Swordtail fish are popular among aquarium hobbyists because they are easy to care for. They are hardy and can tolerate a wide range of water parameters. But, like all organisms, they need the right amount of oxygen in the tank to survive. But is installing an air pump necessary in a swordtail fish tank? How long can swordtails live without an air pump?
An air pump is not necessary for your swordtail tank. The real issue is the oxygen content in the tank and not an air pump. A swordtail fish will live between 2 days to 1 week without an oxygen supply. However, if you have the right kind of filter that produces enough water movement at the surface, an air pump or air stone may not be required at all.
This article will discuss the necessary oxygen levels for swordtail fish and air pumps in a swordtail fish tank.
Do Swordtail Fish Need An Air Pump?
Swordtails do not require the use of an air pump. Swordtails in the wild live without an air pump. In a communal tank with other tropical fish, they may also survive without one.
Air pumps, however, are highly recommended for your fish to thrive. However, because the tank climate is not ideal for swordtail fish, you will have difficulty adjusting and maintaining adequate oxygen levels without an air pump, especially if you are a beginner.
If oxygen levels decline, you’ll be vulnerable to a range of illnesses and infections, often leading to swordtail fatalities. As a result, adding an air pump will only benefit your fish.
When swordtails are first introduced to a new environment, they will be stressed for at least 30 minutes without appropriate aeration. As a result, I recommend using an air pump to ensure adequate oxygen exchange and keep your swordtail tank at a high oxygen level.
How Long Can Swordtails Live Without An Air Pump?
If your tank is not well-oxygenated, your swordtail fish will die within two days without an air pump.
This is contingent on how quickly the air pump breaks and how well they are generally doing. If your tank is small, there isn’t enough space for an air pump, or the filter is clogged and can’t effectively circulate water, you’ll want to ensure they’re getting adequate oxygen as quickly as possible.
If the water has low amounts of dissolved oxygen, for example, your fish will need to be moved to a larger tank or perish rapidly if you don’t have an air pump. This is because these tanks are unable to give them adequate room and oxygen when neither is available.
The size of your tank, the sort of filter you have or don’t have, and how many live plants you have in it all have a role in answer to this question. However, if there isn’t enough surface agitation, i.e., if your tank is too tiny or there isn’t enough area in it, the fish would most likely perish without an air pump to provide them with oxygen.
Is It Possible For A Swordtail Fish To Survive Without Oxygen?
Swordtail fish cannot survive without oxygen. However, they can only survive for a few minutes before succumbing to the lack of oxygen.
Low levels of dissolved oxygen in aquarium water, high waste products and toxins produced by excessive feeding or insufficient filter maintenance, and probable damage caused by fire, heat exposure, or power outage are all issues.
How Do I Know If My Swordtails Need More Oxygen?
Bubbles in the tank water around your swordtails’ gills and fins are the first clues that they aren’t getting enough oxygen. The second warning sign is a lack of energy or activity, especially though they should be quite active at feeding times. Finally, overfeeding and improper filter maintenance are two common causes of swordtail fish death.
When swordtail fish need more oxygen, they will show you the signs. Some of the signs that your tank does not have enough oxygen are:
- Their gills move faster than normal
- They come to the surface of the tank to gasp for air more often
- Inactiveness
- Pink coloring on the mouth and gills
- Sunken eyes and/or dented head shape
- Death
If your swordtails have been exhibiting any of these symptoms for some time, the first thing you should do is test the water for oxygen levels.
Now that you know, air pumps are not necessary, but they are highly recommended so that your fish can have abundant oxygen in the tank. So let’s get to know a little more about air pumps.
What Is An Air Pump? How Does It Work?
Air pumps and stones boost the circulation of your tank’s water by adding oxygen. Moving water with high oxygen levels makes fish healthier, avoids algae build-up in dead zones, and boosts fish energy levels. Aquarium air pumps make it possible to keep fish alive for more than two days.
Bubble wands on an air pump make bubbles that help with water oxygenation and filtration.
Air pumps assist in circulating the water in your tank and enhance oxygen levels. They also help to keep your aquarium clean by removing waste like uneaten food and dead leaves.
An air pump is a device that circulates water in an aquarium. It helps to increase the amount of oxygen in the swordtail tank’s water. Air pumps comprise air tubing that transports air from outside the swordtail tank to the water surface of the fish tank.
Why Are Air Pumps Necessary?
