air stones

[eon aquatics]

what kind of air stone produces the most / smallest air bubbles to best oxygenate the water?
i have some standard air stones and air strips but they only create small air bubbles are there any better kinds?

 

[Deadeye]

It’s less about the stone itself and more the pump. How it is set or how it is made will determine the amount of airflow more than what it pushes it through (though a more porous stone will result in more small bubbles).

 

[..puSkar..]

Too small bubbles may stick to the fish's body and cause itching. The bubbles coming out of a normal sponge filter is the best to agitate the water. It's more about the water agitation than it's about the bubble size. It's just that smaller bubbles are quieter but mid to large bubbles better for agitation and increase of surface area.

 

[..puSkar..]

Better get a sponge filter than an airstone. Added beneficial bacteria is always a benefit.

 

[duanes]

Not that any one way is better in general than another, but I don't use, and haven't used air pumps or air stones in years.
Many people do, and are very successful with them.
I like water pumps (and tend to keep rheophillic species), and because I use sumps as filtration.
The moving water supples all the filtration and aeration needed.
1st shot ... water returing from sump to a 180 gal tank.

Below water returning from the tank to a 125 gal sump

As you can see, the water returning provides plenty of agitation and aeration on its own, and current and water flow throughout the tank.

Of course its because I keep riverine cichlids that appreciate rheophillc type conditions, that it works.
Cichlids like most Geophagines, Vieja, Chuco, barbs and tetras from fast flowing streams and other riverine habitats are examples.
This would not be appropriate for a small tank with fish from swamps or oxbows that need more placid conditions.
Fish such as many gouramis, some Bettas, and other placid water species.

 

[celebrist]

I use sponge filters for surface agitation in all my tanks if the pump fails in the sump, hob, or can I still have bio filtration and oxygen exchange

I am a big believer in redundancy when it comes to filtration

 

[fishdance]

If your seeking very fine micro bubble airstones, buy /make limewood wooden airstones.

 

[eon aquatics]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71VCkb+lqtL._AC_SL1100_.jpg

 

[..puSkar..]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71VCkb+lqtL._AC_SL1100_.jpg

Don't know about others but I'd prefer the ordinary air stone over the fine micro bubble one.
I'd use the micro bubble air stone for circulation of k1 media or other moving bed filter media

 

[jjohnwm]

The micro-bubbles aren't really all that "micro" in freshwater; they're small, but nowhere near as small and mist-like as they are in salt water.

If you subscribe to the school of thought that says the increased surface area of bubbles is what helps with oxygenation, then logic dictates that you want small bubbles simply because the same volume of air divided into more numerous and smaller bubbles will have much more surface area...but I personally don't think that will make a whit of difference to us as aquarists.

If you want maximum water movement, then I believe again that small bubbles are preferable, but have never measured this and can't say for sure. Either large or small bubbles, either as a naked airstone at the bottom of the tank or incorporated into some sort of tube as an air-lift, will create considerable circulation of water.

I have at least one-air-powered device in virtually every tank I own. I have a central air pump, so why wouldn't I use it on everything? An airstone in each tank is cheap insurance in case a water pump fails, it increases water movement and aeration, and I am old-school enough that a fish tank without bubbles seems incomplete to me. I want small bubbles simply because they look and sound nice; a naked airline, with no airstone or other diffuser, makes it look and sound like I am boiling hundreds of gallons of water and I just don't like it. Even if it can be shown that it isn't absolutely the most efficient use of the air, my tanks are not crowded within an inch of catastrophic failure so maximum efficiency isn't an absolute requirement.