View Full Version : the oxygen infuser
Has anyone used this? It SEEMS impessive to keep O2 levels up. I wonder if its just a small bilge pump with a ait tube along the side to suck in a bit of air into the pump's impeller and thus mixing a lot of air and very fine bubbles,..I don't have the site address handy but do a google search to see it..
ebijack
12-08-2001, 12:02 PM
i believe your right, only really a bubbler. to really add oxygen you need a small oxygen bottle (you can rent them) a regulator/airator stone and some 1/8 dia. line. just becareful not to over oxygenate the fish. some of the walleye pro's use this system to keep there minnows alive while traveling to tourney waters and in hotel rooms.
Hi jack,...I think their point is that big bubbles don't add nearly as much O2 as small ones,..and these are like a cloud after they are churned by the impeller,.very tiny,...much smaller than you generally get from air stones,...as far as pure O2,..well I know you can give mammals too much O2,...but I believe because water can only hold about 13 parts per million at best,..its not a problem as it is with increasing the % of breathing air for other creatures...I know I asked one of the biologists from our state about our Salmon fry,that same question some years ago and he said they shipped these pretty delicate fry for hundreds of miles and sometimes a few days w/o problems,..bubbling pure O2 into the tank water and the regulator was used only to control turbulence and prolong the time of bubbling/cost,..that over oxygenating them wasn't possible,...but if the water temp rose too much,..the water wouldn't hold enough to sustain them in the overcrowded tanks,..
Two things:
To inject air into the system with your aereator, the company is FlowRite and the contact is Roger Miller. It uses a venturi type sytem in the fitting that creates a suction of air from the outside, in with the flow of water through the fitting. It works better than a regular aereator system, by far.
The O2 system is nice. It works well on gamefish and bait. I've heard it both ways that you can/Cannot over oxygenate them. Seems like it would be impossible in the summer, and it seems that maybe turbulence as stated, would be the biggest problem. I've used it in moderation on fish in tournaments and it's worked very nicely. I'm certain it's saved on the mortality rate.
ebijack
12-09-2001, 06:01 AM
bubbling/airating the water helps like in any fishtank. just some info for folks to contemplate. when you have stressed fish from being in confined livewells/long periods of time and high water temps like 88+ etc, the water needs to be replaced. do to acidic levels and low oxygen levels. (in brief from stressed fish). pure oxygen is the best/and fastest way to raise the oxygen level.
our club that runs a curcuit has spent alot of time and money getting our release rate to numbers that are drawing alot of attention from other tourney's including the local b.a.s.s. federation.
our club has been talking about moving to oxygenated livewells for the warmer water times. it's only another step in improving the live release rate. anything you can do IS an improvement. the oxygen infuser is what i would consider to be a "air infuser". i know it's kind of like splitting hairs, but pure oxygen really does make a big difference. imho
Al ,..I'll check them out,..BTW have you looked at the air infuser site? they have so good pics there,..it certainly LOOKS better than a airstone system,..but again,..I'm thinking it may just be a reg pump with a snorkle to suck air into the impeller,..
good points,..but I guess I'm wondering how many guys in regular fishing would use and go thru the expense of O2?,..also for bait,..this air infuser might be pretty good,..you might consider checking out their site and look at it,..again it might just be a bilge pumpw/a snorkle to suck in air but the bazillion tiny bubbles w/o a lot or turbulence might be a good thing.
ebijack
12-09-2001, 08:21 AM
howdy rick, i did look at the site, and i don't believe much of anyone would go to the expense of adding O2 unless your fishing tourney's that support larger amounts of $$. i believe with the bad publicity that tourney's can get with dead fish, and like our tourney's where you lose 1lb for every dead fish. (were possibly going to lose biggest fish for every dead fish) more and more will have to decide to what extent they care for their fish. i was just adding some info from my experience.
this past year was pretty bad on lake st clair where hundreds of dead fish (smallies)from just a couple of tourney's caused curcuits to NOT be asked to return. the curcuits are still growing in size and amounts, so coverage in papers and on the internet are going to be greater. that awareness will spawn newer products and caring for your fish etc to help keep fish alive in tournament situations. the weigh-ins will have to change also. we run a "line dance" weigh-in that really helps keep the fish in better condition.