip or stone for any tank.

 

whetto,
I'm glad your's are playing in it too, I was worried my fish were just crazy! lol

 

Don't know about the fish, but I love the bubbles. I can sit and watch them just as much as the fish. Guess I'm just simple!

 

Don't know about the fish, but I love the bubbles.  I can sit and watch them just as much as the fish.  Guess I'm just simple!

I must be too then!! lol. its so calming and hypnotic. I thought me and the fish were just crazy, but after reading this I think we're all fine!!! my plec is the oddest :. he can sleep lying on the bubble strip ! you'd think the bubbles would push him off or at least knock him off balance!! can't say i'd get a good kip lying on bubbles!!! somewhere more quiet, still and peacful I think!

 

My otos do the same thing...sleeping on the bubble wand. I guess it might be like jacuzzI jets to us...like a fishie massage! ;D :

 

My otos do the same thing...sleeping on the bubble wand.  I guess it might be like jacuzzI jets to us...like a fishie massage!   ;D :

LOL!!! can't stop laughing!!!! fishie massage!!! : . still don't think I could quite sleep in/on one though! so long as they're happy! ;D