# Need a New Air Pump...



## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

First, the Top Fin bubble wands at the back of my 60 gallon quit working, and I thought it was from being clogged with diatoms and algae, so I replaced them with a Marineland 48" flexible snaking wand. Both were hooked up to my Tetra Whisper 60 air pump. Now, the Marineland is quitting as well, with little to no bubbles coming out, so I am suspecting my Tetra pump...

I need a suggestion for a good, solid and powerful air pump to run this 48" bubble wand -- it seems the "rated for 60 gallons" Tetra was just a load of nonsense...can anyone recommend a good one? I know Rena makes some, but they're expensive, aren't they?


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Your stones can also get clogged with dust if your pump is in even a slightly dusty location. I'd check that first before putting down the money for new air pump.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Scuff,

How could the pump -- which is outside of the tank on the floor -- affect the bubble holes of my wand, which is inside the tank, below the water line? How could the pump getting dusty affect this?


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Because the pump blows that dust through the airline, which then clogs up the pores in your airstone/wand.


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

the pump has to suck air in to push air out and through the air line to the bubbler... if it's sucking in dusty air, it's going to push it through the line only to get caught in the bubbler and evntually clog it up


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

But guys,

I thought these air pumps kind of "make" their own air -- they suck up air from around them? 

I'll check this anyway; thanks for the tips...

BTW -- does the pump itself need to be feet ABOVE the tank, like the instructions say? In other words, it seems the pump needs to actually be situated outside of the tank in a position FEET ABOVE the actual tank, for some reason; is this true? I have it on the floor, behind the tank...


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

The pumps can't just 'make' air; basically, they move air from outside the tank to inside the tank, along with whatever contaminants are nearby. The pump doesn't necessarily have to be _above_ the tank; they usually say that to minimize the risk of damage due to water splashing. If you've got a tall tank/stand though, it doesn't hurt to raise where the pump sits, to help minimize the amount of work it has to do, and to keep it out of dust, etc.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

I see; thanks Scuff.

My tank isn't tall or deep; it's a 60 gallon rectangular long -- is it okay to keep the pump on the floor then? 

What should I be looking for now, when I check the pump for the "dust"...should I blow the dust off the pump itself, and blow any dust off the tube connections with a compressed air gun?


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Just clean the dust from the air pump, maybe take the tubing out of the tank, remove the stone, and let it run for a minute in a non-dusty environment to clear it out. Then try putting another stone on the end of the line (preferably new and clean) and put it back in the tank. Does it make bubbles? Then your old stone was clogged, move your pump to a cleaner location. Does it not? Give it a little bit to get settled, then check back. Still no bubbles? Then it's likely a diaphragm in your air pump has torn, and needs to be replaced (if your model air pump allows it).


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Scuff said:


> Just clean the dust from the air pump, maybe take the tubing out of the tank, remove the stone, and let it run for a minute in a non-dusty environment to clear it out. Then try putting another stone on the end of the line (preferably new and clean) and put it back in the tank. Does it make bubbles? Then your old stone was clogged, move your pump to a cleaner location. Does it not? Give it a little bit to get settled, then check back. Still no bubbles? Then it's likely a diaphragm in your air pump has torn, and needs to be replaced (if your model air pump allows it).


I don't have a "stone" powering any of this -- the airline tubing is going directly from the pump's output to the little nub on the bubble wand, where it accepts the airline tubing. That's all I have feeding the air to this wand.

When you say "clean the dust from the air pump," do you mean just blast the whole chassis with compressed air or something -- is there a section I should be concentrating on?


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

An air stone defines anything attached to the end of your airline tubing, be it a stone, a wand, etc. Take your wand off the end of the tubing, and either put a new stone on there or just put the tubing into the water without one, and see if it's creating bubbles all the way down to the level it would normally be at.

And yes, you could take a can of compressed air and blow the chassis off if you wanted to.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

IT WORKED!!!

