Hi all,

I have an 88 litre tank with 8-9kg's of live rock

An Underwater Filter 400L/H (which I will be replacing with an external canister filter soon)
A Protein Skimmer 120L/H
A Powerhead/wavemaker 2000L/H (I'll be buying another soon)
and an air pump attached to an air stone

My question is.. will the protein skimmer add enough oxygen without the extra air pump/airstone??

I have been reading up on this and am getting alot of conflicting info. I am a bit paranoid to turn it off completly as I turn it off at night (coz its very noisy) and dont want my fish to suffocate.

Thanks

J_R

Hi there,

to be honest, I've never really considered an air pump/stone in a marine setup. As you rightly mention, your protein skimmer will oxygenate your tank nicely. Most gas exchange occurs at the surface, so even adjusting a power head to the surface can raise oxygen levels. Also overflow weirs, and anywhere water falls and churns from one level to another in the filter compartment will do the job. So I'de say it would be ok if you didn't want it in your setup. Just make sure there can be enough gas exchange by ventilation, i.e. a closed cover will be no good for this. Fans can also assist. HTH

Tiny Tank