What Is An Aquarium Air Stone And How Does It Work?

[0morrokh]

What is an air stone, and how does it work??

 

[Miss Mouse]

It looks a bit like a block of pumice stone or concrete with rough edges and it sort of sieves the air coming out from the pump which is how you get the effect of lots of little bubbles coming out of the pump rather than large explosions of air. A perfect place to see one is inside the middle tube of a bi-orb

 

[FishFan]

I actually have bubble curtains. They are long wands that you hook up air tubing to and it makes tons of bubbles-I love it! Also-my fish love playing in the bubbles!

 

[0morrokh]

Alright, so what does an air pump do? I have a power filter, but I've heard you need it for some other types of filter?? This is the one piece of equipment I haven't quite figured out.

 

[FishFan]

OK-I think there are filters that run off the air pump. As for air stones, air curtains, etc., they hook up to an air pump via tubling and provide air to your tank. Air serves many purposes. Maybe someone else can assist with explaining.

 

[Miss Mouse]

Yeah, fishfan is right. An air pump pushes air into the air stone which forms the bubbles. You can get a filter with an air pump inbuilt to save space - that's normally what you see in most smaller aquariums but in larger ones you will probably see bubbles coming from a separate machine to the filter.

This is an air pump :
And this is a filter:

Does your power filter blow bubbles in the water?

 

[Jason]

My eheim filter blows bubbles into the water but it took me about 2-3 months to figure out it could.

 

[Craig]

does getting these air stones increase the number of fish u can put in ur tank by increasing the oxygen in the tank?????????

 

[Craig]

does gettin these air stones and pumps increase the number of fish u can get by incresing the oxygen in the tank?????? is it just used for a decorational use????

 

[FishFan]

It is also to get out some of the gases that can harm fish. The gases get trapped in the bubbles and when they pop at the surface, they release the harmful gas! (Yeah, they are fun to watch, too!)

 

[Craig]

what happened I started the air stone thing did mike change it in2 1 post or what lol I'm confused ??? ??? ???

 

[0morrokh]

Okay, I think I've figured the aeration stuff out. Miss Mouse, my filter does push bubbles into the water if the water line is low enough, but I'm trying to keep the turbulence to a minimum since I'm getting bettas.

 

[FishFan]

what happened I started the air stone thing did mike change it in2 1 post or what lol I'm confused ??? ??? ???

No, I did. I saw this topic in 2 different places, so I merged them into one. Sorry to cause confusion.

 

[Miss Mouse]

Does your bubble bit have a "pressure" change thingy on the nozzle or does it just come out the top? On mine you can change the pressure of the air and water coming out to a minimum. If not I don't know what to do but my betta loves the bubbles in the biorb and they're quite strong.

 

[Craig]

ahhhhh I c but does increasin the aeration increase the number of fish u can get?? or is it just for decoration??

 

[0morrokh]

Miss Mouse, I actually haven't set up the aeration system yet. I'm not worried about that with my Bettas (which I hope to get soon!). It's just my filter that I'm worrying about, since it's an external power filter, the kind that sucks up water and then it overflows and pours back into the tank, which creates a lot of water movement if the water line is low enough. Hovever, I found that it isn't a problem if I keep the water level high enough, so the water from the filter doesn't have as far to fall.

 

[Miss Mouse]

Oooh I seee! Well I haven't got a clue about the external filters so I can't help you but I'm glad you resolved the problem.
I was looking at getting an external filter but they are quite expensive compared to the internal ones so I just got a very large internal one and have found that it really shoots out a very hard spray of water and air even on the lowest setting.. its like a tidal wave in the big tank! I don't know if the fishies will be very happy with that and I don't know what to do now.. I can't return it because i've been using it for a few weeks. :-[ Anyone got any ideas how to reduce the flow even more? Someone mentioned to put a thin pipe over the nozzle and run it right through the tank with a few pin holes in it and see if I can't a net of bubbles coming out of the pipe.. :-\

 

[Gunnie]

Miss Mouse, can you post a photo of your filter? Also, 0morrokh, you could also put a pre-filter sponge over your intake to slow your flow down a little bit. This will also help you with any betta fry later on (I'm assuming your are interested in breeding?)

 

[Miss Mouse]

It's a Fluval 4..

 

[0morrokh]

I got my filter a while ago, but I'm pretty sure power filters that hang on the back of your tank aren't that expensive--not like a canister filter or something. Gunnie, that's a good idea. I'm actually not planning to breed Bettas, I'm just getting females because they're more compatible with other fish.

 

[Gunnie]

Miss Mouse,
You might want to consider filtering your tank with a sponge filter, and save your fluval for a future larger tank? You probably have MTS like the rest of us, so it's just a matter of time when you will want a get a bigger tank (hehe). Sponge filters are relatively cheap and do a good job. You wouldn't have the tidal wave issue anymore either.

 

[Miss Mouse]

I think it is a sponge filter! It's got sponges inside it and hangs inside the tank on a sucker pad with a long canister that you can open to change/clean the sponge.
I've got the tank already and its massive! Its about 3 feet long and about a foot and a half high.I can't remember how many gallons at the moment.. ??? My brother knows! I THINK its about 170 litres..
I looked at external filters but they're just so expensive and I had to buy a filter because I had the tank full of goldfish. They're now in the pond so I have the tank free for some fish but due to lack of funds I'm just doing a little bit per month. ;D

 

[Gunnie]

Actually, is an example of a sponge filter.  Yours is actually called an internal filter.  Sponge filters don't have motors in them, and pull water through the sponge by suction caused by an air pump through an air line attached to the filter.  I have some in my tank right now that look like .  It sounds like you have some planning to do on that big tank though.  How exciting! 

 

[Miss Mouse]

Oooh I see the difference, thanks for that! You learn something new every day Yeah, lots of planning an a fair bit of money too. I've got to find a big enough and strong enough stand to hold it up!

 

[joe]

Back to Air Stones: I have a bubble wall and a regular small Air stone. Like FishFan My Fish love playing in my bubble wall