Placing Tube Directly In Tank With No Air Stone?

I'm currently treating my tank for a blue-green algae breakout. The directions on the slime-removal kit says that I should use an air stone during the treatment to add more oxygen.

I don't have an air stone but I do have a pump and a line. I've just put the line at the bottom of the tank and let it pump bubbles directly into the water. Any reason this shouldn't provide the same (or better) O2 than an airstone? The bigger bubbles are causing a lot of surface movement.

Thanks!

 

Your achieving the same goal. Bubbles agitation of the surface equals O2.

Good luck getting rid of the blue green algae.

 

Your fish will tell you if it is good enough ..
If they are at the surface more then usual that would be a sign ..

 

Thanks everyone for the tips!

 

I'm happy to report it worked just fine with no air stone. Thanks everyone.

 

Any reason this shouldn't provide the same (or better) O2 than an airstone?

Yes, surface area.
The O2 gets into the water through the surface area of the bubbles. A few big bubbles are not even close in surface area to a bazillion tiny bubbles. With bubbles, just like canister media, it is all about surface area.

 

Yes, surface area.
The O2 gets into the water through the surface area of the bubbles. A few big bubbles are not even close in surface area to a bazillion tiny bubbles. With bubbles, just like canister media, it is all about surface area.

My understanding of the purpose of the airstone differs from yours. My understanding is that it is not the bubbles themselves that provide the O2, but the agitation on the surface of the water which allows O2 in the air to be absorbed by the water.

I am certainly no expert, but I believe that the surface area of the bubbles themselves have nothing to do with it. I'm happy to admit I'm wrong if shown otherwise.

 

The surface of my 55gal or 60gal is a little over 4 sq feet.
The surface of my bubbles is probably measured in football fields? square miles? Spheres have a ton of surface for volume. The smaller the bubbles the more surface area.
Both surfaces have the same gas. The bubbles under water will be at slightly higher pressure than the air at the surface.
O2 transfer happens at the surface or the tank and the bubbles.
The bubbles also move through the water and keep the water moving so their water is not saturated right next to them unless your tank is saturated. The surface of the tank may only move where the bubbles hit it, If you keep the whole surface moving (canister output below the surface) it will work better than stagnant + bubble area.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the massive surface area transfers more O2.
If the tiny surface area transfers way more O2 that the huge surface area it would be cool to have how that works explained.

At the local bait store when I was a kid they had their compressor (no little fish air pump for this place) die over night. Their water pump was fine so the water was still moving. They had a bad day. We fished with worms that day.