How costant does my air pump stay on

[flamcannon1]

Do i keep my air pump on 24/7 in a 55 gallon tank?


hey chris, what kind of algae eating fish would be safe with some mosquito fish and tetra neons? u said no suckers cause they snack on other fish.. but is there a difference algae eater?

[BirdLuver288]

ottos are 5 star algae eaters, as with bristle nose plecos..

I had 29 gallon with wall to wall brown algae, it was uncontrollable, I bought 5 ottos, and in 3 days, the tank was perfect, and the ottods were fat:p

I havent had personal experiance with bristle noses, but all I hear is good stuff:cool:

[BirdLuver288]

and as long as your filter provideds adiquate surface adgitation, you can have the pump on for a few hours a day and everything will be peachy:p

[Bettachris]

i wouldn't recommend ever turning off your air pump. It is good policy to leave it one 24/7 365.

again with algae eatters very generally they break down like this.

Common plecos- Way to large for most home tanks, adults will reach over 24 inches.

CAE- or chinese algae eatters are the complete wrong fish to get. Even at a young age the will latch onto other fish and leave open wounds causing infections. Adults will get about 12 inches.

Bushy nosed plecos- i have no experience on them, they should be peaceful and about 5-6 inches. Not the nicest fish to look at.

Fancy plecos- While most will be smaller than the common pleco, they are horrible at eatting algae.

Ottos- there are a few types of ottos like the marble and gaint, but the most common otto catfish is the dwarf otto cat. These are probably your best bet, but they can be senstive to water quality, Which is why they arent recommoned for first time fishkeepers. If you can keep your water clean with weekyl water changes than they should be fine, just allow your tank to fully stablize b4 adding them. and they would rather school with members of the otto family, about 6.

[BirdLuver288]

well, chris, this is the first time I have ever added a bubbler to any of my tanks perminantly *gasp!* and its only because those stupid darts need sooooooomuch O2 in the water to survive..they are so cumbsy lol, always running into corys, the wall, the filter, heater..I hope they are just acting dumb cause they are new to aquarium life lol

But alot of people dont even use an air pump, it all depends on how many fish, and the fish's needs