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Ideas on Increasing Oxygenization

jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
I have a few fish (and I'm picking up some more at AquaMania) that naturally are from high flow rivers and all the research I have been able to do says they need "highly oxygenated" water to thrive and/or spawn.

I've also been searching through the internet for ideas on how to increase dissolved oxygen in the tank. Most articles that I've found are related to tanks that have a low amount of oxygen where fish are suffering. The general principals are always aggitate the water surface, use plants, increase filtration and understock the tank to reduce oxygen usage.

Right now, the tank I'm focused on is a 5 foot 120. It is filtered by 2 AC110's, an Eheim 2026, and a large air driven sponge filter. The AC110's and the Eheim are all providing surface aggitation, as well as the bubbles from the sponge. I also have a powerhead below the surface circulating water. I think that I am good on the filtration side of things.

Stocking wise, I'm on the heavier side of the spectrum, but this is in part that the main focus of the tank is a pair of atromaculatus, and my thought was to make sure that there are enough other fish in the tank to keep them from beating on each other. They seem rather compatible, and had been living in a simialar set up with their previous owner for over a year.

Plants are a challenge for me. I've never had any luck keeping them alive, and with large cichlids, I just don't think I have much of a chance of success.

My thoughts were to add an air stone or two to further increase surface agitation and another power head to increase water mixing as well as provide a simulated current to further reduce aggression. I'd like to see what others have done when dealing with similar type fish.
 
Becca

Becca

Members
Have you considered doing a... uh... I cannot remember for the life of me what they're called but I think they have an "ium" in the end of the word... It's basically a sump/overflow system where the tank in the bottom is planted and contains all sorts of naturally filtering materials... reservarium maybe? Someone has to know what I'm talking about. You have to keep it lighted, of course, but the plants would add oxygen without the issue of your fish getting to them and eating them... They were a hot topic, oh, maybe 10 years ago...
 
scientist0724

scientist0724

Members
Jon,

Have you seen my past thread on my river tank setup.
http://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13371

I've modified the setup since then where I have a large coarse sponge over my intake. I have a Marineland C-530 filter, which I think is equivalent to an FX-5. It's got a really, really strong flow. I have a long airstone just below the DIY output spray valve to add oxygenation because I keep this tank at 80F.

This setup works like a charm for me.

Arlene
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
For maximizing "oxygenation"

You're probably already at some level of super saturation but by far the simplest kicker at this point is to adapt the power-head so that its flow sucks air and injects it into the output. Lots of the older power heads came with short tubes that either attached to the head (in place of a small plug) or the outflow baffle and created a stream of fine air bubbles that varied in number depending on how much air was allowed to be mixed through a simple common in-line screw valve. Haven't bought a new powerhead in years, but good chance you could customize yours to create the same effect if it's not in fact pre-adapted.
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
That's essentially what the Eheim diffusor does, draw air via a short piece of air line tubing. But if you can do it without paying $10 for fancy German plastic, so much the better.
 
Becca

Becca

Members
Avatar said:
You're probably already at some level of super saturation but by far the simplest kicker at this point is to adapt the power-head so that its flow sucks air and injects it into the output. Lots of the older power heads came with short tubes that either attached to the head (in place of a small plug) or the outflow baffle and created a stream of fine air bubbles that varied in number depending on how much air was allowed to be mixed through a simple common in-line screw valve. Haven't bought a new powerhead in years, but good chance you could customize yours to create the same effect if it's not in fact pre-adapted.
Click to expand...


I did have a powerhead that did this many years ago - I completely forgot about it. The only downside I remember was that the output attachment often got "blown" off of it by the force of the water. If you can find a good quality one (or two) you could create some extra current or even a cross current.
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Was gonna say what Sam suggested. Use a powerhead with a venturi on the outflow. I prefer Maxijets. Have a MJ900 on my tropheus tank and it makes tons of tiny bubbles. They're super cheap and the fish love it.
 
Jeff721

Jeff721

Members
Lower your water level, that way the flow of the h.o.b. filters is crashing into the water.
Get or make a spraybar for the canister and set it above the water level.

With those two, you'll probably see an increase in evaporation though.

The only other thing that comes to mind is to run your water temperature lower. Colder water, higher density of oxygen...or something like that.
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Or...

...you could drill a hole in your present powerhead to silicone in an old airstone stub to which you may then attach airline. I have several old extra float attachments such that the airline doesn't have to be draped outside the tank but simply bobs on the surface - happy to bring you one - they're a little less conspicuous than a cork and also have built-in adjustment valves to regulate airflow.
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Thanks for the ideas, everyone.

I have several AquaClear powerheads that have the adapter for the airline. That is pretty easy to set up. Sam - I'll take you up on the offer for the float attachment.

I'm intrigued with the hydrogen peroxide generator. I'll take a look so see if there is a good way to engineer something that I can access from outside the tank that doesn't need to build up a huge amount of pressure before it works. The depth of the tank is one thing that is working against me, and I don't really want to have an ugly bottle sitting in the tank as it is in my family room. Same issue with dropping the water level. The bubbles from the sponge filter aren't offensive, but the constant sound of splashing water would probably not go over well with the wife and kids.

I looked at Arlene's set up and had this tank been empty and just getting set up for the first time, I may have gone that route. Unfortunately, the tank is set up and stocked, so stripping it down and starting over is a daunting task.
 
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