# Oxygen good for water?



## Slim (Jan 9, 2005)

Do you need oxygen in the water for your fish? Or do you not need it? Like powerhead with air, or bubblers? Anything like that? Or does it not need any oxygen going into the water? Does it affect your fishes health if you dont?


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## harrykaa (Jan 10, 2005)

Slim said:


> Do you need oxygen in the water for your fish? Or do you not need it? Like powerhead with air, or bubblers? Anything like that? Or does it not need any oxygen going into the water? Does it affect your fishes health if you dont?


Slim,

By oxygen you must mean aeration, where the room air outside of the tank is actively brought into contact with the tank water.

Well, usually and even in a Pygo shoal tank, if a powerful filtration is managed with an outlet pipe near tank water surface and thus a good surface agitation being created, no extra aeration is needed.

Regards,


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

harrykaa said:


> Slim,
> 
> By oxygen you must mean aeration, where the room air outside of the tank is actively brought into contact with the tank water.
> 
> ...


Exactly, the exchange of gasses for oxygen do not take place until those bubbles hit the surface. I just make sure I have a good filter, and place a powerhead between the top and middle of the tank. I turn the powerhead on for a few hours every day to oxygenate the water, and haven't had any problems yet.


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## ben2957 (Sep 17, 2005)

piranhas dont need a lot of oxygen in the water to survive


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## Slim (Jan 9, 2005)

Well I guess mine do cause they were dying and now they are fine when I hooked up the air to the powerhead


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Slim said:


> Well I guess mine do cause they were dying and now they are fine when I hooked up the air to the powerhead


It sounds like you don't have enough surface agitation for gas exchange with your primary filter. What type of filter are you using, what size tank (your 125 or 75?), how many current fish, and what are your water parameters? I would hate to rely on just one powerhead for gas exchange in my aquarium.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

ben2957 said:


> piranhas dont need a lot of oxygen in the water to survive


True, but oxygen consumption in a fish tank is much higher than one may expect: not only do the fish themselves breathe oxygen, also all micro-organisms (such as the bacteria in your filter) and other small animals (snails, etc.) add to the total oxygen consumption, as well as plants, as during the night they absorb oxygen and release CO2 (so the opposite of what the do during day time). And last but not least does the process of decay also consume a whole lot of oxygen - and decaying matter is present in every fish tank, let it be dead organic matter (animal or plant), food leftovers, etc. etc.
There's no good way to measure if you have adequate oxygenation (in a sense that saying Piece of Equipment A is enough to aerate tank B), as there are way too many variables. The one safe method is to observe your fish and - if present - other animals. They'll be the first to indicate there's not enough oxygen dissolved in the water.


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## mully2003 (Jan 24, 2005)

Judazzz said:


> piranhas dont need a lot of oxygen in the water to survive


True, but oxygen consumption in a fish tank is much higher than one may expect: not only do the fish themselves breathe oxygen, also all micro-organisms (such as the bacteria in your filter) and other small animals (snails, etc.) add to the total oxygen consumption, as well as plants, as during the night they absorb oxygen and release CO2 (so the opposite of what the do during day time). And last but not least does the process of decay also consume a whole lot of oxygen - and decaying matter is present in every fish tank, let it be dead organic matter (animal or plant), food leftovers, etc. etc.
There's no good way to measure if you have adequate oxygenation (in a sense that saying Piece of Equipment A is enough to aerate tank B), as there are way too many variables. The one safe method is to observe your fish and - if present - other animals. They'll be the first to indicate there's not enough oxygen dissolved in the water.
[/quote]

Hes absolutely right







You should just watch your piranha and see how he acts. If you see him spending a lot of time at the top of your tank, then it could be a sign he is struggling for oxygen. The best way I have found to aerate a tank is to get lots of ripples in the water. The more water movement at the top of the water the more oxygen you will get in your tank.


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## Slim (Jan 9, 2005)

Well thanks guys for all your help. Thats what it was though was low oxygen. I fixed the problem and now they are fine again. Looks like breeding might start back up again also.


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