Quality Air Stones.

[Shane]

Hi,

I'm looking to get some new air pumps in the coming weeks...& some decent air stones.
Based on your experiences I'm looking for recommendations for some quality stones (links or brand names please),

Up until now I've used the very cheap no-name one's available from my local aquarium shop. they seem to clog up in next to no time (guess its a case of getting what I've paid for). I've tried taking them into work & pressure steam cleaning, then throwing them in an ultra sonic cleaner for awhile.....but this seems to be a temporary fix at best, In fact it actually seems to break them down faster?

Basically I'm sick of the cheap cr_p I'm using & want to use something better.
Whilst I don't expect them to last forever, I rather not be replacing or attempting to clean them to improve performance from clogging ever 3-4 weeks.

What sort of air stones are you all using? & how often do/should you be changing them?

Cheers,
Shane.

[bunya boy]

IMHO, air stones , regardless of original quality will continue clog with use and require continual replacement.
I considered using them to aerate my Fish Tank but after a bit of research I went the other direction and used a Venturi based aeration regime.
The perceived advantages were: I could make it myself, never needs replacing, uses the single FT pump on a By-pass loop to save power and additional capital expenditure (no need for air Pumps or the like, just something else to break down!) and is very effective
because of the depth of air discharge that can be gained
.612
I also use a commercial version Venturi for my 12V back-up for air supply to the Fish Tank which is very effective.
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All in all, I just thought it was money better spent and more efficient than replacing air stones over the life cycle of the system.

Cheers IanK

[kellenw]

I'm a big fan of Sweetwater brand airstones. They won't produce really fine bubbles, but they have excellent flow and don't tend to clog like the cheap ones. The downside is that they are a little overpriced in my opinion. Other than that, most round ball type airstones perform really well.

Directly blown air will tend to be more energy efficient than venturi systems in most situations.

Truth be told, air bubbles don't really add much O2 to the water. It's the churning action caused by the rising column of bubbles that actually helps the DO the most.

[Crusty]

I am with Kellen, we supply mostly the sweetwater range in most situations about 25 bucks a pop for a 300mm stone. Never heard of anyone having to replace the stones but we always recommend you buy extra ones so you can take them out (replace with the spares) and soak the dirty ones in acid to clean them once a month. The low quality stones will fall apart when soaked in hydrochloric acid..

[kellenw]

Totally agree with Crusty. A quick acid bath brings a sweetwater stone back to "new" condition, but it's quite rare to even need to wash them in my experience. Maybe once a year for me, but I do use a filter on my blowers and never leave them submerged when not running, so that probably makes a big difference. Cheap stones tend to "melt" when acid washed. The glue substance they use with them completely breaks down.

[Crusty]

On top of that, you really need to be pushing adequate air through them. If you are dribbling air through with a small 10watt aquarium pump, they will foul really quickly. So, putting at least the minimum air through them is the best bet.