to bubble or not to bubble

[Bl33dy]

my newest tank is a 20 gallon with a sand substrate, which some of you may have read has 2 juvenile african leaf fish, a rubber lipped plecos, a striped peacock eel, and a rapheal catfish. i havent had a problem with lack of oxygen, but i decided to hook up the bubblewand (its "glued" to the bottom, not literally glued, i just cant remember what the stuffs called ) its hidden under the sand. when i plugged it in. the fish seemed fine, just a little nervous. im wondering if these kinds of fish really need the extra oxygen or what? thanks in advance for any help or opinions

 

[money-pit!]

It's more for looks than anything. If you have a sufficient filter and aeration, the wand isn't needed.

 

[Mercury]

I think that if you have plants in there, bubbling normal air will remove the CO2 your plants need.

 

[ishar]

Mercury is right on fo the case that you have plants and are adding CO2. If you have plants and are not supplementing CO2 then it will actually help to make sure that there is the level of air as there is in the atmosphere- meaning it will dissolve CO2 and oxygen alike into your water- good for fish and plants. If you start adding extra CO2 then the bubble wand is a bad idea.

Money-pit is right on as well- if you have sufficient aeration then you don't need the wand. However, your fish are going to get too big for your tank, and I hope you intend on moving them over to a bigger tank some time (rapheal cats get like really really big, and I think the eel and pleco both get very large as well). However, until then, it wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure they have enough oxygen, because as I said, they are going to outgrow your tank, and should be moved to a big one, but you might as well make their current home as good as possible right?

 

[Bl33dy]

well thanks for all the help guys.

i think i have proper aeration, but im honestly not sure.
how would i know?

and p.s., i do plan on going bigger, but all my fish are juveniles, so i have a little while

 

[ishar]

just don't leave it too long- for the fishes' sake

Generally you look for little bubbles 'floating' around in the water. If you see a bunch of tiny bubbles moving around then you are good for air. If you don't see any, or only a very few, then the bubble wand will help out a lot. You could also use the bubble wand to just help out with the water circulation, getting everything moving around.

 

[Bl33dy]

ok, thanks a bunch.

im not seeing many bubbles, so im gonna go ahead and plug in the wand. i just wasnt sure if it would "over oxygenate" them because i dunno if they like alot or just a little oxygen

 

[Orion]

I had never heard of looking for bubbles ishar. What's that about?

The easy way I always heard of and used to find out if there was enough oxygen available for the fish is to watch them in the mornings before, or shortly after the lights come on. Typically, this is the time when the O2 levels will be the lowest and if you see fish at the surface 'gasping' at the surface, then you know you have an oxygen problem.

 

[ishar]

I had never heard of looking for bubbles ishar. What's that about?

Hey man! I am just saying what I have been told and have done myself . I figured it would be a good way anyways, because it means your water i either saturated or close to it- and wouldn't that be a good thing?

Orion is right though- that is a good way to tell as well. That is how I knew I needed an air wand at night a while back. But that is in a planted tank- I don't think the same idea applies to an unplanted tank.

 

[midmichman80]

I use a bubble wand in my 55g lightly planted tank. I turn it down during the day when the plants are using CO2 for photosynthesis. At night, however, I turn it up full blast to allow O2 to be put back into the water as both the flora and fauna will use it after lights out. I know the bubble wand doesn't create more O2 by just the bubbles, but it does make the surface move and that evens out the air levels in the tank.

Breathing at top of tank - I have two gouramis in my 29g. Gouramis are known for their breathing structure with that crazy lung thingy, can't think of what it is called. Anyway, these fish and others will take gulps of air from the surface. It is just in their habit and should be nothing to worry about. Research and see if your fish has this type of lung, the labrynth(I had to find it before I ended this post).

 

[AlyKat]

I've got bubbles in all my tanks...mostly for show...but partly for water circulation. Only the 20G has live plants...oh, and the betta bowl...the others have fake cuz, well, Oscar will ruin any live ones, and so would Lobster...at least...when I still had her...I plan on getting another cray...and they NEED to have supplemental O2 added.

Oscar just likes to sit in the bubbles like it's his own personal jacuzzi...LOL!

 

[Orion]

Hey man! I am just saying what I have been told and have done myself . I figured it would be a good way anyways, because it means your water i either saturated or close to it- and wouldn't that be a good thing?

Orion is right though- that is a good way to tell as well. That is how I knew I needed an air wand at night a while back. But that is in a planted tank- I don't think the same idea applies to an unplanted tank.

I can see where your comming from, but I don't know how accurate if any that really is. I don't think that the ability to see air bubbles is any indication of the saturation of O2, because the O2 that the fish use is at a molecular level, and we wouldn't be able to see it. Like I said, not sure.

We all have 'planted tanks' to a point. Algae is in every tank, and most algae's behave like the more advanced multi cellular plants, taking in Co2 during the day and releasing O2 at night. While this method is most seen for planted tanks with Co2, I still think it's viable with non planted tanks too.


And bleeding off your Co2 during the night is a good idea in theroy, but unless you have a need too you might be doing more harm than good by causing PH swings in the water.