![]() As the water flows from the return, it stirs the surface of the water. Water is drawn in through the bottom of the unit and out the top. Power headĪ powerhead is essentially a submersible pump that is placed inside your aquarium to boost the water movement. Popular types of aquarium bubblers include airstones and bubble walls. As the bubbles rise, they churn the surface of the water. The bubbler will produce hundreds of tiny little bubbles. Simply hook the bubbler up to an good aquarium air pump and insert it into your tank. Aquarium bubblerĬommonly used by beginners and owners of small tanks, aquarium bubblers offer an affordable means to agitate the surface of your tank. As the bubbles rise to the surface, they agitate the water. Sponge filters use either an airstone or air line to operate. Hang on back (HOB) filters and under gravel filters both have return lines that cause water movement at the surface of the aquarium, agitating the water.įor canister filters, you need to point the return up towards the surface of the water to agitate it. If your tank already has a filter set up, then you will most likely have everything you need to agitate the surface of your aquarium already. Here are four simple devices that will do just that! 1. So, you have decided you want to agitate the surface water of your aquarium. How do you agitate the water in your aquarium? If you are injecting CO 2 into your tank, you want to reduce agitation down to a gentle ripple – so that you are not wasting CO 2. Well, for planted tank owners who are injecting CO 2 into the water, that isn’t necessarily a good thing – you want the CO 2 to stay in the water, not leave it. Remember how I mentioned earlier that agitating the water also increases the rate at which CO 2 exits the water? So, read up on the preferred water movement of your fish before adding any surface-agitating devices. To keep your betta happy at home, you want to replicate the gentle water movement found in its natural habitat. In their natural environment, betta live in rice paddies and marshes – water that is very still. I know that many fish stores keep their betta in a tank with an air stone bubbling away, agitating the surface of the water. One of those fish is the Betta splenden (Siamese fighting fish). It may surprise you to learn that some fish hate surface agitation or any other water movement. However, there are two instances when strong surface movement actually works against you. In most cases, the surface agitation caused by aquarium equipment won’t cause any problems. Is there such a thing as too much surface agitation? Well, the reason it isn’t going anywhere is because there is no water movement.Īgitating the surface water will help break up the oily film. You know, that oil slick that begins to form? It gets rid of that oily film that appears on the surface of still aquariums. That’s a pretty convincing argument for surface agitation, huh?Įven if you are not planning on stocking any more fish, there is another added benefit of surface agitation… Surface agitation allows you to keep more fish in the same-size tank. You need enough oxygen to keep each fish alive! The more oxygen in the water, the more fish you can keep! The amount of oxygen in your aquarium plays a major role in determining how many fish you can keep in your tank. It also increases the rate at which carbon dioxide (CO 2) is released from the water. Surface agitation promotes gas exchange – the agitation increases the rate at which oxygen (O 2) dissolves in water. When you agitate the surface water in your tank, the layer of water that is in contact with the air is constantly changing – the agitation increases the surface area of your tank, even though the physical dimensions of your aquarium are unchanged. Now, ordinarily the water surface area is determined by the size of your aquarium.Ī 4 ft x 2 ft aquarium, for example, has a lot more surface area than a small fish bowl. The bigger the surface area of the tank, the more oxygen can penetrate the water. The most compelling argument for surface agitation is self-explanatory…Īs you are no doubt aware, the oxygen that your fish breath works its way down into your tank from the surface… It’s a boring and often forgotten aspect of aquariums, but surface agitation is important for most tanks. In aquariums, this movement of water on the surface of the tank is referred to as surface agitation. However, if you throw a stone or splash around in the puddle, the surface of the water would become rippled. Well, if you added nothing but water to your aquarium, that’s exactly what the surface would look like. Have you ever seen a puddle of water that is so calm, still and smooth that it looks like a mirror? How do you agitate the water in your aquarium?. ![]() Is there such a thing as too much surface agitation?.
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