why do fish need oxygen? I thought they breathed water.?

Question

And What also gives oxygen to my fishes besides the filter?
Do plants and bubbles give oxygen?

Answer 1

Fish do 'breathe' water. They take water in through their mouths and push it out through their gills. The gills effectively remove the oxygen that is 'dissolved' in the water. Just like our lungs remove the oxygen from the air.
Plants do give off oxygen, but make sure you get the right type of plant for your tank and fish. I'm not an expert there :) .
Aeration (creating small bubbles in the water) is the way to increase the oxygen content of the water. There are many devices to this for both home aquariums and outdoor ponds.
The filter's main purpose is to remove contaminants from the water. The pump draws water through the filter and then back to the tank. This does create aeration.

note: Fish gills do not perform a chemical reaction. If they removed O2 from H2O...there would be no water on earth...nothing but hydrogen atoms...interesting thought though...

Answer 2

All living things need oxygen, it is part of the life cycle. There is oxygen gas in water, unless it has been distilled. Plants will make oxygen for the fish to breath and the filter puts air bubbles into the water and some of the oxygen gas dissolved into the water allowing the fish to breath. They don't actually breath water but they use the water like we drink water to keep them hydrated, or dehydrated as the case may be. It is sort of how we when we breath we breath in more than just oxygen our lungs take out what we need then we breath out everything we didn't use/need and carbon dioxide, another part of the life cycle. You don't see the oxygen or carbon dioxide going through the gills because it is done at such a small level.

Answer 3

Although it might look like fish breathe water, they're really just breathing oxygen that's dissolved in the water.

Plants produce oxygen through photosynthesis, but usually not enough to sustain too many fish.

Bubbles, as well as your filter, indirectly provide oxygen because they stir up the water surface. When the water surface is stirred up, it means more oxygen from the air around the tank (same as the oxygen you breathe) can diffuse into the water through the surface of the water.

Answer 4

They get their oxygen from the water. The filter keeps the tank clean by eliminating waste from the water. Plants add oxygen to the water the same way plants add water to the air (they give off oxygen and consume carbon dioxide). Bubbles add oxygen by 1) increasing the surface area of the aquarium and thereby increasing the amount of the water that is exposed to oxygen in air and 2) agitating the water and bringing the oxygen-rich surface water down into the lower level of the tank. Hope this helps!

Answer 5

simply put.... water is part oxygen. have you ever heard people say H 2 O for water? H is for hydrogen and the O is for oxygen. And yes plants convert carbon dioxide into Oxygen and bubbles in the water is adding more air into the mix. Fish do not perform chemical separation of oxygen from water; instead they use the dissolved air that exists in the water in order to breathe. In the ocean the wind, waves and underwater currents help spread small amounts of air inside the water. in your fish tank the filter does.

Answer 6

Water is H2O - 2 parts hydrogen, 1 part oxygen.

When the fish breathes, he runs the water through his gills and extracts the oxygen from the water.

Plants add oxygen (remember, plants take in carbon dioxide and expel oxygen). The bubbler adds oxygen, also. Both are good for the fish.

Answer 7

Do Fish Need Oxygen

Answer 8

Did you not know that there is oxygen in the water?

water= H20

O= Oxygen

and the filter does not put oxygen in the water, it merely stirs the water up so that the oxygen from the air will circulate into the water...

and yes, plants do give off oxygen...

Answer 9

there is oxygen in the water. The gills filter the oxygen out of the water. Yes plants and the bubbles add additional oxygen to the water.

Answer 10

All living things need oxygen. The gills extract oxygen from the water as the water passes through them. Plants and light provide some oxygen along with pump.