What is an air release for a Fish Tank?
May 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Fish Tank Supplies
This is a small block, usually of porous stone, which serves to break the air passed through it into small bubbles. The quality of the stone is judged by how small a bubble it can produce, while at the same time offering a minimum of resistance to the passage of air.
Reeds are frequently used as aerators. While not particularly efficient, they have the merit of being inexpensive. There are several chrome and stainless-steel aerators on the market today. They use a felt or nylon disc to break up the air. They have an adjustable screw which, by compressing or releasing the fibrous disc, allows smaller or larger bubbles to escape. There are also a number of so-called ornamental air releases on the market, such as divers, frogs, mermaids, etc. If they are efficient, if you like them and they are not made of toxic materials, by all means get one.
The purposes of aeration are many, for example, to circulate the water gently, thus providing even temperature, and to make filter operation more effective. The prime purpose of aeration, however, is to drive off the carbon dioxide and allow a greater absorption of oxygen.
A certain amount of oxygen is absorbed from the bubbles as they rise through the water. By far the most effective action takes place at the surface, however. It is the agitation on the surface that gives the best results. As a practical matter, any agitation of the surface will produce the desire results. A small paddle, an electric fan blowing over it, or a drip of water all will aerate the water. A filter also provides a good deal of aeration.
Best results are obtained from a fairly small bubble. A fine, misty bubble does not agitate the water enough. A burst of large bubbles may agitate it too much; also, efficiency is lost with the larger bubbles, since less surface area is being presented to the water for operated; only one valve is necessary. This must be a three-way valve; that is, one with three outlets of those connections. The threaded screw controls the opening of the center outlet. The two opposing valves are a by-pass, always remaining open. The square flat tab is usually slipped under the edge of the tank, in back, where the weight of the tank holds it in place. An air tube connects the pump to one of the by-pass outlets. Another piece of flexible plastic tubing connects the center outlet to the air-lift tube, and the aerator is connected to the remaining outlet.
The air, of course, takes the path of least resistance. With the valve opened, all the air will pass through the filter, as this offers less resistance to the passage of air. By slowly closing the valve, air will be held back and will seek an outlet through the aerator. Adjust the valve to assure an even flow of air through the aerator. Fishes do not like to live in a storm, so it is good practice to maintain only a gentle flow of air.
To connect a greater number of outlets on one or more tanks, use a three-way valve for each outlet required, a two-way valve at the end. The opposing arms are used to continue the line, with the filter or aerator always connected to the center outlet. Although it is convenient to slip the tab under the base of the tank, it is more practical to fasten the valves to a point above the tank. This eliminates the possibility of water siphoning back through the air line.
What is a Balanced Aquarium?
May 6, 2009 by admin
Filed under Keeping Tropical Fish
Originally the concept of a balanced aquarium was that the standing aquarium is a self-contained microcosm - a little world. The theory ran that as the plants manufactured food through the process of photosynthesis; they utilized carbon dioxide and gave off oxygen. Fishes, on the other hand, gave off carbon dioxide and utilized oxygen. Fishes’ waste, according to the theory, fertilized the plants, while excess plant growth provided food for the fishes. One thing thus balanced another, and no outside care was required.
Unfortunately this theory simply does not hold up in practice. While plants do give off oxygen in excess of what they use for respiration, they do so only in the presence of bright light. When the aquarium is dark, they use up oxygen just as do the fishes. Water cannot store more oxygen than the amount required to keep it in equilibrium with the air above it. Excess oxygen passes off readily. The same does not hold true of carbon dioxide. It tends to stratify, forming layers along the bottom. (Circulation prevents this stratification.) Having a maximum air surface in proportion to the depth thus goes a long way toward keeping the aquarium properly “balanced.”
The waste matter produced by the fish is far in excess of the amount required by the plants. Moreover, most of our aquarium fishes are carnivorous, eating animal, not vegetable, matter. Even the more herbivorous species require some animal food.
So the idea of a “balanced aquarium” is a fallacy in its original concept. An “aquarium in balance” is, however, what can be achieved.
The factors that modify an aquarium more or less balance each other includes the proper amount of light (too much over stimulates algae, too little does not permit plant growth); the proper amount of food (too little stunts the fishes, too much pollutes the aquarium); the proper number of fishes; the correct size of aquarium, and the proper temperature, etc. All of these things must be in proper “balance” with respect to themselves and the others if the aquarium is to flourish.
Tropical Fish Aquarium Composition of Water
April 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under Keeping Tropical Fish
Each molecule of water is composed of one atom of oxygen to every two atoms of hydrogen. This is expressed chemically as H2O. Fishes use oxygen, but they cannot use the oxygen that is chemically a part of water. But air, including oxygen, will dissolve in water - just as sugar or salt will - and it is this dissolved oxygen that fishes use.
The major source of usable oxygen in an aquarium is the air above the water. It is therefore at the surface of the water that the major interchange of gases takes place. Carbon dioxide is released by the water at the surface and oxygen is absorbed there. One can drive all the gases out of water simply by boiling it: the warmer the water the smaller the amount of gas it will hold in solution. It is also possible to have an excess of CO2, enough to cause the death of fishes even though there is an ample supply of oxygen present in the water. It is not enough to supply oxygen to the fishes; a means for disposing of the CO2 must also be provided.
In practically all natural bodies of water the surface is proportionately many times greater than the depth. In such bodies of water there is also usually a movement of the water caused by wind, current, temperature changes, and so on. These factors assist in the rapid interchange of gases at the surface so that normally water-dwellers do not suffer from a lack of oxygen or an excess of carbon dioxide. In addition, fishes are seldom as crowded in nature as they are in an aquarium.
Aquarium Plants
April 14, 2009 by admin
Filed under Fish Tank Decorating, Keeping Tropical Fish
Under the influence of sunlight, plants and only plants have the ability to manufacture their own food. These green plants combine water and carbon dioxide to form sugars in a process known as “photosynthesis.”
During this process, free oxygen is released in excess of that used by the plant for respiration. This occurs only under the influence of bright light. At other times, the plant breathes normally, consuming oxygen and giving off carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis occurs only when the plant in light is healthy and growing.
Light, then, is essential to your aquarium so that the plants will grow properly and give off oxygen and consume carbon dioxide. The “wonder material” that regulates the food manufacturing process is chlorophyll - the material that gives plants their green color.
There is a good deal of controversy concerning the amount of oxygen that the aquarium plants actually supply for fishes to use.
It should be remembered that water can dissolve only a certain amount of oxygen; any excess oxygen is therefore released at the surface. It is not stored in the water for later use as the fishes require it. Carbon dioxide is released and oxygen is taken into the water. The process can be hastened by bubbling stream of air through the water. This tends to agitate the water and increase the area exposed to the surface in proportion to the amount of circulation engendered. Manual stirring of the water serves the same purpose, but it is not so convenient a method as the mechanical one.
The greater the area of the exposed-to-air water surface, the faster oxygen will be taken in and carbon dioxide released. The greater the air surface, the more fishes can be kept in a given volume of water. You do not really increase the capacity of the fish tank to hold fishes simply by raising the height of the water in the tank. You must also increase the other dimensions in proportion.
Probably the same number of fishes could be maintained in a bare aquarium as in one with plants. Then, you may ask, why bother with aquarium plants? Well, plants serve many functions besides the disputed one of oxygenating. The principal function is an esthetic one: there would not be much beauty to a tank without plants. They provide an excellent background against which your colorful fishes will display themselves to best advantage.
