The Puffer Forum

I was reading another topic and i noticed 2 people talking about not using air stones for BW. Is this something that is not nessasarly needed in BW? Is a plain jane filter or a power-head more than efficient for aeration in a BW setup? And would this only be considered in a high end or low end setup? JUST A CURIOUS

Personal preference. It is not needed if you have sufficient turnover and having an air stone in a BW or SW tank increases salt creep. Some people like the looks though and are willing to put up with a little extra work cleaning up the salt spray.

P)0 Gotcha, That pretty much answers my question. Thanks

There is not a single airstone in my house.

I had one many moons ago I think.

I have several and use them for aerating water in storage containers, hatching or maintaining brine shrimp, and in FW tanks when using m-fix or p-fix. I don't use them in my SW tank at all though and I do not regularly use them in FW. I don't like the look of airline tubing in the tanks, air stones have to be cleaned or replaced periodically (unnecessary extra work IMHO) and I hate the sound of air pumps. Some people like the look of bubbles in their tanks and don''t mind the extra noise and workload. As I said, personal choice.

I just did a little tank remodeling last night and eliminated my air stone and tubing. Between the salt over spray and build up, cleaning is like an every other day routine for me. Ill tell you what without the tubing all over the place it looks allot cleaner inside.

Will a HOB filter provide enough aeration if its been filled to the point where it only creates a current and no bubbles (no noise)?

All it needs is to ripple the surface of the water. Splashing is not necessary & annoying.

And a simple silent ripple is enough aeration? No bubbles through are needed? Do fish benefit with bubbles? And how long can a tank go before that leads to a problem? I mean I do weekly changes, but how long before the aeration becomes poor?

I always have my tanks filled up high enough so that the filter output silently ripples the surface. I can't stand the sound of a filter output trickling into the tank. The reason we need areation in our tanks is really about surface disruption/gas exchange at the surface. There is no need to bubble air through the water to do this.

Though lowering the water line will allow more oxygen if it splashes more , but i only do that when treating for ick with heat. that's why during power outages you should stir your water

But otherwise, a HOB filter with no type of air pump in the tank will be just fine?

Yes, I already answered your question.

sorry...