Air pump

[Ramonmarket]

So idk if I’m just not understanding how air pumps work or what.  I got a single outlet air pump. I have it hooked to an air manifold going to a 70 gallon filter sponge and a 10 gallon filter with an easy flow and an air stone. If I leave all the valves open to all three it doesn’t produce enough air.  I have to turn all the valves down just to get a little bit of air flow out of all of them. The longest air line is 3ft to the valve. And maybe a foot and a half. Is that air pump to small for all that???? Please help me understand this 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 3/15/2024 at 7:36 PM, Ramonmarket said:

Is that air pump to small for all that????

Most likely, yes. Which air pump did you buy?

In the past I used to split a Tetra 150 into 4 using a 4 way metal gang valve. In recent months, I’ve taken that down to 2 valves and more Tetra 150’s 

[Ramonmarket]

I bough the aquarium coop single outlet. I was thinking of getting a tetra 150. But wasn’t sure 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Word. In my opinion, the single outlet pump is not strong enough to split 3 ways. You could maaaaaybe split it in 2 if you were only running sponge filters. 

[Ramonmarket]

Hmmmm yeah maybe. I was thinking of just adding a tetra 10. Since it’s so cheap on Amazon since the valve has 2 inputs on it thank you for the help 

[lefty o]

air likes to take the path of least resistance. so in order to run multiple objects off the same pump takes multiple valves, and some fiddling to get things balanced out. for only a few small tanks, just run 1 pump per tank, life is easier that way.