How to Properly Aerate Your Aquarium

There are several ways to aerate your fish tank, and these methods will be discussed in this article. Before discussing specific methods, it is important to address the surface area of ​​water in the fish tank. The larger this surface area, the more water is in contact with the air. This results in greater absorption of oxygen by water. Therefore, you should try to maximize the surface area of your fish tank.

Basic Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Exchange Introduction

When your fish breathe, they absorb oxygen from the tank, and their body converts the oxygen to carbon dioxide and then exhales. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are also exchanged on the surface of the water. Carbon dioxide is released from the water into the air. This is important because if you don't let carbon dioxide escape into the atmosphere, your fish will die - it will only accumulate in the tank, causing your fish to slowly suffocate to death. You may need a carbon dioxide diffuser.

When carbon dioxide is released from water into the air, oxygen is also absorbed from the air into the water. This is important because it increases the oxygen content in the aquarium water and provides the fish with the oxygen they need to breathe. For this air exchange to occur, however, the surface tension of the water must be broken - this allows the carbon dioxide molecules to be released and oxygen to be absorbed. Agitating the surface breaks this surface tension and allows proper gas exchange.

Temperature and oxygen concentration

As your tank temperature rises, the oxygen content will decrease because your tank's water evaporation rate will increase. Therefore, the higher the temperature you keep in your tank, the more you need to know if your fish is getting enough oxygen. Once your temperature exceeds 800 degrees Fahrenheit, you may need to provide some aerating equipment listed below apart from the filter in tank.

What Common Aerating Equipment Are There

Filter

For many aquariums, a simple hob (hanging on back) filter will fully aerate your tank. Many filters have an output that drips water into the surface of the tank, thus providing sufficient surface agitation. This surface disturbance increases the surface area that is in contact with the atmosphere and therefore increases the absorption of oxygen. In addition, the good filter in tank fish filter, which is important because it moves the bottom water of the fish tank (water that cannot get oxygen from the air) to the top surface, which can increase the oxygen concentration.

Pros / cons of filters

-Help increase aeration / oxygen content
-Increase the water circulation in the tank, thus the surface area
-Rotate tank water up from the bottom
-May create blind spots depending on the location of the filter

Power Head

If your filter doesn't interfere with the surface enough or provide enough circulation, you can use a powerhead as well. The powerhead siphons water out of the tank and mixes it with the exhausted air. Many powerheads also allow you to adjust the amount of air they inhale, which allows you to adjust the number of bubbles generated (see the paragraph on bubble stones below to learn how bubbles help ventilation).

The powerhead can also be used to eliminate dead spots in the water tank-areas with particularly low water circulation. A carefully placed powerhead can increase the circulation of your tank in these areas. Filters, air stones, and decorations often fail to adequately aerate large aquariums. Therefore, powerheads are often the method of choice for large tanks. However, you can easily supply too much current in a small to medium-sized aquarium with powerheads, so be sure to buy a tank rated for smaller or buy a tank with adjustable flow.

Pros and cons of a powerhead

-Become a good source of supplemental aeration
-Can help deal with blind spots in the tank
-Can increase overall aeration

Air Stone

The air stone is a porous stone that is connected to an air pump and generates air bubbles in the fish tank. Many people think these pumps are too noisy, so they choose not to use air stones. However, placing the pump on a sponge usually reduces noise significantly. Some amateurs really like the bubble wall in the fish tank, so they will use it even without further inflation. In fact, it is not the bubbles that provide oxygen to the water (this is a common misconception), but the ability of bubbles to disturb the water surface and provide more water circulation helps increase the oxygen concentration in the water tank.

Pros and cons of Air Stone

-Can be installed in almost any tank
-Adjustable flow rate, suitable for any size tank
-Helps increase surface agitation and circulation

Although many factors play a role in keeping the fish healthy, aeration is one of the most important factors. Properly aerating the tank will allow your fish to breathe normally, which is important for good health. The most commonly used aeration equipment in fish tanks are filters, powerheads and air stones, which Senzeal can provide. Use any combination you like to give your fish the oxygen they need. We have external fish tank filter for sale, welcome to buy.