What's with air pumps?

[aquitori]

Seems to be alot more new brand name air pumps on the market. There's a Hakko, AirTech and Kam Air...What's the difference? Seems to me they all have the same shape execpt Medo which comes in a hard plastic shell...Is linear better than diaphram?

[Mike T]

It seems that air pumps are a UK thing... not sure if they're really needed if you keep the fish load within reason (150 gallons/27"koi min) have a water fall and/or Bakki Shower type set up. If you have both that's even better...Do a 10% water change 24/7 and last but not least, live in Hawaii with it's soft water and 7.5 pH water out of the pipe... I mean, how much Oxy can you pump into water anyway...

Aloha! Mike T

[dick benbow]

as in most products, copies are made of the original and brought onto the market place after patents run out. The effort is to use a proven design and cut the cost to make it more attractive. yes there seems to be alot of people looking at getting a slice of that pie.

Air is good for both fish and filters. The more air in the system the healthier it is.
more is better than less as an anaroebic pocket is not desireable

As in most equipment, maintenance is important. cleaning air filters regularly makes a difference. i always bleed off (keep open) at least one valve in 6. or if your using just one line, buy something the next size up so it doesn't have to work as hard. in the alita and highblows stay away from the 40's. If they blow they're done. in the 80's you can buy a replacement kit after and still get it to run. If you have 40's, buy a kit and change the bladders on a regular basis in advance of anything bad.

[jnorth]

I have two airtech 40s and I love em. I'm running 3 airstones in one pond and 2 in the other. For those of us with less then desirable pond designs it keeps the suspended solids moving so they can get picked up by the filter. Kinda like how a tpr creates a midlevel flow in the pond an airpump creates bottom to top flow and moves the water around fairly well. My koi seem to like playing in them from time to time as well. If you have an open bio filter its a good idea to put an airstone at the bottom of the filter as the extra oxygen increase the good bacteria activity. Oh yeah they add oxygen to the water as well .

[schildkoi]

Casings can be the same with differing internals based on design specifications from those marketing the pump.

As far as linear pistons verses diaphram pumps, different types for different applications. Linear pistons require less maintenance over time but have less pressure at depth than a diaphram pump because of the difference in design and capabilities.

Air pumps can serve many different purposes than just oxygenating the watedr as well. In submerged media static filters they can be used to keep mulm from settling on the medai (such as Japanese matting). In this same type of application they can be used to accelerate the water flow within the chamber fvor multiple passes by the media as well.

They can be used to create a dynamic moving bed and not only move the water column repetively pass the media but move the media itself creating even morew oportunities for the nutrient rich water to come in close enogh proximity to the biofilm for the nitrification process to become even more efficient.

Air can also be used to create current within the pond itself promoting not only muscular/skeliton developement but improved waste removal.

Hope this helps a tad.

Steve

[Russell Peters]

Hakko used to private label for Alita, and now that the relationship has terminated Hakko has come out with what looks like an identical unit. The only real difference is the Hakko has a thicker diaphram.

[GazKoi]

Air is good for the koi and the beneficial bacteria.I run a few air pumps so if i have a failure i still have plenty of air going in.At the moment i have 200lts of air going in the pond and filters from four Hi Blow air pumps.

[Rich L]

I picked up a Thomas Diaphram pump with a blown diaphram. Used a Sweetwater repair kit I had to get it operational. They were both purchased by the same manufacturer. Both had a dime sized sticker inside with the manufacturer's name. I don't recall the name but it started with a K. Naturally it was a Japanese name.

Summer heat reduces the oxygen saturation so much that a pond can run into trouble wheather it has TT's, etc. or not. During the night, the algae will produce CO2 and consume oxygen. Early morning oxygen readings can be a surprise, even to a toxic level. Air will keep the water oxygenated and also boil off the CO2 so you won't experience the pH swings.

Lot's of air, everywhere!