# Best airstone / bubble wand



## attackonthebass

I've purchased a bunch of different air-stones / bubble wands over the years and I can never seem to find one that creates fine bubbles

my most recent purchase was a flexible bubble wand ( black ) from ebay 
( from China, I know prob bad idea )

however, I'm looking for something to provide a WALL of fine bubbles.

I have two Wisper airpumps, one's a 40 & the other is a 100 and for whatever reason I'm still not getting the amount of bubbles that I would like

I really thought after I purchased the 100 that I would have more bubbles / flow then I could ask for. But in all honesty I really don't notice much difference in output between the two

so now I'm asking around for someone to recommend alternatives so that I can achieve a wall of bubbles.

I almost bought the LED aqueon light strip but its a little pricey and the last black bubble wand I bought (IMO sucks)

I appreciate any feedback, I have a 55 gallon tank so I think a 40 & 100 Wisper SHOULD be sufficient but maybe there is another brand that works better or a better airstone that will yield more bubbles from my two pumps.

thanks in advance for any advice

I'm new here, so if I posted this in the wrong spot I appologize


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## attackonthebass

Hydor H2Show Volcano Kit Red LED

I've also purchased one of these a while back, but wasn't impressed with it.

not sure of the color, but it was waaaay to big and after a month or so it started to act up so I returned it.

it wasn't cheap.

I'm thinking of buying just the regular old fashion light blue RIGID wand and hooking it up to the 100 wisper and hoping I can get a better output then the flexi--bubble wand


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## Nave

What size is the tank you have. The depth of the tank will determine the power of pump you will need. You could have that 40 pump on a 55 gallon and it will do fine but if its put into a 37 gallon column tank the pump may struggle to get the air to the bottom of the tank. I have the fluval Q2 and it powers two separate tanks one of which is a 46 gallon bow front I think it's 22" deep that pump doesn't struggle to push the air down that far.


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## attackonthebass

a standard 55 gallon, 20H x 48W x 12W

it's over populated right now and I'd like to get more air flowing in the tank

(I know over populating isn't the right thing to do, but my buddy was going to flush his fish down the toilet so I took all of them, put most of them in my tank, and then put the rest in my quarantine tank)


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## attackonthebass

I'll upload pictures shortly, give me a minute to figure out how


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## attackonthebass

the bubbles on the right are coming from the whisper 40, 

the ones on the left are coming from the 100. (which are barely viable)

It def has to do with the crappy air tube, because I was just looking through some old video's and the bubbles weren't nearly as crappy as they are now.

I'm trying to upload them to photobucket, but it won't allow me to upload vid's?


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## Ty

Do you have the airstone on the left under your gravel? I found my bubbles were a lot smaller and there were a lot more of them until I put my airstone under the gravel. Now, there are fewer, bigger bubbles.


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## Nave

I like the way you did those pots with the slate shelf... What kind of filtration do you have going on the tank just out of curiosity?


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## attackonthebass

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for some reason it won't let me post video's only pictures???

There are a TON of fish in this video, I moved them out of this tank shortly after this video, a friend was going to throw his bublebee's away so I took them all and threw them into my 55 gallon. Didn't last two long before I had a few casualties. Now I've split them up into two tanks

you have to click on the video, and it takes you to photobucket ( for me at least )

here's right after I put the flexi bubble airstone in that is connected to a Whisper 100

it looked / worked Great at first

here's what it looks like now 







[/URL][/IMG]


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## attackonthebass

Nave said:


> I like the way you did those pots with the slate shelf... What kind of filtration do you have going on the tank just out of curiosity?


Thank you, I've always liked building things that you can't buy ( per say ) at the store

My filter right now is just some crap drop filter that came with my tank when I bought it, I had a nice Eheim canister but the case cracked when I was cleaning it one day and I haven't got around to purchasing a new one.

I'm not a big fan of the back drop filters, they're ok, but the canisters are where it's at. I have to do waaaay more water changes then I would prefer with the backdrop vs. the eheim. I bought a power head in hope of additional circulation, but that too is on the fritz.

