Air Pump Power

[FlyingFishKeeper]

Hi, so I recently figured out that I think my tanks needs an air stone (shrimp swimming awkwardly, being flipped in odd positions), but the tank is located in a room where the (already quite quiet) noise of the USB nano air pump, or the bubbling from the tank wouldn't be great, however could be lived with. Would connecting the pump to a WiFi timer have any downsides due to the daily cycles between powered on/off? Thank you! 

[T. Payne]

If you are concerned about a lack of sufficient oxygen in your aquarium, then I would run the air pump 24/7.  Imagine having to deal with less than ideal breathing conditions and then ideal breathing conditions, on/off throughout the day. Doesn't sound like a happy life for any aquarium inhabitants. What are you currently running for filtration, what size aquarium and what are your water parameters?

[FlyingFishKeeper]

Thank you for the reply! @T. Payne my tank is a 5.5 gallon Walstad tank (just a light and heater until recently) that I hadn't had any oxygen issues with prior, however I did just rescape the tank earlier this month. My tank has no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, off the test strip hardness, 80 kh, temperature of 78ºF, and a pH around 6.8.

Edited December 30, 2021 by FlyingFishKeeper

[T. Payne]

Could be several issues going on and narrowing it down might be difficult. I'm going to assume it is heavily planted, being it is a Walstad.  Plants produce oxygen during the day and consume it at night, that could be causing an issue if let's say your plant biomass has increased rapidly. Something could have been stirred up in your soil since your rescape.  In my experience, shrimp do seem less susceptible to low levels of oxygen than say fish. Adding an air pump never hurts, I do feel the rescape though sounds like the culprit being everything was fine until then.

[FlyingFishKeeper]

Thank you! I think I figured out that air might not have been the problem as I've noticed that some shrimp seemed to have their antennae nipped off (which soon after I learned they provided orientation information to the shrimp) which I assume is the reason for the odd swimming. I'm definitely planning to keep the air stone in for now as the situation has shown that I probably need more oxygen, at least while the plants grow in. I've since removed the fish who I think was nipping of the antennae.