# do you think i need an air pump?



## bmxman37 (Jan 23, 2009)

i have about 4 cichlids and a black ghost knife. my question is i have three powerheads one big one and two smaller ones for a 20g tank ( i have a 40) and my question is do you think i really need a air pump, i also have a decent amount of live plants..


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

Nope. You should have plenty of oxygen from the powerheads.


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## bmxman37 (Jan 23, 2009)

thanks i took it out yesterday. everyone seems to be doing fine..


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## robbob2112 (Oct 7, 2007)

airpumps are for decoration for the most part... or in my case required because my lids fit so tight to prevent evaporation that I have no air exchange to get O2 into the tank any other way.


for me - 
tight lids + air pump = happy fish and no evap to speak of
tight lids + _no_ air pump = gasping fish and even death but no evap
loose lids = no need for air pump, but 2+ gallons a day evap (roughly 1 vertical inch per day)


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## Valthenya (Feb 15, 2009)

Thats alot of evaporation !! my ten gallon only evaporates about an inch every week or so (maybe two int he summer) and i'm in phoenix...


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## bmxman37 (Jan 23, 2009)

yah mine doesnt evaporate too much about an inch a week and it is really loose fit.. maybe you have really hot lights


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## robbob2112 (Oct 7, 2007)

More like I live at 9100ft with about 10% or less humidty... between the air pressure and the low humidity the evaporation is a pain.. but with the glass lids and tightly trimmed around the canister hoses everything works well for me... It gets really bad if I try to use a HOB filter... used one that came with my 16g QT tank originally and it made it so much worse it wasn't funny.


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