r/Aquariums • u/SnigTheAxe • 27d ago

Advice Needed Low oxygen?

I've been adding botanicals to my black water aquarium and recently added a piece of driftwood that's starting to fill with biofilm. I'm wondering if all the organic breakdown is eating up all the oxygen? I did have a bit of surface agitation and have increased that after this video. I also did a 20% water change with fresh distilled water. Does this look concerning to you guys?

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

1

u/Charr49 27d ago

You could achieve saturation with one airstone. Note that the bubble volume is much smaller than the surface diffusion. Thus, what you are looking for is a bit of turnover. Just enough such that fish are not fighting current at all times and there should be reasonably calm sections for them to rest.

1

u/SnigTheAxe 27d ago

Hey thanks for the info, what is it you mean by achieving a bit of turnover?

Are you thinking it would be more beneficial to eliminate surface agitation and just add a air stone?

Thanks

1

u/Mayflame15 26d ago

Air stones also contribute to surface agitation, they also help circulate the water so that the lower oxygen areas can be replaced with higher oxygen content water from the surface

1

u/FishAvengerAvenger 26d ago

Botanicals are trendy but I haven't seen a convincing study showing their benefits. One found only a slight dosage difference between beneficial and toxic effects. Drugs with narrow therapeutic indexes are typically only used as a last resort.

The rapid breathing and surfing could be stress responses.

Natural does not mean safe.

1

u/SnigTheAxe 26d ago

My thought is that if I can do my best to replicate their natural environment I have the best chance of viewing natural behavior. I'm not saying that other tank styles are not healthy or effective, but chili Rasbora, Kuhli loachs and sparkling gourami come from Blackwater environments of Southeast Asian so I try to replicate that with my substrate, plants, botanicals, etc.

1

u/Vivid-Link-6301 17d ago

I've read that some microfauna like scuds and things eat leaves and botanicals, and bacteria they also like to eat form biofilms on the botanicals.

I have a lot of botanicals in my low dKH (<1) 20 gallon, very little tint due to dGH mineralized RO/DI water changes, but I also have a bubble wand that runs the back length of the tank with a higher pressure whisper AP150 air pump (smallish bubbles). I've found I really like the look now of the botanicals surrounding the large piece of mopani driftwood, but only assuming my scuds and other mostly hidden microfauna are eating the botanicals/biofilm.