Do I Need To Aerate?

[narwal]

Hi,

I rarely see any reef aquaria with an airstone. Why is this?

Is there any need or point to have some aeration in the tank? If it does no harm I'd like to put in a stone or wand behind the rock wall just for effect. Would there be any problem with this?

I have a 60 gal with DSB/LR/ a wide range and assortment of corals, cleaners and fish. My chemistry is all good except for occasional upper-low limits for nitrite and nitrate. Water changes fix this, so all in all its good.

Lots of filtration and an ok skimmer, but I'm going to add another skimmer or replace the present one.

Thanks

[gimmic]

Skimmers provide ample aeration due to how they work. Water circulation and having the water surface agitated or broken also helps to aerate sufficiently.

Airstones are typically not needed in saltwater nor freshwater, my freshwater tanks all have filters with bio-wheels, the water movement through the pump/wheel/spraybar/falling into the tank has plenty of air provided.

[thegrun]

Micro bubbles are detrimental to corals, so no, an air stone is not recommended. If you do not have a skimmer and much surface agitation, or just love the look of bubbles, be sure that they are large bubbles that do not break-up and float around the tank.

[JENnKerry]

I've also read that airstones can help lower the PH in tanks.

[thegrun]

Lowering your pH is usually a problem, the struggle is to keep your pH high, another strike against airstones.

[carolinareefgro]

be careful that the bubbles from airstone do not create foam bubbles on water surface. this can cut down on light penetration and can increase evaporation and salt creep. also, some keepers have their flourescents close to the water surface. the airstone can cause mist to moisten sockets and cause shorts and gfi's to trip. this we know can be disasterous.

[seapug]

A protein skimmer will take care of that for you, but some of the first successful reef aquariums were run with nothing but live rock, an airstone, and light. The oxygenation they provide is very beneficial and helps maintain high pH, it does not lower it. The main drawback is saltcreep from the tiny bubbles bursting at the surface of the water. Another problem in modern tanks with powerheads and other means of circulation is the profusion of microbubbles in the water column that can be irritating to some corals and distracting to look at. That said, some people do periodically open venturi valves on powerheads to fill the water with bubbles on their reef tanks. It can do a lot to clarify water and improve the efficiency of the protein skimmer.

[narwal]

Thanks to all who responded.
I think I'll just aerate my water for top ups and water changes and keep my tank bubble free.

Thanks again.

[odyssey1]

You should check the ORP in your tank! Chance are that your tank is low if there is no bubbles in your tank. Personally I have a Canister filter running on my tank for the sole purpose to run my UV steralizer and introduce air bubbles in my tank. The ORP came up and my tank seems better.

I saw a thread here somewhere that a guy forced air thru his return pump every couple of hours for 1 min. He had a video and his tank had alot of SPS and other corals. Seems to work for him I think I am going to try is sometime. I think that will get any particles to the top of the tank so my overflow can remove them also.

[Untamed12]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14575328#post14575328 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JENnKerry
I've also read that airstones can help lower the PH in tanks.

I think that it actually works the other way around. Airating your tank should probably bring the pH UP...which is usually where we need it to go. The tank becomes high in CO2 and airating should help to dispell excess CO2.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, aerating with an airstone will not have a functionally different effect on pH than will aeration with a skimmer. Such aeration will tend to drive the aquarium into equilibrium with the amount of CO2 in your home air.

Whether that raises or lowers the pH depends on whether the tank has excessive or deficient CO2 relative to the home air. Both cases are fairly common, the latter most often when using limewater, and the former when the house is relatively "tight".

These articles show with graphs how that might happen:

Low pH: Causes and Cures
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm

High pH: Causes and Cures
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rhf/index.htm



A huge knock against airstones is that the popping bubbles spray salt spray all over nearby objects like lights, etc, leading to undesirable salt encrustations.