Airstone
Encyclopedia
An airstone, also called an aquarium bubbler, is a piece of aquarium furniture
, traditionally a piece of limewood or porous stone, whose purpose is to gradually diffuse oxygen
into the tank
, eliminating the noise and large bubbles of conventional air filtration systems, and providing other benefits to the health of the fish
. Airstones are sold in a very wide variety of shapes, sizes, and levels of coarseness--from extremely rough, producing larger (though still typically unnoticeable) bubbles and letting in more oxygen--to very fine, producing minuscule bubbles. Airstones are increasingly being made from bonded glass
beads and synthetic
products like fiberglass
.
There is some controversy as to the efficiency of airstones versus the conventional powerhead system. Arguments can be made in favor of both systems, and both possess certain advantages and disadvantages. Among aquarists, the choice is very much a matter of personal preference, quite often discussed in internet forum
s.
Aquarium furniture
Aquarium furniture refers to the various ornaments and functional items in an aquarium.Ornamental aquarium furniture is often kitsch: popular examples include ceramic mermaids, 'sunken' ships and castles, and the ever-popular "No Fishing" sign...
, traditionally a piece of limewood or porous stone, whose purpose is to gradually diffuse oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
into the tank
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
, eliminating the noise and large bubbles of conventional air filtration systems, and providing other benefits to the health of the fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
. Airstones are sold in a very wide variety of shapes, sizes, and levels of coarseness--from extremely rough, producing larger (though still typically unnoticeable) bubbles and letting in more oxygen--to very fine, producing minuscule bubbles. Airstones are increasingly being made from bonded glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
beads and synthetic
Chemical synthesis
In chemistry, chemical synthesis is purposeful execution of chemical reactions to get a product, or several products. This happens by physical and chemical manipulations usually involving one or more reactions...
products like fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
.
There is some controversy as to the efficiency of airstones versus the conventional powerhead system. Arguments can be made in favor of both systems, and both possess certain advantages and disadvantages. Among aquarists, the choice is very much a matter of personal preference, quite often discussed in internet forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s.