I've been looking at the Fluval canister but don't have the cash right now to drop 400 bucks. 

For the slate / pots

Yeah, I like it myself. Was cheap as well. Which is why I went this direction. I'm still working on getting more caves / hiding areas but it's working for now

I bought the pots, and some slate (which was cheap, much cheaper then aquarium store)

cut the slate in 1/2 with a diamond blade, and made little homes in the upside down pots and sanded down the edges to make sure they wouldn't' be damaging to the fish. It's super sturdy so I don't have to worry about anything falling, or even worse cracking my tank.


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## attackonthebass

Ty said:


> Do you have the airstone on the left under your gravel? I found my bubbles were a lot smaller and there were a lot more of them until I put my airstone under the gravel. Now, there are fewer, bigger bubbles.




I have the flexi airstone wrapped around the 2nd pot on the right so that the bubbles will float from underneath the slate and trickle onto the piece above it.

I'm going to get something new tomorrow, was just hoping for some suggestions. if you watch the two videos you can see how much the airstone has depleted into crap and I want to do something before I possibly do any damage to the actual pump


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## attackonthebass

going to the pet shop, going to see if I can find something for the Whisper 100

not happy with the output of bubbles, thinking im going to get an led wand, although I'm weary because of the last wand taking a crap on me


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## Nave

If your looking at a $400 fluval I'd say get another eheim... You can find one that is efficient and cost less too


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## coralbandit

I think Nave nailed it with the depth of your tank having effects on pump.I also believe the 100 to be more powerful than the 40 so would think something may be up with your 100.They sell rebuild kits(for a reason) that have replacement diaphrams and such.
I hope the bubbles are your desire as oxygenation can be achieved without bubbles(surface movement usaully works).A simple powerhead(I like hydors) aimed at the surface will probly provide more oxygen then any amount of bubbles.


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## attackonthebass

I purchased a new airstone, and threw away the old one and now it's working GREAT

Should have known better to skimp out on a flexible bubble wand.

Going to post new pictures, tank looks awesome now, bubbles are exactly how I want them


my next purchase is going to be some LED lighting.

Not sure if I'm going to drop the money on the Marineland? Or if I'm going to save a couple bucks and go with the Aqueon?

I don't have any live plants because of the Cichlids but I'm still a little weary about spending 130 on the complete setup ( with two additional LED strips)

does anyone own either of the two? Can you let me know what you think?


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## attackonthebass

Nave said:


> If your looking at a $400 fluval I'd say get another eheim... You can find one that is efficient and cost less too



just not sure which one to pickup? They no longer sell / make the one I owned.

There are a few that are a little under a 100 bucks and look similar to my old one. I really miss the canister filter, works so much better then the drop filter


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## attackonthebass

coralbandit said:


> I think Nave nailed it with the depth of your tank having effects on pump.I also believe the 100 to be more powerful than the 40 so would think something may be up with your 100.They sell rebuild kits(for a reason) that have replacement diaphrams and such.
> I hope the bubbles are your desire as oxygenation can be achieved without bubbles(surface movement usaully works).A simple powerhead(I like hydors) aimed at the surface will probly provide more oxygen then any amount of bubbles.


the 100 is waay more powerful, I have a powerhead hooked up to the Whisper but I'll have to lift it up in order to get the surface moving like you suggested.

Also, I can't remember which one but Eheim has a canister with a wand that agitates the top of the water which is what I'm looking for. Pretty sure it was really expensive though, but if I"m going to buy one I might as well spend the extra 50 - 80 bucks to get all the bells and whistles just can't decide which is more of a priority right now the filter or the lights.

I really liked how the LED's created the shimmer look on the couple tanks I saw today. 

& the guy only had ONE Aquaeon led strip in his setup. I'm wondering how much nicer it will look once there are 3 total strips? 

THanks again everyone, I really appreciate the advice / feedback


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## coralbandit

Many have made (DIY) there own spray bars for their canisters.All filters and equipment are way cheaper online.


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