How to airate your water without airstones?

you have to get a skimmer, its truly too important to go without. i strongly recommend having a sump or refugium as well. also, in my opinion canisters are useless as although they give more space for beneficial bacteria to grow, they cancel themselves out by producing extra nitrates. in my opinion your main filtration should be your LR. JMO of course.

Good luck, LCP

 

It's a common miss conception that skimmers add a great deal of air to the water. most do not, with the exception of down draft and a minor increase from Becket style skimmers.
Most of use are running a needle wheel or Spray induction skimmer that adds very little to your dissolved O2. There are O2 test kits you can use to ensure your tank is running at acceptable levels.

J

 

Two tricks I did were

Placed the airstone under the center brace of the tank and added a small piece of plastic on either side. This stopped the bubbles that went past the surface.

I also used the fine mist bubble wand. It cut down on the surface bubbles.

Doing both, I cut down ont he external salt.


Good luck