Thank you, both for your suggestions! I took the airline out of the pump's feed, blew compressed air through the line, which created bubbles instantly in the tank, then blew some of the air around the pump itself, then switched out the line the tube was connected in, and now there are a TON of bubbles coming out -- like never before!

Thanks again Scuff and all; appreciate it!

Although now I don't know if it was dust or the line my tube was hooked into....


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Only...now I have another different problem... 

Because there is so much oxygen flying into my tank's water from this wand going at full power, the water has begun to appear REALLY unclear and "foggy" -- I know the water isn't cloudy or poor, because it was clear before the wands kicked in (and because I'm running THREE 100ml pouches of Purigen in my two filters) so it's obviously the wand doing this...

But what can I do? When there are no bubbles coming from the wand, or very little, the water quality (in appearance) is pristine -- it allows the fish to exhibit that "floating in mid air" quality, almost, and with the barrage of bubbles from the wand, the water looks "fizzy" and "misty" and doesn't LOOK clear...

Short of hooking up the gang valve to control the pump's output, is there anything I can do in this situation to make my water look crystal clear even with the full force of bubbles pumping?


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

It could be particulate matter that was lodged in the wand and came out when you fixed the dust issue, or it could be microbubbles. Take a clear glass and scoop out some water, then put it down and walk away for ~10 minutes. If you come back and the water is clear, it's microbubbles. Otherwise it's particulate matter, in which case put a polishing pad inside your filter to help remove it, and/or do water partials to help speed up the process.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

ClinicaTerra said:


> BTW -- does the pump itself need to be feet ABOVE the tank, like the instructions say? In other words, it seems the pump needs to actually be situated outside of the tank in a position FEET ABOVE the actual tank, for some reason; is this true? I have it on the floor, behind the tank...


If there is a power cut and the pump is below the water line it is possible for water to back up the air tube and siphon out of the tank. It's not likely but in theory it could ruin your air pump, drain your tank and electrocute you, thus the instruction to keep the pump above the water level. I use a small check valve instead that stops the flow reversing, they are cheap and easy to use.


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

snail said:


> If there is a power cut and the pump is below the water line it is possible for water to back up the air tube and siphon out of the tank. It's not likely but in theory it could ruin your air pump, drain your tank and electrocute you, thus the instruction to keep the pump above the water level. I use a small check valve instead that stops the flow reversing, they are cheep and easy to use.


This is excellent advice. That $0.99 check valve is cheap insurance against possible thousands of dollars in water damage should your airline tubing drain your entire tank onto your floor. I know it's a small chance, but like I said...cheap insurance.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Scuff said:


> It could be particulate matter that was lodged in the wand and came out when you fixed the dust issue, or it could be microbubbles. Take a clear glass and scoop out some water, then put it down and walk away for ~10 minutes. If you come back and the water is clear, it's microbubbles. Otherwise it's particulate matter, in which case put a polishing pad inside your filter to help remove it, and/or do water partials to help speed up the process.


I believe the issue is microbubbles -- the water was pristine before the bubble wands starting kicking in full force. I do have water polishers in this tank, as I said -- I'm running THREE bags of 100mls worth of Seachem's Purigen...way overkill for the amount of water in my aquarium.

Is there anything I can do about microbubbles? It really is making my tank look like 200 tabs of Alka Seltzer have been dropped in there; this definitely isn't particulate matter, as between the flow of the two filters on this tank and the bubble wand, a TON of oxygen and bubbles are moving around...

I also did a PWC last night because my Calico Fantail was acting real strange, looking as if he was on his last fin -- swimming upside down and listing like mad. Since doing the water change and doing extreme filter maintenance, including rinsing out all filter media, the Calico seems to be doing better, believe it or not...

I will share my test readings before the water change in a few moments...


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

As for the stop valves,

Indeed, my Marineland flexible bubble wand came with one of these, guys, but I didn't install it -- and I realize that the water could spit back through the hosing in the case of a power outage and that would be the reason to have the pump higher than the tank; I was just wondering if a pump was supposed to be installed that high for PERFORMANCE reasons, and if that was why my wands weren't working. But Scuff fixed that for me with the suggestion of the air and blowing dust away...

