Oxygen in the system

cashman95

New member
I currently have a 75 gallon tank with a 45 gallon sump. I have the gatevalve method on my overflow/drain to quiet the tank down. This method does not really allow much water splashing around, which is what I thought helped oxygenate the water. I have no other forms of splashing either, water flows gracefully throughtout the system. I do have 4 tunze nano's modded and a ehiem return pump, and an octopus nw200. My question is: Does my skimmer oxygenate the water well enough or should I find a way to add some air into the water stream? I dont see any visual problems, I just was wondering.
 
The bubbles from the bubbler will float directly to the surface and therefore there is not much contact time for the oxygen to dissolve. A good skimmer should create smaller bubbles (more surface area) and will provide longer contact times, so more O2 will dissolve. I NW200 is going to put a LOT more O2 in the water than an airstone! Therefore I wouldn't worry. Of course O2 test kits are cheap enough if you don't belive me.
 
the main oxygenation occurs in the sump and the skimmer but you should have a really good (turbulent) surface flow--helps move debris and dissolved organics in the water column.
 
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