What Is an Aquarium Air Pump and Is It Necessary?
An aquarium, large or small, is one of the most spectacular features you can add to your home. For most of us the equipment is as simple as tank, filter and maybe a light but there is one piece of gear you can add that will take your aquarium to the next level, improving the health and happiness of all of your fish, other creatures and plants. That bit of kit is an aquarium air pump.
What is an air pump?
Your tank’s filter circulates the water in your tank, collecting water from deep in the tank and, after filtering, pouring it back in. This keeps your water clean, clear and healthy. The big difference between this and an air pump is that an air pump introduces external air into your tank water. It quietly intakes air from the room around it and then introduces it, under pressure, into the water. This is the next step in keeping water healthy.
Why do I need an air pump?
Just about every creature on our planet has one thing in common – we need oxygen to survive. For us, that oxygen is part, around 20%, of the air around us that we breathe.
The residents of our tanks, animals and plants, rely on oxygen too but in a somewhat different way. They breathe what’s described as dissolved oxygen. Without getting too complex, this is where oxygen has mixed with the water at a molecular level. Dissolved oxygen, DO, is in-fact used by professionals as one of the important measures of water quality.
Your filter will churn a little oxygen into the water but it often ends up sitting at the higher levels of the tank water, and is very dependent on water circulation for distribution.
Wait... isn’t oxygen part of H2O (water)?
Yes! Very good point. If you cast your mind back to high school science you may recall that a molecule of water is made up of two, hence the ‘2’, hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. This is not, however, the sort of oxygen that can be used for breathing as it’s bound up with the hydrogen atoms to create the water itself. This is why we need to add more.
Is it easy to up my oxygen levels?
Oase have made adding this essential dissolved oxygen to your aquarium super easy. Their OxyMax air pumps are quiet, efficient, compact and, best of all, incredibly easy to set-up. There are two models, the single outlet for regular-sized tanks and the dual outlet for larger or higher-demand aquariums. Both are completely plug-and-play with all of the parts you need to be included in the box. Air volume or flow is easily dial-adjusted to allow you to get the perfect balance and effects. And both models are suitable for freshwater and marine aquariums.
That essential add-on.
If you are looking for an easy, and cost-effective, way to keep all of the inhabitants of your aquarium happy and healthy and to improve water quality then an Oase OxyMax air pump is the simple must-have. Added in a matter of minutes it will bring new life to your aquarium!
Get in contact with our support team, or find a dealer in your area today.
