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Permalink Reply by Keith the Aquatard on November 10, 2011 at 3:01pm

I would say if you want a giant mess in your 90 it would be a great idea.  I think the bubbles will blast all the dirt into the water and jack it all up.  I would advise heavily against putting an airstone under the dirt.

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Permalink Reply by Hmoobthor on November 10, 2011 at 3:03pm

why would you do such a thing..?

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Permalink Reply by Nick (RhinoTanks) on November 10, 2011 at 3:24pm

dont do it...you will have dirt everywhere.

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Permalink Reply by 2apes2gp667wr on November 10, 2011 at 4:31pm

I would also say that it will make a giant mess with an airstone.  One thing you could try would be to run airline tubing in an ess under the dirt like you would lay underfloor heating.  Put small holes all throughout the line with a pin.  Use an air valve that has a knob on it so you can adjust the flow to a lower rate.  They're available at most pet stores.  That might work.  Test it when you dirt it before you put anything else in there, so it won't be that much of a pain if it doesn't work.

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Permalink Reply by Jason DuBois on November 11, 2011 at 12:58pm

I like your idea Blade. Is air under the dirt even necessary? I read that the dirt needs some o2/air but I dont see anyone else doing this. Perhaps Ill just put it (its a 14 inch air stone) flush with the top of the dirt then cap it.

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Permalink Reply by 2apes2gp667wr on November 11, 2011 at 3:03pm

It's not necessary.  The reason people talk about oxygenating the dirt is because of the fear of it becoming too compact and hydrogen sulfide building up in pockets in the dirt.  This is a poisonous gas that can kill fish.  Personally I just have MTS and they do a good job of stirring up my substrate.  I've had dirt for a while now and I still get air bubbles that come up every now and then.  Either it's a natural release or the MTS doing their job, but I've never had a problem with it.

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Permalink Reply by brenden (funnymakeslifesunny) on November 11, 2011 at 4:08pm

it will poof uip all the dirt and itll just be a huge mess

 

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Permalink Reply by Michael V on November 16, 2011 at 11:11am

Bad idea. Better to hide the air stone or wand just under the gravel/sand surface, above the dirt.

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Permalink Reply by Barca on January 25, 2012 at 12:12am

I was considering adding an air stone in my tank as well once I dirt it.  What I was thinking about doing was running the tubing under the dirt, and putting a spacer in the tank when I fill it, then just adding pure gravel over the air stone.  Can anyone see this causing any issues if I give the stone 1/2" space or so from the dirt? 

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