# Is an air pump with air stones (not CO2 injection) really bad for plants?



## rymeyer (Feb 27, 2006)

I have a 29 gallon planted tank with fish, and I would like to aerate the water with a small pump and a couple airstones. Here are the specs on my tank:

0 ppm ammonia and nitrites
5-10 ppm nitrates
~7.0 pH
~78 degrees F
Fish: 1 juvenile guppy, 1 danio, 5 panda corys, 4 Corydoras aeneus, 5 dario dario (formerly called dwarf scarlet badis), 2 hillstream loaches, ~10 amano shrimp
Plants: numerous java ferns, windelov ferns, \water sprite, java moss, nara grass, and a couple swords and a long, wide bladed grassy plant that I don't know the name of.
I have low level lighting (about 12 hours a day), hence my plant choices, and no CO2 injection. I do add a small amount of fertilizer and Fluourish Excel after weekly ~30% water changes.

The reason I would like to add the air stones is that I feel that the tank is a bit crowded with animals, and they might benefit from some extra oxygen. However, I've heard that adding an air pump is bad for plants. I don't really understand why that is, since the air pump would also add CO2 from the air to the water. Could someone tell me if an air pump really is bad for plants, and, if it is, why?

Thanks for any information.

-Ryan


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## Elkmor (Mar 30, 2005)

If you don't eject CO2 than You can use air pump.

If you inject CO2 then you can use air pump when lights are off.


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## rymeyer (Feb 27, 2006)

*Thanks for the reply*

Can you explain why that is? Why would I not want to use it with CO2 injection?


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## JaySilverman (Jun 19, 2005)

surface agitation


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## nanoguy (Mar 12, 2006)

Using an airstone while injecting CO2 drives the dissolved carbon dioxide out of the water since the surface aggitation breaks the surface tension of the water. At night plants do not use CO2 so running an airstone at night is OK. If your fish are not gasping at the surface or don't have labored breathing I would not worry about it. Your filtration should help get dissolved oxygen into the water and the plants you have help also. If you really want to try it, give it a shot for a few weeks and if it looks like your plants are suffering you can pull it out. Good luck whatever you decide. Nanoguy


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## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

Hi,

İf you have healthy and sufficient amount of plants in your tank, whether you inject CO2 or not an extra air pump will not be necessary. The best indicator for this will be your fishes responses. Unless they do not attach to the surface gulping for some air everthing is OK. Even tough you pump CO2 to the tank this doesn't mean that your O2 will be forced out. Anyway if you want to attach both air pump and CO2 the thing you should consider is not to cause to much surface movement as it will make it easier for CO2 to escape.

YILDIRIM


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## 247Plants (Mar 23, 2006)

I have a 55 without CO2(for right now) that has a ton of stems mosses and swords and I have a pump woth 2 airstones that runs 24/7 and i dose excel flourish every other day and my tank looks awesome(or so Ive heard)


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## rymeyer (Feb 27, 2006)

Thanks for all of the replies. I've decided to run an air pump and continue using Fluourish Excel every now and then. Hopefully it will work out, and, if not, I can alway turn off the pump.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

If you're using Excel, the pump will not be a problem. I would recommend you use Excel as per label instructions, it's a great product.


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