Are bubble wands the same as Airstones? and What do you need to get them to work??? A hose of some sort....Cause I gt a bubble wand and thats all.. and it aint making no bubbles.

The bubble wand is similar to an airstone, except for the shape. A airstone is nothing but a small cube, while a bubble wand is longer, but both do the same thing - giving off bubbles (air) when connected to an airpump. Thats what you need. There is no use popping the bubble wand into the tank, and not having it connected to anything.....
An airpump and a piece of airline tubing, thats what you need!...

You also need an air pump and an air hose and then hook all three together and then the bubbles will start. A bubbleand is kind of the same as an airstone, just different shape.

And how much do those usually cost? The pump and the tube?

I got my airpump for $14.99, and the tubing came free.

Air pumps can be as cheap as $5, and air tubing costs around $2.

Make sure you buy an air pump appropriate for your tank size.

how do you know which size of air pump is suitable for a given tank? This has always confused me...

If you read the box the air pump came in it will tell you the size of aquarium it's meant for. If you want a good air pump then I suggest a Rena air pump, or a Stellar air pump. For air tubing get the silicone air tubing it's flexible and much easier to work with.

ahh, I've only ever really looked at the Elite pumps, I don't think they have that info on them. Does it matter what size of bubble wand you use? because wouldn't the pump need to be larger to force air through a larger stone or wand?

The bigger the pump, the more bubbles you will get. Also give the set up at least 24 hours to work - most of the time it will take a while for the bubbles to really get going. It may just produce a few bubbles here and there or on one end, but given time it should even out.

The deeper your tank, the bigger the pump you need. At deeper water depths, you need more air pressure to force bubbles out of the wand.

My bubble wand...when i hooked up the pump and hose..bubbles just came pouring out of it

That is good - did you already have the wand in the water? Some people soak them first - if so that may be why.

Oh and your fish will love playing in the bubbles!

After a while of the tank being up. The algae will collect on it and the bubbles will slow down. You'll need to clean it off with boiling hot water or just hot water once and a while too get it functioning like normal

Your right on the playing..Pepper was taking nose dives into the bubbles and then letting them take him to the surface and then he'd swim down... He is sooo cute.

I can imagine what it would feel like to them - bubbles tickling their bellies!