Air pump confusion

[Walla2GSP]

Hi all
Can I turn up an airpump and just leave it all day, or can fishes get light-headed, dizzy and scared from that?

I wouldn't use one in the DT, but I run one in the sump to help keep pH steady. As far as your question, i depends on the fish, most are not going to be bothered by bubbles and many will play in them, but air bubbles are lethal to pufferfish and a few other species, so I would doublecheck the care needs of your particular fish before putting one in with your fish.

 

[SFish]

I wouldn't use one in the DT, but I run one in the sump to help keep pH steady. As far as your question, i depends on the fish, most are not going to be bothered by bubbles and many will play in them, but air bubbles are lethal to pufferfish and a few other species, so I would doublecheck the care needs of your particular fish before putting one in with your fish.

Good to know

Thanks

 

[Timfish]

A "pure" Lee Chin Eng system only uses air bubbles for circulation. See Delbeek and Sprung's "The Reef Aquarium" Vol III for more information on his system which was the first methodology shown to allow clowns to breed and keep corals alive over 70 years ago.

 

[Elricsfate]

Well first off sumps have bubble traps or things like cheato which get rid of the bubbles. The post just happens to be about bubbles from a skimmer but I've seen posts saying bubbles are bad. A good air stone can produce fine bubbles in fact they use to use them in skimmers. Like I said the bubbles must be too big from an air stone which I've only seen used in fresh water as far as in the DT. Just because something has been used for years doesn't mean it's the best way to care for fish. Kids have been putting fish in bowls for how many years with out doing anything other then changing the water does that mean we should just change the water in our saltwater tanks and not worry about agitating the surface? In any case as stated bubbles will cause salt spray and they look ugly. I've only seen statements about micro bubbles but maybe that was proven wrong. If bubbles are no big deal though then why are we using bubble traps?

I think we're talking past each other.

I understand there is some debate regarding the effect of micro-bubbles. As I am not a scientist of any kind, I cannot speak to that. But you appear to be making the assumption that all bubbles are micro-bubbles.

If you hook an air line to one of those cutesy little castles and stick it in the water, you get big giant bubbles, not micro-bubbles. He asked if he can run an air pump all day. The answer is yes. *The next question is*... what is it hooked to.

As far as things changing, of course technology improves, understanding increases, and we change how we do things. So I am not proposing that because we've always done something we should always continue to do it. However, the OP's question was more akin to asking "Will drinking a Slurpee kill you?" According to hundreds of millions of experiments the answer is no. However, if the question is, "Is a Slurpee the best thing I can drink?"...you get a different answer.

For the record, I agree a tank full of bubbles is at the very least detracting, if not ugly. I also agree that they would increase salt spray. I also agree that the typical way most of us seem to handle oxygen exchange (through the methods you mentioned) is the superior method. But the dude asked if he could run a pump all day without harming his fish. Not *should* he...*could* he. The answer IMHO remains, yes.

Just conversing, not arguing...