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Airstones and Guppies: Do Guppies need an airstone in their aquarium?
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Oct 2, 2023
I am frequently asked, do Guppies need an airstone in their aquarium. In this video, I answer that question for you ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? FREE copy of my new Neocaridina Shrimp eBook - https://fishkeepinganswers.com/shrimp-ebook/ Links to products used in this video ? API Copper Test Kit - https://amzn.to/3nOZpWX ? Seachem Copper Test Kit - https://amzn.to/3plClzn ? Fluval Stratum - https://fishkeepinganswers.com/a7ub (Amazon.com) ? Hygrophila corymbosa - https://fishkeepinganswers.com/5rp6 (Amazon.com) ? Twisted Vallisneria - https://fishkeepinganswers.com/j5md (Amazon.com) ? Cryptocoryne wendtii - https://fishkeepinganswers.com/12no (Amazon.com) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Filter intake sponges ? https://fishkeepinganswers.com/tk1i (Amazon)
View Video Transcript
0:00
So you find yourself asking the question, do guppies need an airstone
0:04
And the answer quite simply is, maybe, which is not terribly helpful
0:08
So in this video, I'm going to explain exactly what an airstone is, what it does, and why your
0:12
guppies may or may not need one. Hello friends, welcome back to the channel. If you're new here, my name is Richard
0:18
and I'm a fish and shrimp keeper based in the UK. So let's first off start by asking the question, what is an airstone
0:25
And I use the word airstone, but they're often called bubblers, they have a variety of different names
0:30
An airstone is essentially a small porous cylinder, often like this one heel
0:35
They can be different sizes, different shapes, different materials. The airstone then connects to a piece of airline or tubing which goes outside the tank and connects
0:45
to an air pump or a or a bubbler as they're often referred to
0:49
Now an airstone's job is to allow tiny bubbles of air to pass from the air pump into the tank
0:56
and when the air bubbles come out they rise to the surface
1:00
the air rises from the airstone, it's essentially doing two things. The first thing it's doing is as the bubbles rise to the surface, they take with them water
1:09
And as that water is drawn up with the bubbles fresh water is drawn in from another part of the tank to replace it That in turn is drawn up with the bubbles So what you end up with here is water circulation thanks to the air bubbles rising If the bubbles are in the middle of your tank
1:26
you get this sort of a motion. If they're at one end of your tank, you get that sort of motion
1:31
The outcome is exactly the same. The bubbles rising up from the bottom of the tank
1:35
to the surface help create circulation. Now why is circulation important? We need water circulation to ensure
1:42
we have an even temperature. of water throughout the tank. If we have a heater at one end and we have no circulation
1:49
that end will typically be nice and toasty and warm, and this end will typically be much cooler
1:54
The circulation helps mix the warm and the cool water, give us a nice even temperature
1:58
What else does it do? When we treat with medications or fertilizer
2:03
the circulation spreads that fertilizer or that medication throughout the entire tank
2:06
We don't just end up with a big plop of fertilizer over here and nothing going on over here
2:11
The circulation helps mix the fertilizer, helps mix the fertilizer, helps mix the medication
2:14
evenly throughout the water. Circulation also ensures that the tank has an even concentration of dissolved oxygen
2:20
You don't want to end up with dead spots. Dead spots can end up in a corner behind the decorations, behind rocks, behind plants
2:27
where the water isn't circulating, you can end up with a dead spot. It has low oxygen, it gets no fertilizer
2:32
You can find waste builds up there The circulation from the bubbles rising to the surface prevent that from happening which is fabulous Now the other thing that happens as the bubbles rise is they create surface agitation surface movement
2:48
Surface movement is super important. Firstly, it stops that horrible biofilm building up, which doesn't look pleasant and can actually stop oxygen exchange at the surface
2:58
But as the bubbles rise up and create surface agitation, that surface agitation allows dissolved carbon dioxide
3:04
oxide in the water to escape into the atmosphere above and oxygen in the atmosphere above
3:09
to dissolve into the water. Now a lot of people think that as the bubbles rise they're putting
3:14
oxygen into the tank and whilst a tiny fraction of oxygen will dissolve from those bubbles they
3:19
typically only take a second or two to get to the surface they don't take very long. The main
3:23
benefits in terms of the oxygen comes from where they break the surface and they help that exchange
3:28
of gases. So running an airstone typically means you have better circulation of water throughout your
3:32
tank, you have more even distribution of heat and dissolved oxygen and fertilizer and
3:38
medication and you get surface movement, which means you end up with high concentrations
3:42
of dissolved oxygen in your water and lower concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide
3:47
which is great for everybody. So when wouldn't you want to run an airstone? When would
3:51
you not need to rather run an airstone Well typically if you already running a sponge filter you will already have bubbles rising to the surface from the sponge filter In fact a sponge filter works from the fact that the air rises draws water with it
4:05
and water is drawn into that sponge. It's exactly how a sponge filter works
4:10
You also perhaps wouldn't need one if you're running a canister filter, which typically have a return nozzle or a spray bar
4:16
which create plenty of surface agitation. And the canister filter itself is circulating the water
4:22
So in those instances, you wouldn't necessarily, need to add an airstone. Under what circumstances might you look at your tank and think
4:28
ah, I should get myself an airstone. The most common sign is if your guppies are gasping at the
4:34
surface. Guppies gasp at the surface. Well, there can be a couple of reasons, but the main reason
4:38
being because there is not enough dissolved oxygen in the water. Now, again, a lot of people think
4:43
they're trying to get the air from above, but in fact, the highest concentration of dissolved oxygen
4:47
in a tank, in a static tank where there's no circulation, is at the surface, in that top
4:52
sort of 10% of the water. And that's where the gut is. Guppies will then be congregating with their guilds going, trying to absorb as much oxygen as possible
4:58
If you look into your aquarium and see guppies gasping at the surface
5:03
the first thing you should do is add an airstone to your aquarium
5:07
And the second thing you should do is watch this video titled
5:11
Why My Guppies Gaspin at the surface? Thanks for watching
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