Aeration of a bait tank.Aerators work by increasing the area of contact between air and water. To understand what is really needed for proper aeration, think about your oxygen needs If you were in a large airtight room you would be able to breathe for several hours before using up all the oxygen. If you were in an airtight closet, the oxygen would be used up a lot quicker. If you put a bag over your head the oxygen in our lungs would be used very quickly. Without adding oxygen you would suffocate. In any case you could breath indefinitely, if you had a source of outside air or oxygen. Same principle with fish If we put a fish in a sealed gallon jar it would not survive for long before using up all the oxygen. If we enclosed the same fish in a 50 gal tank the oxygen would be used up slower. Without additional oxygen in either case the fish would eventually die. If we could put oxygenated water through its gills and keep it wet. It would not matter about the size of the tank. A small or ineffective aerator cannot provide as much oxygen in the water as a larger or more effective one. If an aerator can provide enough oxygen in the water for the fish to breathe, it doesn't matter how much water surrounds the fish. The amount of oxygen in the atmosphere remains stable at about 20.95% of the air. The only reason that water has to be changed in tanks is to remove ammonia. The smaller the container of water, the more frequent the changing Size And Amount Of Air Bubbles Whenever air bubbles are in contact with water, through
natural or artificial means,
a transfer of oxygen from the air bubbles to the water takes place
until the water becomes saturated. Watch the air bubbles produced by your aerator.
If they large and quickly rise to the surface they provide little aeration or oxygen
transfer. Water Temperatures The warmer the water, the less oxygen it will hold. Fish will deplete the oxygen quicker as the water warms up.
The proper dissolved oxygen content must be present for fish to survive it is more important than water temperature. Use a thermometer to keep track of water temperature. Never change water temperatures over ten degrees when exchanging shad into different tanks, 5 degrees is preferred Oxygen in Water Oxygen in water is known as dissolved oxygen or DO. Oxygen is constantly entering and leaving water, but there is a certain amount of oxygen in water at all times. This is because water has a natural attraction to oxygen. When oxygen comes in contact with the surface of water, the oxygen enters the water, becoming dissolved oxygen. The amount of attraction between oxygen and water depends on the
amount of oxygen already in the water. If there is very little oxygen
in water, then the water is very attractive to oxygen. But when water
has a high concentration of DO, then the water is saturated,
meaning that the water contains as much oxygen as it can hold. A fish's metabolism also helps determine the amount of oxygen which a fish needs to survive. Fish with a high metabolism are fast-moving but also require a great deal of oxygen to survive. Fish with a slow metabolism are more sluggish and require less oxygen. Carp and trout are examples of the two
extremes of fish oxygen requirements. Trout have a small gill area
and a high metabolism, so they like moving, cooler waters where the oxygen levels are high. Carp, in
contrast, have a small gill area and a slower metabolism, so they
can withstand low levels of oxygen and live in small lakes and
ponds. You can think of an oxygen molecule as a person who likes to live far away from other people. If this person is looking for a place to live, they will move into the area with the lowest population. Oxygen molecules do the same thing. If the air is crowded with oxygen but the water is not, the oxygen will move into the water. If the water is crowded with oxygen but the air is not, then the oxygen will move into the air.The greater the difference between the oxygen concentration in the air and the dissolved oxygen concentration in the water, the faster the oxygen will move into the water. So if there is very little oxygen in the water, oxygen will dissolve into the water very quickly. This process of oxygen moving from an area with a
high oxygen concentration to an area with a low oxygen concentration
is known as diffusion and there are two basic types of
Diffused Aeration Systems
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