Recommendations on aerating fish tank.

[FlyingParrots]

Hello, 

I have a 29 gal community tank. I will say that it has many many fish in it. It has all live plants, mainly huge Java Fern, a large amazon sword, and dwarf water lettuce floating up top. I do a 40% water change weekly. Recently, I've noticed that the Cory cats in the tank keep "jumping". I did some research and my thought from my finding is that there is not enough aeration, or water movement from the filter. Do you have any tips on how to increase water flow from the filter, or other things I can do that do not cost money? 

[CorydorasEthan]

20 minutes ago, FlyingParrots said:

Hello, 

I have a 29 gal community tank. I will say that it has many many fish in it. It has all live plants, mainly huge Java Fern, a large amazon sword, and dwarf water lettuce floating up top. I do a 40% water change weekly. Recently, I've noticed that the Cory cats in the tank keep "jumping". I did some research and my thought from my finding is that there is not enough aeration, or water movement from the filter. Do you have any tips on how to increase water flow from the filter, or other things I can do that do not cost money? 

Hey welcome to the forum!

When Corydoras "jump" to the surface like that, they are breathing air, as they can breathe through use of their intestines (I think). It is an adaption that the genus has developed to survive in oxygen-poor environments such as shallow pools in their natural habitats. All cories do this, and it is perfectly normal. Although I have noticed when there is not quite enough dissolved oxygen they will do it more frequently.

How often do you find your cories doing this?

What types of filters do you have? Just the addition of a simple airstone will go a long way in helping. Preferable to an airstone is a sponge filter, which helps even more with not just aeration, but also filtration.

Anyways, I hope this helps, and good luck!

[Acenorm]

Add an air stone, it’s the number one tip @Cory always recommends. 

[RockMongler]

Airstones are a great, cheap, effective and easy way to get more oxygenation (but isn't free unless you already have an air pump lying around).  A cheap airstone and cheap air pump will do a super great job of getting the oxygen levels up to match the oxygen levels of the air in the room your tank is in.  

But, what does your current filtration look like?  Water moving near the surface can also do a decent job of gas exchange, and keep your dissolved O2 in a good range, but depending on how many critters you have and how the water gets out of your current filter, some of that oxygenation might not be getting down to where the corys are spending their time.  Floating plants can also possibly interfere with that oxygen exchange, so the amount of water lettuce could also be a culprit.