Air pumps supply oxygen to your tank’s water. Fish, like the majority of other animals, require oxygen to live. You can oxygenate water with the use of air pumps.
But first, let’s be clear about how this works. Making a few bubbles isn’t enough to add oxygen to the water. Something called a gas exchange is required. This only happens at the tank’s surface.
When the water at the tank’s surface comes into contact with the air, the quantities of gases in the water, particularly oxygen and carbon dioxide, adjust to match the air. So all that is required is for the water to come into contact with the air.
Still water, on the other hand, does not exchange much gas with air. Gas exchange is much better with moving water. Aquarium air pumps and filters can help with the gas exchange because of this.
Fish Health
The main reason to use an aquarium air stone is for the health of your fish. Fish need high-quality water to be healthy. Suffocation will kill them if there isn’t enough oxygen in the water. The oxygen in the water is caught up by fish’s gills when they breathe and used to keep them healthy and active. Swordtails live a happy life with air pumps installed.
Water Circulation
Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all familiar to most fish keepers. What’s less evident is why keeping track of these chemicals is so important for your tank. It would help if you kept checking the levels of these chemical build-ups in your tank as they are poisonous for your fish.
The oxygen levels in these dead zones, where water does not circulate, are deficient, and they can be found on a large scale in nature. They can also be found on a much smaller size in your fish tank. The poor circulation around fish tanks’ sides, bottom, and corners is the primary cause of aquarium dead zones.
Air stones and bubblers aid in water movement from the bottom to the top of the tank. The bubbles they add are extremely effective in increasing gas exchange at the surface. Swordtails live in well-oxygenated tanks thanks to the air pump.
You can see why aquarium air stones are your most powerful weapon now. They assist you in a variety of ways.
How To Set Up An Air Pump In A Swordtail Tank?
An air pump will aid the growth of swordtail fish fry into healthy swordtail fish. For swordtails to thrive in a swordtail tank, they require ideal water conditions with higher oxygen levels.
It’s simple to set up an air pump, but there are several things to keep in mind:
- Before inserting the air pump anyplace in your swordtail tank, make sure it is turned off.
- Never place anything between swordtails and air bubbles since they can confuse them for food! Also, swallowing tiny air pockets/bubbles might cause intestinal obstruction.
- Securely attach the swordtail aquarium/tank air pump tubing ends to the swordtail fish tank and air pump. So that there are no loose patches, the connection should be tight. Swordtail fish can become stuck and killed if there are any loose areas.
- Keep swordtails as far away from the tank’s surface as possible to prevent them from sucking air bubbles into their mouths.
- Keep the air pumps out of reach and touch of the swordtail fry, so they don’t put their fins or other body parts in the swordtail tank water by accident.
- Swordtail fry should not be placed in a swordtail aquarium/tank with air pumps until they are 6 months old.
Backups In Case Of Air Pump Failure
If the air pump fails, there are backups available.
Failures of equipment and other issues can be very concerning for fish owners. For example, what will you do if your air compressor breaks down?
At the surface of your aquarium, gas exchange takes place. To aid gas exchange, you can use your filter to disturb the water surface. To do so, make sure your filter’s output is aimed at moving the water surface.
Finally, external filters may provide built-in aeration options. Aeration is built into the design of wet/dry filters. To achieve the same result, sumps can be equipped with water mixing chambers.
FAQs
Do Swordtail Fish Need A Filter?
Now, we cannot say that swordtails cannot live without a filter. But, your swordtails would love one. Your tank water will eventually contain a lot of waste. Filters can be your rescue. It holds off fish waste, food residues, and other debris from contaminating the water. Thus, you should run a filter on your swordtail tank because it will only benefit your fish.
Does Swordtail Fry Need A Filter?
They do not need a filter, but keeping one is beneficial. The water parameters of swordtail fry should be the same as swordtail juveniles and adults. They may do okay without a filter, but swordtail fry grows very fast, and they must have clean tank water to develop normally.
Conclusion
The most important thing that determines whether or not swordtails live with or without an air pump, in addition to how long they can survive without one, is the size of their tank; if you have a small or not enough room for an air pump, then this will need to be taken into account.
If there’s any filter in place that doesn’t include an air pump, it will also help your fish stay alive if oxygen levels become too low.
In addition to that, you’ll want to make sure they’re getting enough healthy air and water changes every day along with living plants in their tank so they can be happy too!
