Just wanting some opinions on air stones and such, and if there is a certain amount of oxygen that should be flowing in the tank and can you over do it? Can it harm oscars?

Don't worry, you're not going to cause any harm by adding oxygen to the tank. Really, if your filtration is set up properly there is no need for air stones, but they always come in handy if you need to add extra oxygen to the tank, hot weather, medicating the tank etc.

There are various sizes and shapes you can get, I like the round ones, you can hide them under rocks and create quite a nice bubble effect

thats what i thought so thats a good thing.

some hobbyist uses a clear tube that has series of tiny holes. the effect of
the air from the pump makes it look like a dancing bubbles. it is usually
installed at the far back of the tank. it gives additional aeration plus
good viewing background.

I just picked up a couple black airstones as I will be using black sand as my substrate...I figure if they become uncovered they will still blend in and not be noticeable. They make many different colors so you can match them to your substrate really well.

Nice find Hun! Way to go! I can't wait for pics.

Haha...I think i'm as excited to post pics as you are to see them! Seems like its taking forever to get everything done! I'll have some after this weekend for sure though! Hopefully next week with water in the tank!

ikkie78 wrote:


where did you find black airstones? the ones I've always seen are white or blue......

I use a Pond airator with 4 airstones.
It helps circulate the water, which is a good thing, for i use the heat from my lights to heat the tank.
I have LED spots right above the airstones and that creates a shiny effect.
But mostly i got them because i like the look of bubbles in my tank.
Mind you, if i turn the airpump off, my fish will not eat.
When i turn the air back on, they come back to eat out of my hand.
I guess they're used to the bubbles.

MeghanR wrote:


I found them at a small aquarium shop near my house...i've never seen the black ones before either so thats why I picked them up! They are made by Hagen...the packaging just says Elite on the front and says they are made by Hagen on the back.

As fish breath oxygen, more oxygen naturally goes into the water. The problem is when your fish are breathing oxygen quicker than it naturally goes into the water. How fast it goes into the water depends on surface area. So this is why we ripple the surface

So its not the air in the water that puts oxygen into the tank, its the rippling of the surface that the bubbles cause when they hit the surface. So if you have a filter output disturbing the surface you dont need an air stone, so you have one because you like the look. I have airstones as I like the look

ikkie78 wrote:


perfect thanks - I put "Hagen Elite airstones" in a search engine and found several places online:)