Aeration in a planted aquarium?

I just wanted to know if its wise to turn on the air pump during the night and turning it off a few mins after the aquarium lights come on. I read from a few websites that an airpump is usually not needed in a planted tank but at the same time i saw that plants take in oxygen during the night.


I have always used an airpump in my aquariums so not having it on during the day makes me feel iffy about whether or not the fishes in my tank can stand without it. Need some answers please!





my tank specs:





40gallons,


17w(generic flourescent that says to be emitting 90w of light) + 20w(powerglo) aquarium lights,


eheim canister filter,


airpump 802,


heater,


normal gravel,


a piece of driftwood.





PLANTS:


3 large amazons,


couple of stems of wisteria,


loose narrow leaf java fern (some are branching out little ones),


a small amount of java moss.





FISH:


2 discus,


2 angels,


1 cory,


1 pleco.

Aeration in a planted aquarium?
java moss will do the job by itself no problem once you have some decent sized clumps growing. java fern and java moss can grow under just about any condition so you can just drop them in and forget about them. the same goes with any of the anubias family of plants. all the plants you mentioned are fine with extra air if you are worried about your fish.
Reply:I wouldn't worry about the O2 level at night, however it doesn't hurt to have the air pump on either. To make things easier, I would just leave it on all the time if you feel it needs to be on. My concern with your tank would be that you don't have a lot of lighting for a planted tank. You are pushing not even 1 watt per gallon. This is considered by most to be quite low. Yes I do know it is fluorescent. With your tank I would run a minimum of 80 watts of 6700 degree fluorescent lighting.
Reply:Actually you do not have to turn it off. Let it run. This will not harm your plants oryour fish. It isn't needed, but it is always nice to have the extra O2 in your tank.
Reply:I think you're fine. Go to a dedicated aquarium store, and find the guy with the biggest beard and the biggest line of people! If you can find one of these guys, they will absolutely love to talk to you about your fish and your setup, even if you don't buy anything.





Not many fish vets out there. But they do exist...
Reply:you should always have the pump on so air is always going through the water

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