Air pumps are made to run 24/7, which means that turning yours off every now and then isn’t necessary, and it should actually stay running. In fact, turning it off may stress your fish out because the conditions are changing, and their tank will feel different.
Co2 usually forms carbolic acid, but Co2 gets removed from the tank with the air pump. This means that the PH of the water will be affected because there will be less acidity in the water with the lack of carbolic acid. If you keep turning the pump on and off, the PH will change, which can lead to stress and health problems in your aquarium pets.
You may be worried about keeping your air pump on constantly for whatever reason. But rest assured that this is exactly what they are made for, and it won’t cause any harm to keep them on. Air pumps require very little energy to be used, the lowest being 3 watts and the highest being about 25.
This is not a lot of energy, which means it won’t make a huge difference if you turn off your air pump every now and then as opposed to keeping it on.
Lastly, you may find the sound of an air pump annoying and want to keep it off sometimes just for a break. Though there is no air pump that is completely quiet, you can definitely find some that make very minimal noise.
However, if noise is something that you are really worried about, you may want to look into different ways of aerating your tank (which we will list in a section below).
Why is my fish tank air pump not working?
There are a lot of possible reasons as to why your air pump is not working. The first thing you should do is make sure that there isn’t a kink in the tube that is blocking the air from flowing through. Sometimes it’s just as simple as undoing that kink and your air pump is fixed.
If that is not the case, you should check for other issues. One common issue is a broken rubber bladder. The rubber bladder is what compresses and decompresses to create the bubbles in the air pump.
You can check for holes or tears by moving your hand along the rubber bladder and trying to find them. If you end up finding a tear, you can find out if a replacement bladder is an option for your pump. If not, you will have to replace the entire thing.
Another common problem is that the air pump is placed in the wrong spot. If you have a deep fish tank and the tube is close to the bottom, your air pump will have to work really hard to get air out against the pressure of the water. Some air pumps may stop completely if they are placed too low. Try moving your air pump to a higher position and see if it starts working again.
Do I need an air pump for my fish tank?
Air pumps are not required for your fish tank, but they are a great way of ensuring proper water movement and aeration. If you don’t have an air pump, you should make sure that your tank has good water movement and surface agitation. This will help put oxygen in the water, which is very necessary whether you have an air pump or not.
Even though an air pump isn’t required to have a healthy fish tank, it is a great way to help boost the quality of your tank.
Air pumps provide more oxygen than surface agitation will, and this means that your fish will be happier and healthier. Air pumps are also a great decoration, and many people think that the bubbles make the tank look cooler.
Whether you own an air pump or not, you should always pay attention and make sure your fish are doing okay. However, if you don’t own an air pump, you should be extra diligent in making sure your fish have enough oxygen. If you ever see your fish swimming to the top of the tank and trying to gasp above the water, this is a sign that they need more oxygen and an air pump could solve this issue.
How do you aerate a fish tank without a pump?
As previously mentioned, water agitation is very important when it comes to aerating your fish tank. Without water agitation, there will be close to no oxygen getting into your tank, and this is a really poor environment for your fish to live in. One way to create water agitation without a pump is to place the output of your filter into the water, but face it toward the surface.
This will create movement and help get oxygen into the tank. You could also just have the output of your filter break the water surface, but this is louder, so you may prefer the other option to increase water agitation.
Another really simple way to aerate your fish tank is to take a cup and fill it with water from your fish tank, then pour the water back in from up high. The water will take oxygen as it’s being poured back in and bring it into the fish tank.
When you are doing this method, just remember that it’s very important to only use the aquarium water, because introducing different water with a new temperature and PH to the aquarium can be dangerous for your fish.
Having a good filter is also an effective way of aerating your fish tank. Making sure your filter has a very high flow rate and high water pressure, because the higher these two things are, the more aerated your tank will get. What happens with filters is that the water flowing through the filter generates oxygen. When this water is then pushed into the tank, the oxygen goes in with it and the tank gets aerated this way.
