Need for aeration in planted tank

[Aquaman55g]

Is the use of an air stone or air wand for a few hours prior to the CO2 system starting up for the day required for the health of a planted tank? Is this a way of adding O2 to the tank for the fish and is it really necessary?
I will not include an air stone in my tank redo if it is not really necessary.
Thanks to all members for any info and suggestions.

[thedudeabides]

To be honest with you it won't do anything in your scenario. The only reason you might want to add air is if you are doing a low tech set up with no CO2, then the increased surface agitation would increase the amount of CO2 as well as O2 in the water. While it's true that during dark hours plants respire and will lower O2 levels, these fluctuations will not have a determental effect to any inhabitants.

[Aquaman55g]

Thanks thedudeabides. That is what I was thinking also so I will eliminate the use of an air stone or air wand in my tank redo this winter.

[spidangular]

did you just mean that there is no need for any aeration source in planted tank at all? what about the fish?
I I think that was the original question.
if I don't run the sponge filter my Fish are gasping for air.

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[Jeff5614]

There's plenty of need for a well oxygenated tank. All of the inhabitants benefit from it. It makes the fish more tolerant of CO2, you'll have a more robust biofilter, etc. You can increase oxygenation by using an airstone, powerhead or your filter outlet to increase surface agitation or by installing a wet dry filter. The idea that you don't need to concern yourself with oxygenation in a planted tank is incorrect.

[HD Blazingwolf]

to expound on jeff's point
having a healthy efficient bacterial colony also reduces BOD. biological oxygen demand. if bacteria is able to efficiently break down organics in the tank consistently, then you will have more bioavailable oxygen for your fish. this is the factor in reducing co2 stress to fish.

[danielt]

There's no drawback if you aerate as long as you're doing it when the plants don't need CO2.

The Oxygen level in the tank will rise but in my opinion the bacteria is the only one that benefits this. Fish get used to high concentrations of CO2 but they won't benefit much from the aeration as this causes change and change causes stress which might be more than having stable levels of CO2 even if it's high.

With aeration you will also increase the pH, fish and other creatures do not like swift changes in their water. Don't worry though, pH will not rise quickly.

[HD Blazingwolf]

Originally Posted by danielt

There's no drawback if you aerate as long as you're doing it when the plants don't need CO2.

The Oxygen level in the tank will rise but in my opinion the bacteria is the only one that benefits this. Fish get used to high concentrations of CO2 but they won't benefit much from the aeration as this causes change and change causes stress which might be more than having stable levels of CO2 even if it's high.

With aeration you will also increase the pH, fish and other creatures do not like swift changes in their water. Don't worry though, pH will not rise quickly.

aeration will not increase ph unless its removing co2. this is the only cause
my ph swings 1.2 degrees daily from co2 injection. fish are spawing.
fish do not like swift changes in KH/GH.. ph is just an indirect result of both

fish do benefit frm higher oxygen levels, it does help induce spawning in some species..

and again stability is more measured in cleanliness of water. and KH/GH levels staying constant.
i change 80% of water weekly. my tap water ph is 7.8 and the aqua soil buffers it down to 6.5 easily. and then i turn on co2 and it drops down to the 5.3 range.. bigg difference, my fish are more than healthy

[danielt]

You need to catch up on your chemistry. You confuse things

Cleanliness as in TDS? Or debris? Or...?

pH has nothing to do with gH, kH buffers the acidifying effect of CO2 addition. kH has nothing to do with pH also, aside from the buffering.

CO2, as you noted, changes pH. By aerating we increase water surface agitation and water body movement thus increasing the the rate of CO2 that gasses off.

LE: I forgot, pH rises with water body movement and surface agitation also because the free Hydrogen ions will collide more often with Hydroxide turning it into water molecules

[HD Blazingwolf]

kh directly affects PH by buffering. therefore it has much to do with the pH
correct ph does not affect kh/gh its the other way around.
read my post correctly
cleanliness as in dissolved organic content
if co2 is gone ph has already risen. most tanks are run with an 8-10 hour co2 cycle, and co2 concentrations change as quickly as 15 minutes, and with decent surface agitation co2 is completely gone in 45 minutes to 1 hour once co2 is done injecting

[danielt]

As I said, you need to read up on your chemistry. I'll keep from continuing this off-topic.

At night I aerate for 6 hours, pH sees a rise of no more than 1. It usually goes from 6,1 to 6,8 measured with the pH probe of my controller. Just in case anyone wonders how much pH will change.

[HD Blazingwolf]

Originally Posted by danielt

As I said, you need to read up on your chemistry. I'll keep from continuing this off-topic.

At night I aerate for 6 hours, pH sees a rise of no more than 1. It usually goes from 6,1 to 6,8 measured with the pH probe of my controller. Just in case anyone wonders how much pH will change.

everyone's pH will change differently depending on what their water conditions are.

then ur reducing co2... period. oxygen, nor nitrogen gas will raise ph

i'll read up on my chemistry, but i doubt it shall change anything
alkalines buffer acid's put simply.
carbonates are alkaline... they directly affect ph just as an acid will drop ph

[OVT]

The need for aeration at night depends on many factors: surface agitation, evaporation speed, CO2 levels, the reliability of the solenoid, the type of the regulator, the quality of the needle valve, the fish load, the plant load, the water temperature, medications used, amount of decaying matter, your tiredness level, and the phase of the Moon. If anything can go wrong, it will.

The safety factor of an airstone/wand becomes so obvious the first time you wake up to a tank full of dead fish.

[acitydweller]

is it required no , is it helpful maybe.

For plants and livestock, having circulation within the tank is always beneficial, but there is something to be said about having too much of a good thing too.