Dumb question de jour... Aeration?

[Jesse Sunday]

Hi again! You guys have been amazing! Thank you!

For my dumb questions of the day.

Does my tank (tanks in general) need aeration?

I haven't seen many salt tanks with "air stones" or bubbles... my tank (Biocube 32) doesn't have a protein skimmer (which I'm guessing helps in larger tanks?), and currently, only the stock setup. (no additional powerheads, etc.)

Will I need something (aeration-wise) in the future to support livestock and coral?

Thank you all!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Aeration is extremely important. skimmer is the best way, but if no skimmer, then the best way is to aim the powerheads at the water surface, make it very turbulent

 

[mnl119]

A saltwater tank without a protein skimmer will generate large amounts of nitrate. I'd say invest in a skimmer and both aeration and water purity will be aided.

 

[Soren]

Hi again! You guys have been amazing! Thank you!

For my dumb questions of the day.

Does my tank (tanks in general) need aeration?

I haven't seen many salt tanks with "air stones" or bubbles... my tank (Biocube 32) doesn't have a protein skimmer (which I'm guessing helps in larger tanks?), and currently, only the stock setup. (no additional powerheads, etc.)

Will I need something (aeration-wise) in the future to support livestock and coral?

Thank you all!

Most do not use a bubbler/air stone like common in freshwater because they cause bubble that splash water around and increase the amount of salt creep while not offering substantial aeration.

Aeration is important and is achieved with skimmers and surface air exchange maintained by turbulence, like @LordofCinder mentioned.

A saltwater tank without a protein skimmer will generate large amounts of nitrate. I'd say invest in a skimmer and both aeration and water purity will be aided.

This is not necessarily true as there are other ways to maintain nitrates than just skimming, but a skimmer is still typically a good option to recommend for the reasons you listed. I like to run skimmers even just for the aeration benefits.
Some add the skimmate back to their tanks in controlled manner since too many nutrients are being removed in their systems.

 

[Pistondog]

Hi again! You guys have been amazing! Thank you!

For my dumb questions of the day.

Does my tank (tanks in general) need aeration?

I haven't seen many salt tanks with "air stones" or bubbles... my tank (Biocube 32) doesn't have a protein skimmer (which I'm guessing helps in larger tanks?), and currently, only the stock setup. (no additional powerheads, etc.)

Will I need something (aeration-wise) in the future to support livestock and coral?

Thank you all!

We run a waterbox 10 aio, and like you i Am concerned about oxegenation.
So we run an airstone in the return chamber.
You should have a battery powered bubbler for when the power fails, unless you have another plan.

 

[Cary Meredith]

Just ran into a similar concern this morning, my fish looked like they were struggling to get enough oxygen, so added an air stone quickly to aerate the water. Ended up losing one of my clownfish but other fish are now looking ok. This was on my 5 gallon pico tank, no skimmer.

 

[vpierce3]

Skimming is a great way to oxygenate your water but it has a lot of other benefits. As mentioned above it reduces the nutrients in your water, but to expand on that a little, it removes organic compounds and anything that is bound to those compounds such as fatty acids, metals, toxins, etc. that pollute your water. Skimmers really do a lot to help keep a clean, healthy tank. I encourage you to research it, interesting stuff.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Aeration is extremely important. skimmer is the best way, but if no skimmer, then the best way is to aim the powerheads at the water surface, make it very turbulent

important for what? coral? fish? both?