[Alec]

Hey,

If i shut my CO2 off at night, do i need an air stone? I was wondering why i would need one if i shut the CO2 off at night.

 

[isais]

No you dont need to run an airstone if you're turning your CO2 off at night.

 

[FromLaredo]

The only reason your would need an airstone at night is if you have a heavily planted tank and alot of fish, this will cause the fish and plants to compete for oxygen during dark hours when the plants are not producing any oxygen, only consuming through respiration

 

[timwag2001]

i dont really think that the airstone is needed at any point as long as the co2 is off. but i do anyway. what i do is hook an airpump to my co2 reactor and my timer turns out my lights it turns on the air pump.

 

[hbosman]

If you have a reasonable amount of surface movement, the airstone at night isn't necessary. I setup my filter output to create just enough ripple on the surface to eliminate surface scum build up. This seems to provide enough O2 as well. My stocking level is rather light as well.

If you already have one setup to turn on at night, it is still going to be helpful. If you have it, why not use it?

 

[Alec]

I was asking because i was wondering if it would cause CO2 concentration swings that would promote certain types of algae?

 

[smp]

I shut off my C02 at night and turn on a HOB Penguin 350 (less bio wheels) to aid the canister in picking up all the stuff the fish stir up during the day, plus the return breaks the surface to allow 02 exchange.

I had dual 350's prior to installing the canister. Gave one to my daughter so I had one left.

 

[lauraleellbp]

I'd run one at night just as a safety precaution should your CO2 levels during the day be higher than you'd realized, or if you should forget to switch off/the CO2 timer/solenoid, etc should malfunction.

Nothing like waking up to a tank full of dead fish, and it definitely can happen.

 

[nolimetangere]

No need!!

 

[hbosman]

I was asking because i was wondering if it would cause CO2 concentration swings that would promote certain types of algae?

Turn on your CO2, 2 hours prior to lights turning on. You might want to turn off the airstone at that time as well. That way you should have stable CO2 levels by the time the lights kick on.

If you wind up with more timers than you feel like dealing with, just eliminate the airstone, turn off CO2 at night and turn on it on 2 hours before lights on.