I've always had a HOB filters until this year. Now one of my tanks has an overflow and sump. I know this is probably a simple question but if I put the air stones in the sump... can it serve the same purpose as a bubble wand that's actually in the tank?
Air Stones in the Sump?
- Thread starter kageh124
- Start date
Do you have your sump in a wet/dry configuration? If you are using the classic water trickling over bio balls setup then you are inducing much more oxygen into the water than an in tank bubble wand ever will.
I like to run a hood on my sump. I put a bubble wand under my bio balls to keep a steady flow of fresh air in the sump. My belief is the more oxygen in the water the healthier the fish will be.
I like to run a hood on my sump. I put a bubble wand under my bio balls to keep a steady flow of fresh air in the sump. My belief is the more oxygen in the water the healthier the fish will be.
I run mine like so....
-Left side is where the dual feeds are.
Extra bio-balls, seachem matrix and ceramic rings for added media since this side stays full of water. Sulawesi malawi shrimp to eat detritus that builds up bubble wand under the bio-balls just to add surface breakage and keep detritus in the water column to be filtered out.
- center is drip area
SMR1 media reactor for Seachem purigen which feeds back into the drip tray to keep the wet/dry functional and running when I drain the tank during water changes. Return from my magnum HOT water polisher also feeds back into here.
-right side has the return pump, Magnum HOT to polish the water and Mini-jet404 that feeds the reactor.
Heaters are at the bottom prior to the return pump.
-Left side is where the dual feeds are.
Extra bio-balls, seachem matrix and ceramic rings for added media since this side stays full of water. Sulawesi malawi shrimp to eat detritus that builds up bubble wand under the bio-balls just to add surface breakage and keep detritus in the water column to be filtered out.
- center is drip area
SMR1 media reactor for Seachem purigen which feeds back into the drip tray to keep the wet/dry functional and running when I drain the tank during water changes. Return from my magnum HOT water polisher also feeds back into here.
-right side has the return pump, Magnum HOT to polish the water and Mini-jet404 that feeds the reactor.
Heaters are at the bottom prior to the return pump.
The air bubbles breaking the surface aids in gas exchange, air pumps really don't supply much oxygen since it would require a decent amount of time to dissolve into the water column and would need to be in concentrated or rather "pure" state.
The main thing going on is the out gassing of co2 in the water column
The main thing going on is the out gassing of co2 in the water column
i put a 8" bubble disc under my diy plastic shelf bio tower. my reasoning is it helps move the water that would usually is just sitting where my bio rings are located at the bottom of the tower.
Your setup looks similar to mine. I put a bubble wand under my bio balls (along side my heater) to keep the air in the wet/dry chamber fresh. I like it but I won't argue with anyone that wants to call it overkill.
