# Airstones



## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

So I would like to get an airstone for my 3 gallon tank. I think it adds a nice presence to the tank and who knows maybe my fish will really like the bubbles.

Because I do have a small tank (hopefully upgrading over winter break, fingers crossed) the airstone can't be too big. I also just want to know what I need to buy with it as well. I have about $35 to spend on all the materials so keeping it around that would be fantastic.

Thanks!


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

You need an airstone,an airline tubing and an air pump.All these are fairly cheap should be able to get them with what money you have.

Just a normal sized airstone will be fine for your tank.


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

Great thank you very much


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## KG4mxv (Oct 25, 2011)

Go to the pet smart at
213 Daniel Webster Hwy	
Nashua, NH 03060

Heres what I recommend and on your budget.
1 Top Fin Aquarium Check Valve
Item: 2752253 $2.79

8 feet Top Fin Airline Tubing 
(maybe you might not need 8 feet but it is better to have too much than not enough.
You can cut it easily.)
Item: 2752198 $1.99

Top Fin® Long Airstone 4 inch (should fit your 3 gallon tank perfectly.)
Item: 3813197 $1.99


Top Fin Mist Airstones (3 pack) you will need 1of these I will tell you why later. 
Item: 4090027 $2.99

Top Fin® 11-Piece Air Connector Kit.
Item: 2752256 $3.49 

Top Fin Air Pump AIR 1000 ( the 1000 is the smallest they have and is more than you need. bigger is not better in this case.) 
Price $9.99

Well within your budget. 
Now here is how to set it up.

Figure out where you want to place the air stone. 
If the tank is rectangular then I would place it near the back but centered left to right.
You can push it down into the gravel a bit to keep it from moving. 

push the airline on to the air stone connection and place it in the tank. 
Then use the suction cups to secure the air line going up and out of the tank. 

Then cut the air line when it is out of sight and put in the check valve noting the flow direction arrow on the check valve make sure it is pointing towards the air stone. 
then blow into the airline that goes to the check valve and see if you can make bubbles. 
If so great, if not reverse the check valve and blow again. ;-)

Now cut the airline about 1 foot away from the check valve and connect that to one of the Control valves. 
cut another pice of airline about 4 inches long and put that on the other side of the control valve. 

There should be a couple of "T" fittings in the connector kit. 
Connect the line from the control valve to one of the arms of the "T" connector.

Cut 4 inch pice of line and connect it to the other side of the "T"
Take one of the other control valves and connect it to the line coming from the "T"

Cut 4 inch pice of line and connect it to the other side of the control valve.

Connect that to one of the small air stones. ( this will be a muffler )

Decide where to locate your air pump and connect it to the middle of the "T" connector.

Whew!!!!

Now to balance the air system.

This is the reason why I did all this.
If you were to just get a air pump , air stone , Airline 
you will cause two things.

First is with out the check valve if the power went out or if the airline came off the pump there is a possibility of the water siphoning out of your tank. (not a good thing)
Also most check valves have a filter in them to keep large particles of dust out of the inside of the air stone
and clogging it up from the inside out. ( protects your investment )

Second if you directly connected the air stone to the air pump, you will have no control on how much air goes to the tank. 
With that much air and bubbles you could cause two things to happen.
First is a high water current from the up flow of bubbles. (Especially in smaller tanks.)
The fish need an area of slow or still water to sleep. 
Second is over aeration of the water. ( trust me not a good thing.)

The smaller air stone is to act as a muffler. 
And to relieve pressure on the pump. This will extend the life of your pump.

Trust me you would want it . (after the airflow has been adjusted take off the small air stone and you will hear the reason why.)

OK 
Balancing the airflow. 
Plug in the air pump and open each valve fully.
You may or may not get bubbles in the tank. 

If not then slowly close the valve going to the smaller stone until you get a small amount of bubbles in the tank.

if you have lots of bubbles in the tank then either the valve going to the small stone is closed or you need to close the valve going to the tank a little to adjust the bubble stream. 

And you are Done!!!!

BTW I do not work at a petsmart LOL


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

I followed all of KG's instructions and I ended up with this. And thank you KG they were superb instructions!

BUBBLES! - YouTube

I may need to move the stone a bit, but for now it is fine.


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## KG4mxv (Oct 25, 2011)

You are most welcome. 
Nice looking tank.


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

thanks, the tank is small, but it is getting the job done


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

totally stealing this setup and substitiuting the top fin for a tetra whisper air pump lol, thanks!

besides the air pump, if you had alittle more to spend would you change anything?


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

No it was a perfect setup for my tank. If I had a larger tank I would have just upgraded the air pump and gotten a longer airstone.

I am able to control the flow of the air into my tank, the pump is quiet, and it wasn't difficult to install.


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

awsome, yea im definetly gonna use that setup for my ten gallon, just gonna use the tetra pump cause its quieter and i might use a larger airstone, thanks again folks


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## KG4mxv (Oct 25, 2011)

In actuality the same air pump powers my 12 inch air stone in my 46G quite nicely and I still have to divert a large portion to the smaller air stone. 

Sorry it looks a bit messy but I am making a shelf to go in and sort it all out. 
I guess since the air pump is inside the cabinet it muffles the sound. 









and here it is in action. 








Sorry this is an old picture.
The blue object in the bottom left hand side of the tank is a filter from my 10G that has been runnig for the past 6 months. I used it to seed the bacterial culture in the tank. 
The large plant on the left side has sprouted three new plants and I have placed them in other areas around the new tank. 
New pictures coming soon.


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## KG4mxv (Oct 25, 2011)

> thanks, the tank is small, but it is getting the job done


Having a small tank is nothing to be ashamed of. :fish-in-bowl:
I love my little 2 Gallon where I have my two dwarf african frogs. 
It has a sand substrate and a air powered filter, 10W heater. 
4 white LED light I made from a pice of 1/2inch angle aluminum.
and hot melt glue. 
(adding 1 Blue LED as a night light soon.) 

Pictures coming soon. 

They were in my 46G bow front but they were starving.
Since the 24 fish in the tank was hogging all the food before it could get to the bottom where they feed.


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

Oh I love my little tank, it is a great tank to have at school. In fact I can't even have anything bigger than a 10 gallon while at school (due to policy). I would just love to have a larger tank with some more fish. I have especially been digging dwarf gouramis lately.

As soon as I can upgrade to a 10 gallon I will. I will be able to get some more buddies for my current fish and possibly house a dwarf gourami too (if plastic plants are acceptable, otherwise I will find another type of fish or add a couple more snails instead).

Can't wait to see pictures of your 2 gallon, frogs are awesome little critters. Also I love the setup of your 46 gallon


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