Airstone near the filter....bad idea?

[Lauren B.]

I was wondering if I could put an airstone near the intake tube of my filter. Would the bubbling disrupt the filteration process in any way?

My tank is a tiny 6-gallon, so there's not much room. I have my plants situated near the intake tube, and I'm just afraid that the water isn't circulating at an optimum level....I don't want it to become too stagnant. The water flow up the intake, through the filter and out the bio-wheel is good right now, but I thought maybe I could improve circulation a little in that corner.

[Chrona]

Technically it's a great idea, because it the impeller will cause the bubbles to dissolve very well, which gives the biowheel bacteria lots of oxygen. However, I've been reading about how constant streams of air bubbles going into the impeller causes cavitation and vibration that can lead to early mag drive failure. I know a few people on these forums do it anyways with no bad consequences, so I think the issue may just be REALLY long term.

I plan on putting my CO2 airstone right at the intake, but the amount of bubbles produced from the DIY reactor is much much less than with an air pump.

[Severus]

I had my airstone below my intake tube for a few months. It worked out alright for awhile then my filter started to make a coughing noise from the airbubbles i believe. It still operated fine, the noise just got really annyoing and i didnt want to take a chance of something breaking

[xoolooxunny]

i use a powerhead to dissolve my co2, but in a 6 gallon, you dont have room. the rattling noise from air in the impeller is pretty annoying, i tried it once, but not for the long term, so i dont know if they break sooner!

[Lady Hobbs]

I had my airstone below my intake tube for a few months. It worked out alright for awhile then my filter started to make a coughing noise from the airbubbles i believe. It still operated fine, the noise just got really annyoing and i didnt want to take a chance of something breaking

Same here. Filter was sucking up all that air and making even more noise than the usual loud noise. :)

[crackatinny]

I have a millenium 2000 hang on filter on one tank, it has a valve on top that can be turned on or off that introduces air through the top of filter, I don't really use it though because it can be a bit noisy with the valve open.

[Nautilus29]

I tried it and my filter stopped running becuase of the air bubbles. It made a noise like it does when you first start it up. Oh well I guess.

[Severus]

Same here. Filter was sucking up all that air and making even more noise than the usual loud noise. :)

Yea i repsotioned my airstone just the other week. Nice and quiet now! lol

[*Sarah*]

My Fluval 305 specifically says not to put air stones beneath the intake.