# Air stone required or not for planted tank?



## josephkarthic (Aug 22, 2016)

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and a beginner to planted aquarium..I have a 11 gallon 3 ft long tank with 5 guppies , 5 dwarf neon rainbow fish and a small angel fish..I have anacharis plants floated with no gravel and no filter..I'm having this tank for the past 3 months with no issues..

Recently my angel fish started gasping for air randomly so I added a airstone at the surface to create agitation for about 3 hrs daily..this solved the gasping issue but my plants are not growing like it used to be..the ancharis produce roots everyday before with the same lighting but now it doesnt.

Should I remove the airstone? If so how do i solve the oxygen issue? Im not sure if my plants produce enough oxygen for the fishes,,but I read everywhere that i shdnt use airstone for planted tanks,

kindly help..


----------



## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Nope


----------



## Smooch (May 14, 2016)

Tank is too small for a angel fish.

Water parameters? 

Airstones are typically not used when a tank in injected with CO2.

Why are you not using a filter?


----------



## SwissCheeseHead (Dec 24, 2014)

Air stones are not necessary. What you need is surface agitation. Even a slight ripple across the surface of the water will be enough movement for gas exchange. An air stone will only affect CO2 levels of you are injecting CO2. What the air stone is doing is causing surface agitation. Any kind of filter has the ability to provide said agitation.


----------



## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Plants only produce oxygen while busy with photosynthesis. When they respirate at night they use oxygen.... quite a bit too.


----------



## AbbeysDad (Apr 13, 2016)

1) As mentioned, your 3 foot long, 11 gallon tank is way too small/shallow for Angel fish. You should consider re-homing the Angel.

2) Why no substrate or filter? You really should consider a filter. Filtration is a good thing and you definitely want good water circulation throughout the tank.

3) A handful of floating Anacharis is not planted and is probably not enough to handle the ammonia generated by your fish. You should test water (or have it tested at you LFS) for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

4) You don't mention water changes or dosing fertilizer(s)? Your Anacharis may have depleted micro/macro nutrients in the water.

5) (As mentioned) Air stones are considered counter productive in high tech planted tanks with CO2 injection. I have a bubble bar running 24/7 in my low tech 60g. 
In your case right now, the air stone is practically mandatory to ensure O2 in the water and provide some circulation.


----------



## josephkarthic (Aug 22, 2016)

Thanks everyone for your replies...For some reason im not getting any email notification for the new replies except for the first one..does anyone know how to change that setting?

Anyways this 11 gallon tank is just a learning tank for me to know how lights, plants, O2, Co2 work together..A filter is too large for this tank and ive successfully had this tank for 3 months with no issues , I change 50 % water every week and all fish are healthy and active.. Also I think gravels changes the ph rapidly bcoz on a water change some fish like neon tetras are usually dead due to the ph swing so i removed it and no more deaths..

I have a future plan to get a 6 ft long tank with a canister filter..

So right now ive removed the angel and run the airstone for more hrs..But what I noticed is when i run the airstone when lights are on the plant growth is slow the next morning..but if i switch off the airstone when lights are on the growth is rapid (Anacharis really grows everyday with roots hanging and new shoots)..I think the airstone definitely removes the co2 present in the tank even when not injecting additional co2..


----------



## Smooch (May 14, 2016)

josephkarthic said:


> Thanks everyone for your replies...For some reason im not getting any email notification for the new replies except for the first one..does anyone know how to change that setting?
> 
> Anyways this 11 gallon tank is just a learning tank for me to know how lights, plants, O2, Co2 work together..A filter is too large for this tank and ive successfully had this tank for 3 months with no issues , I change 50 % water every week and all fish are healthy and active.. Also I think gravels changes the ph rapidly bcoz on a water change some fish like neon tetras are usually dead due to the ph swing so i removed it and no more deaths..
> 
> ...


Gravel does not alter pH. It's inert, there is nothing about it to change anything.

Are you using any type water conditioner with your water changes? Chlorine kills fish and the beneficial bacteria in a tank.

I have a 10 gallon and a 5.5. Both have HOB ( hang on back filters) which keeps the water clean. Some Anacharis is not enough to clean and filter a 11 gallon tank.

Air stones do not affect plant growth. The affect of CO2 from your once a week water change only lasts a few minutes so the air stone is simply providing oxygen and nothing else.


----------



## nukum (Jul 26, 2016)

Stagnant water will kill most fish unless they are labyrinth breathers like bettas or gouramis. Move the water around with air or powerhead and they will thank you for it.


----------



## K1963158 (Aug 15, 2016)

Hi

Keep the air stone and get yourself a sponge filter. Put the air stone in the tube and you kill 2 birds with one stone. But don't shut your air stone off....


----------



## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

I think an airstone is not only unnecessary but also counter-productive. If you are moving the water around so that oxygen-depleted water gets to the top to get more oxygen, you'll be fine without an airstone.


----------

