Help to reduce air stone fizz noise

[aussieorchid]

.Looking for some solutions or alternative to a noisy air stone.

I have had to relocate my planted discus tank to the foyer of the house and now the fizz from the air stone can be heard all over the house and all the way upstairs. I am currently running the plastic type air stone linked together to make up 4ft running along the back wall of the tank. The tank has a large canister filter doing all the filtration this was more for the visual effect of having the bubble curtain across the entire back wall of the tank.

Turning the air pump down does not seem to make much difference. I can live without the bubble curtain but would really like to have some oxygen being supplied to the tank.

Are there any quiet air stones out there

[Matmatmat]

Just use the canister to slightly agitate the surface and you don't need the bubbles at all. Does the canister have a spray bar? Or duck bill thing? Either can be directed to agitate the surface silently.

[th3f0rg0t3n]

does the tank have a hood and fully sealed lids ?

I run a few air curtains in my tanks and cannot hear the noise through my lids / hoods.

[aussieorchid]

does the tank have a hood and fully sealed lids ?

I run a few air curtains in my tanks and cannot hear the noise through my lids / hoods.

Yes the tank has sealed lids except for the small corner cutouts for the canister pipes and a hood.

Maybe it is the plastic air stone as it does produce a lot of fine bubbles and as it never blocks it never slows down.

[th3f0rg0t3n]

my air curtains do not supply any fine or small bubbles more so good sized solid ones that i cannot hear it for the life of me through my lids / hood,

Rather than turn the air pump down, maybe try turn the air pump up or get a model that pumps a greater amount

these air pumps are great, although a little more expensive then most people generally purchase i can vouch they do a fantastic job!

SCHEGO M2K3 AIR PUMP 350L/H

http://www.thetechden.com.au/SCHEGO_WS3_AIR_PUMP_350L_H_p/sh930.htm

[aussieorchid]

The air pump I am using is a hagen optima so I have plenty of air I just tried replacing the plastic 4ft stone with a small regular air stone I had laying about and the noise stops. It looks like the plastic air stone just has too fine a bubble and the more you turn the air up the louder the fizz. Might have to look at alternative air curtain stones with a larger bubble size.

[saczel]

You get better surface area with the finer bubbles and thus better oxygen absorption. I don't usually run air stones but when i do i found the ceramic ones work best and are not as noisy as the cheap stone or plastic ones. There are also sandle wood ones(i think) which put out very fine bubbles which was the quietest of the lot but i found they have a tendency to go mouldy and slimy and didn't last too long before they fell apart, i think they where for skimmers or de-nitrifiers. I just put up with the noise if they are doing a job.

[thatsright99]

The air bubbles themselves DO NOT oxygenate the water... they lift the water to the surface which is where the gas exchanges take place.

I'd think you'd have bigger problems then the 'fizz' of the bubbles...lol

[aussieorchid]

I am currently using a 2 inch air stone and that has cut the noise to almost nothing. Not the look of the bubble curtain I wanted but I think I can live with it. The air stone is not the cheap blue one from the LFS but I have not seen these any where for sale I got them years ago from an aquaculture farm. They are a dark blueish colour but very heavy for the size. I only have few left hanging around and would love to get more if I ever found them.

[saczel]

I can't re-call where a read it but it basically said you don't get much oxygen from air stones any way but the smaller bubbles with their greater surface area meant more could be absorbed. I myself make sure the surface is always rippling slightly from spray bars and powerheads and only use air stones in buckets etc so i don't pretend to know all there is to know but i would think as the bubbles rise some of it gets absorbed. Does anyone have any links about it that has some sort of scientific base? Just curious, it would be good to know for sure.

[Lictoga]

I can't re-call where a read it but it basically said you don't get much oxygen from air stones any way but the smaller bubbles with their greater surface area meant more could be absorbed. I myself make sure the surface is always rippling slightly from spray bars and powerheads and only use air stones in buckets etc so i don't pretend to know all there is to know but i would think as the bubbles rise some of it gets absorbed. Does anyone have any links about it that has some sort of scientific base? Just curious, it would be good to know for sure.

It all to do with the osmolarity of the water, yes you will get a very small amount of air dissolved in the water from the bubbles ( I say air because unless you are pumping in pure O2, you ar also pumping in amounts of co2, nitrogen and lots of other gasses that make up the atmosphere ). The greatest benefit of air stones is that they provide a current in the tank and surface agitation to facilitate gas exchange.

I haven't found any research on this in the aquarium sense, but it is the same principal as how our lungs work to take in O2 from the air in gas form and move it into our blood stream through osmolarity net pressure gradients and such.