So, I was just gonna ask, then found the add poll button .

After setting up a nano cube the other day, I noticed just how quiet it was, or should I say, just how loud my 75g is. One of the biggest culprits is the pump. I did some research, it seems an air pump is only needed if you don't have good circulation, to improve oxygen exchange by bringing the water with CO2 to the surface while helping drive the water with fresh oxygen to the bottom. With two HOBs totaling 700gph I would think there is plenty of circulation for this, so I think I'm going to be turning off the pump. Maybe now and then I'll plug it in for the visual effect, but think I'll be unplugging it.

My second culprit is my biowheel filter. It was the second filter I added, and it sits higher above the water than my other HOB and splashes into the water and makes a ton of noise. That'll be getting replaced in the near future with something closer to the whisper 500gph I have running as well.

personally, i don't think they are necessary. I used them for years then I just stopped and have not noticed one bit of difference in my fish behavior. don't forget that air pumps work by agitating the surface water which oxygenates it. All the little bubbles you see going up to the top are not oxygenating the water, its when they crash at the surface that it does something useful.

i know the bio wheel filters are loud and some HOB are too but that usually means that its oxygenating the water very well.

Air pumps are not a "necessity" in the aquarium hobby. There are however many different and effective uses for one.

I run about 12 tanks in my basement currently. Only 3 of them are on their own filtration system. My 125 Peacock/Hap show tank runs on a sump with 3 Hydor Koralia pumps. My 30 Tang show (to be upgraded soon) runs on a whisper HOB and my 75 hodgepodge tank runs on a Fluval 405 and a AC110. The rest run on a linear piston air pump. This is their entire filtration. These tanks include 4-40 br, 2-55, 2-10, and 1-20.

IMHO there is no better more efficient way to run multiple tank filtration system than a good, highly efficient linear piston air pump driving various sponges and canisters.

Keeper

I voted "yes, absolutely necessary". Not true in all cases, but is for me because I like to place an airstone in a part of the tank that doesn't get much water movement.

Looking at when I posted this it looks like I've gone almost a year with no air stone/pump now and I've seen no ill effects and my living room is much quieter now. Haha.

They are not really "needed" but they are usefull. They offer quick/cheap water movement. and for my fry tanks, they run all the filtration as I just have hydro sponges. They offer great water movement, but at the same time are very gentl.

I have some tanks with HOB filters and some with sponge filters and/or both. The air pump is not an absolute, but with multiple tanks it is cheaper plus the sponge filters doesn't suck in the babies.....
I have a large air pump from Jehmco that is very quiet.
Ardan

Depends on the tank in my case. Not needed if you have sufficient water current at the surface with other filters or equipment, but useful otherwise. Stocking levels also come into the equation and water temperature. Right now I have one 55 gal that's aways run on a single old Whisper 30-60, which filters fine but not much water current the way it's set up, so that tank has a ceramic airstone.

My other tanks are good with filters only. I've got an old H.O.T. magnum running in my Kapampa tank purely to add surface current, which they do a great job at.

So, I clicked 'none of the above'.

A couple of other things I've observed about this:
Besides being quieter, another benefit of no airstone is less water deposits on the inside of your tank cover.

The noise comes from bubble turbulence against the glass. If you get the bubbles a few inches away from the glass the noise goes away.


This post has been edited by neutrinoman: Dec 31 2009, 12:01 PM

Absolutely necessary in my case. I run way too many tanks in my fish rooms for any other filtration method to be cost effective.

I do agree that for individual tanks they are not necessary. I don't use them in my show tanks.

Like many things in the hobby it really seems tank specific.

But lets be honest, who here did not have that first 10G tank as a kid with that square box in the corner stuffed with filter floss. Air pumps were the coolest piece of equipment we owned back then.