English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

Question Details: strong bubble(airstone) in small tank produces a thick layer of air bubbles at the top, not foamy but theres lots of them, will this interfere with dissolved oxygen levels? ?

2007-04-15 11:58:08 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets Fish

4 answers

First off, a protein skimmer or the use of air stones does NOT skim proteins or fats from a tank. your airstones will somewhat work like a protein skimmer but in reverse. The name "protein skimmer" is essentially misleading. These devices do not skim the water surface and they, in fact, remove more than just protein. A more appropriate name for a protein skimmer is "foam fractionator," due to the fact that the bubble concentrations (foam) serve to separate (fractionate) dissolved material from the water
Most of this material, termed DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) by scientists, is produced by the biodegrading activity of certain bacteria, but some is released by algae and other organisms as part of their normal bodily function. Because the DOC is dissolved in the water, they cannot be removed by traditional mechanical filtration methods.

In short adding an airstone to the surface of your water will attract more surfactants or (DOC). In a fresh water tank, this is not the ideal way to add dissolved oxygen to your tank and yes if there is no way to REMOVE these DOC's it will greatly lower the dissolved oxygen greatly to the tank.

2007-04-15 18:12:50 · answer #1 · answered by danielle Z 7 · 4 1

first of all, do no longer use purified water, there are not any minerals. Use faucet water with dechlorinator. How great is the tank? Goldfish pick 10 gallons according to 3 inches of fish. If the tank is merely too small, ammonia will build up interior the water and kill the fish. it would desire to appear as if clean water to you, yet there are chemical components changing interior the water for all time.

2016-12-26 09:17:06 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0 0

It doesn't interfere with oxygen in the way you may think. It is simply giving you more surface space to exchange the gases. Imagine it like 2 roads: one is straight from point A to point B and is 1 mile long. The other is going from the same point to the same point. Except now, you're taking some curves. It now takes you a mile and a half to get there.
That's the benefit of bubbles (small though it can be sometimes)

2007-04-15 12:04:03 · answer #3 · answered by Barb R 5 · 1 4

Normally bubbles pop very quickly upon reaching the surface of a tank. If yours aren't popping quickly it's most likely due to proteins and/or fats in the water that reinforce the structure of the bubble. Given that the fat or protein will interfere with proper gas exchange through the bubble membrane and that the bubbles themselves will block air access to the surface of the water, I would have to say yes, a constant layer of bubbles will inhibit gas exchange and lower DO levels.

MM

2007-04-15 12:10:03 · answer #4 · answered by magicman116 7 · 2 5

fedest.com, questions and answers