Which leads me to...why, Scuff, do you think that just by me blowing the compressed air through the airline tubing did the wand start to work full force again? I also blew air around the chassis of the pump too, but once I sent the air through the tube, the wand opened up and flowed like crazy -- was this from dust caught in the tube?


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Without physically being there to watch what you did, then I can only assume there was a blockage somewhere, whether in the tubing or in the pump.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Scuff said:


> Without physically being there to watch what you did, then I can only assume there was a blockage somewhere, whether in the tubing or in the pump.


All I did was take a can of compressed air, picked up the pump off the floor a little, blew the air around the entire chassis of the pump, getting all connection points, and then I took the end of the airline tubing and blew the air up the tube, which caused the bubbles to begin kicking in the wand within the tank -- I shot some more air up there, and the bubbles responded, so I then reconnected the airline tubing to the pump and suddenly, the wand was WILD with aggressive, powerful bubble streams...

What do you think happened? Dust in the air line?


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Either that or dust clogging the intake of your pump.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Okay...

As for doing something about the microbubbles -- short of installing a gang valve to reduce the flow of the bubbles from the wand, is there anything I can do to reduce the fizz effect going on in my tank? As I said, the effect is akin to someone dropping six dozen Alka Seltzer tablets into the water...


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Either adjust the flow or replace the bubble wand with a stone that creates larger bubbles. Out of morbid curiosity, are the bubbles going into your filter intake at all? Because that can cause some pretty bad micro bubbles as well.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Yes, they are indeed going into the filters' intakes because the wand is along the back glass of the tank...


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Well there you go. The filter is sucking up those bubbles and the impeller is shredding them into microbubbles. Move the wands, and I'm willing to bet you'll see clearer water.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Hmmm...I bet you're 100 percent right...but I don't really have anywhere else to move the wand; do you mean move it just a little? Move it off the back glass just a tad?


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Just move it so that the intake of your filter isn't sucking up bubbles...


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## ReStart (Jan 3, 2011)

I have heard good arguments for there being no need for bubble generators of any sort in aquariums. I have one in my 10g but none in the others. So I guess I am of divided mind on this. I do have "micro bubbles" in the 10g and it is less clear than any of the others.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Thanks, ReStart. I will consider that, but I really do like the bubble curtain.

Scuff: I am not sure where I can move the wand because as it is right now, it falls behind the intake stalks of the filters and still they're suckin' up the bubbles...:betta:


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Airstones are primarily aesthetic, but they do add some water movement (and hence gas exchange). Are they necessary? No, I wouldn't say so. But there's no harm in having one in your aquarium.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Scuff said:


> Airstones are primarily aesthetic, but they do add some water movement (and hence *gas exchange*). Are they necessary? No, I wouldn't say so. But there's no harm in having one in your aquarium.


That was an important factor to me as well, beyond the aesthetics of a bubble curtain, in that a healthy gas exchange would occur at the surface of the water for the goldies...:betta::betta::animated_fish_swimm:fish10:


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Well, your filter will typically provide a good amount of surface agitation, but with goldfish it's always a good idea to provide a bit more for them, as they require more oxygen saturation in their water.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Is that really true about goldfish needing more oxygen saturation than other species? Why is that?

Yes, I have heard that the filters' surface agitation should be enough for a tank, but I always thought the bubbles just added more, and it couldn't be bad...


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

They've just evolved to use more oxygen. They come from cooler waters, and cool water holds more oxygen than warm water. Since you wouldn't be keeping your goldfish in warm waters anyway, it's much easier to provide them with the required levels of oxygen.


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## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

just curious in this context of filter surface agitation 

when using a canister we dont see any agitation at the surface right ?? then how does water get adequate oxygen ??


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

There's always gas exchange happening at the surface of your water, a filter just agitates it and creates more gas exchange. It might be prudent to direct the flow of water coming out of your filter so that it does disturb the water's surface a little bit.


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## ClinicaTerra (Nov 12, 2010)

Thanks Scuff.


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