- Forum
- Tropical Aquariums
- Cichlids
- African Cichilds (Tanganyika, Malawi, etc...)
- is my filter strong enough to create oxygen
Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
is my filter strong enough to create oxygen
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Water prameters are PH 7.6
AMONIA 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrait 10
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- igmillichip (ian millichip)
-
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 3366
- Thank you received: 536
If you have a spray bar above the water then that will do a number of things to help your fish if the water surface is agitated:
it will help increase oxygen to dissolve in the water; it will help remove carbon dioxide; and it will aid in removing ammonia gas.
If you have fish at the surface, then have watch closely: it could be due to lack of oxygen, but malawis often go to the surface if they are being bullied.
Gasping at the surface may be a sign of lack or oxygen or of early stages of ammonia poisoning (as the most common causes).
Other than that a 1500 l/h filter will be sufficient for the tank so long as the tank is not over-stocked.
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- ghart (Greg Hart)
-
- Offline
- Senior Member
-
- Posts: 434
- Thank you received: 31
www.eheim.com/products/detail/Air-Pump
Other forum members will have tried these pumps and be able to confirm this or not.
Greg
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- wylam (Stuart Sexton)
-
- Offline
- Premium Member
-
- Posts: 564
- Thank you received: 92
I read in one of my books that the air pump/stone itself does very little in the way of adding oxygen to the water. But what it will do is create an updraft of water, which will inturn circulate the oxygenated water at the surface around the tank.But I am open to correction on that one.
Cheers stuart.
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- wylam (Stuart Sexton)
-
- Offline
- Premium Member
-
- Posts: 564
- Thank you received: 92
Cheers stuart.
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- igmillichip (ian millichip)
-
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 3366
- Thank you received: 536
There are few standard air-pumps that can agitate the water as good as the JBL e1500 spray-bar. !!
Air-pumps do not add any noticeable oxygen to the water, but the agitation does the jobs I mentioned in my first reply.
Your tank sounds sparsely populated, so it may just be the Lab.
Get a clean plastic flower pot and throw it in......it may be that the lab needs a place to call its own.
Many malawi cichlids have a pecking order whereby the weakest fish has to take up residence towards the top of the tank.
Ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Thanks Ross
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- igmillichip (ian millichip)
-
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 3366
- Thank you received: 536
The more i look at him the more i think he is being bullied igmillichip seems to be wright thanks for the reply will keep an eye on him .
Thanks Ross
Well, let's hope he will be Ok.
Call me Ian......the igmillichip is just a username, I don't mind anyone using my proper name.
Ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Thanks

Please Log in to join the conversation.
- igmillichip (ian millichip)
-
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 3366
- Thank you received: 536
So, now there is some of your problem worked upon....what other fish do you have in the tank?
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- igmillichip (ian millichip)
-
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 3366
- Thank you received: 536
With that powerful filter attached though, you do need to watch the pH quite carefully as the nitric and nitrous acids produced within the filter will drop the pH unless the water is well buffered.
Some calcium carbonate rocks (or coral gravel) may help the buffering.
You could gently raise the pH by adding bicarbonate of soda, but that needs some care so as not to raise the pH too much at any one time....and care not to send it into dangerous buffering zone.
I would recommend getting a food specially formulated for rift valley cichlids.
Ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- igmillichip (ian millichip)
-
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 3366
- Thank you received: 536
So I'll let someone else put their neck on the block.

Often it is like asking how far does an elastic band stretch.....if you don't stretch it then it ain't an elastic band, if you stretch it too far it will break.
With the rift valley cichlids having too few fish can bring its own problems.....concentrated aggression.
Often, to help distribute aggression, rift valley cichlid tanks are quite heavily stocked. But...if you go too far then the system cannot cope.
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- lawlessr (Ross Lawless)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 42
- Thank you received: 4
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Forum
- Tropical Aquariums
- Cichlids
- African Cichilds (Tanganyika, Malawi, etc...)
- is my filter strong enough to create oxygen