2" Round Air Stone Dissolves Oxygen Into Water
An air stone is a man-made porous stone. The purpose of an air stone is to diffuse air into water. Air passes from the air pump through tubing into the air stone. The porous air stone breaks the air stream into thousands of tiny air bubble. The smaller the air bubble, the more it can dissolve into the water.
Ponds and hydroponic systems require high levels of dissolved oxygen. Air pumps provide the oxygen, but it’s the air stones that help the oxygen dissolve into the water. Without an air stone, the air pump and tubing would produce large air bubbles in the water. Large air bubbles have much less of their total volume making contact with the water. The tiny air bubbles produced by an air stone have more volume of air in contact with the water. This is why air stones help oxygen dissolve into the water more efficiently.
The tiny air bubbles produced by air stones create larger circulation currents than large bubbles. Large bubbles push water out of their way as they rise to the surface. Thousands of tiny air bubbles from the air stones push water upward as they travel to the surface. Pushing water upward also pulls water to fill the void. The tiny air bubbles from air stones increase water circulation.