Forever blowing bubbles – the importance of aeration

Have you ever lay in the bath fully submerged holding your
breath, before slowly let out a breath to allow the bubbles to
rise. Next time you do watch what it does to the surface of the
water above you.

Bubbles or rather air plays an important part in the environment
of a fish tank. Unlike us fish are fully submerged in water
every day of its life, but they still need air to survive.

Just as we breathe in air through our nostril and mouth, and so
do fish. Fish pull in water through their gills extracting the
air. Now we all know that there is oxygen in water but if we
imagine being in an airtight room with only limited amounts of
breathable oxygen, pretty soon the supply will run out and we
will soon be unable to breath.

Now imagine that you are breathing in a toxic gas that has been
introduced into your air supply, wouldn’t we get quickly sick if
we were to breathe in too much?

As a fish breathes in the water through its gills so too must it
pass that water along with carbon dioxide back into the
environment in which it lives through the excretory tracts. In
the natural environment the area is vast with moving currents
that naturally cycle the water and dilute those toxic wastes.

The movement of water across the surface absorbs oxygen from the
atmosphere; the more turbulent the movement the more oxygen is
absorbed. In natural habitat waterfalls, rocks, rainfall etc
create a fast movement of water and the fish adapt to these
conditions. As an aquarist our job is to recreate that process
as effectively as possible. This will also circulate and dilute
the toxic waste from fish excretion, rotting food and dead
plants providing a safe environment for our fish to live in.

Aeration then is a great factor in providing both a safe
environment for our fish and can add drama and more viewing
pleasure to the keen aquarist.

Use your imagination.

Make the aeration process fun for the fish and yourself.
Remember that part of setting up an aquarium is for your
enjoyment as well as for the fish. Make a feature from your
aeration system one that will keep your fish healthy and
occupied, you entertained and wow any visitors to your home.

There are plenty of aeration tools on the market and most are
very cheap, plastic piping comes in various lengths and diameter
so that a varied effect can be achieved. Novelty decorations can
be bought in the forms of divers, treasure chest with moving
parts and other such decorations that add a little of your
personality into the aquarium. To have a more natural effect why
not choose an odd shaped or interesting stone, hollow log or
ceramic vase or plant pot, insert a length of plastic tubing so
that the outlet faces in the direction you wish the bubbles to
appear and plug the inlet into your pump, a beautiful cascade of
bubbles will be a real eye catcher, and the fish enjoy the
benefits of the extra oxygen created. A curtain of bubbles from
a long length of tubing with tiny holes pierced along the top
can add a dramatic special effect and can also create a boundary
within the tank between species of fish as some fish do not like
to cross through the curtain.

Always ensure you buy the biggest tank you can afford and when
using aeration pumps buy for at least the size of tank you have,
too little power results in the pump being unable to push the
air through the tubing. Always refer to your fish stockist for
specific requirements as different fish species tolerate higher
water turbulence that others.