Product Review: Hydor Ario

So...

I've been wanting an airstone or bubble wall in this tank. And, while looking over air pumps, I came across the Hydor Ario Color.

The size for an 80 gallon tank is considerably cheaper than an equivalent airpump. And, I liked the idea of everything fitting IN the tank. No mess in the cabinets, no mangled mass of air tubes. The lighting, I thought might be a neat feature as well. So, we bought the Airo 4 with green light for $24.

Excited, I cracked open the box first thing when we got home.

Black airline tubing that looked to be of very high quality was impressive, as was the multitude of suction cups to secure both airline tubing and electrical chord.

The "instructions" to put the thing together was a diagram. And not a step-by-step style diagram, but rather an expanded diagram that was difficult to make out. Thankfully, I've done enough automotive repair with my dad to have seen more than my share of these expanded diagrams, and everything was together fairly quick.

Not the easiest of things to install into a full tank. That took some time to dig everything up and make room to get this all to the glass bottom, under the gravel, get it all set up, (have the parts fall off and reassemble IN TANK) and get the gravel back covering the plate to the proper depth, as recommended for "best stability".

Time for the final test...

The Ario produces a very impressive torrent of bubbels, and a pretty decent current along with them to circulate the water. I have no doubts they are superb aerators. And, the light was as cool as I expected it to be, if a bit brighter.

Here, I found a video of one in action.



HOWEVER.

The box we bought listed among the features "Now with less vibration".

It stands to reason, then, vibration was once a problem, yes? Well, it still is.

The thing was vibrating the entire tank. I could feel with my hand on the glass. The fish were going nuts, and I shut it down after just a few seconds. Reading up, it was claimed this was due to the thing being against the glass. So, I moved it, making sure the entire rig was in the center of the tank, and turned it on again. Same problem.

I even pulled the enitire thing out, stuck it in the sink, and filled the sink with water. Just as much vibration there.

Ah well. It's a great idea for aeration. And, in researching, I've learned they were designed for hydroponics first, aquariums second.

So, to top it off, I'm probably on some watch list to make sure we're not trying to grow something funny.

Ah well, it's not a total loss. I'm sure my other hobby can find a use for a cool green light and bubble making machine...