A new air pump

Went out for a lunchtime run and passed the LFS in order to pop in and get myself a new pump. Sarah recommended a Tetratec APS50 - supposed to be for aquariums 10 - 60l. Looking on the side of the box I should really have got an APS 100 - for tanls of 50 - 100l - but this thing is blasting out so much air I think that would have been overkill!

Also got an O2 test kit to check the disolved oxygen in the tank. Got carried away and tested all 3 tanks (tropical, coldwater and the one with the baby fish). The latter 2 are fine, but the tropical was on the low end of the OK scale before the new pump went in. Tested it a while later and it was at the high end of the OK range.

Only problem now is that the air curtain is too small and being blasted. I did swap in an air stone, but that couldn't cope with the air blast either and looked like a tyre blowing out underwater! I'm going to have to go back (once my wife is home, with the car - not running there again) and get a longer air curtain. The air stone rattled horribly against the glass so it couldn't stay.

It is supposed to be a quiet setup, but I think it's because the air blast is so strong there's a lot of noise from within the tank - can't hear the pump, the air bubbles are too loud. Maybe I should put on the regulator to slow down the flow of air...