Tea Brewing Kit Start-Up: Suggestions On Where to Start

S

SpaaaceCowboy

Well-Known Member
Heys guys ready to jump in here....

Would I be ok with just going to the local hydro store and buying their kit ? I think there is a 5 and a 3 gallon size...What size do I need for a maybe a dozen or so plants ? I think it comes with a pump and a bubbler ?

Or is there somewhere like Home Depot or Wally World where I can build a better/cheaper tea brewing kit ?

thanks, SC
 
Pinworm

Pinworm

Well-Known Member
Im just getting into compost teas too. Have myself a 5g bucket with a cheap aquarium air pump and some stones. I got all that for 25 bucks on amazon.
 
Pinworm

Pinworm

Well-Known Member
I should mention 5g bucket feeds 9 7g pots perfectly. So maybe go for a cheap 10g rubbermaid tote instead.
 
JSJ

JSJ

Well-Known Member
I bought the biggest aquarium pump wally world had, not in front of me atm but think it for like a 40g tank, 8ft tubing and 2 stones for less than 30 bucks. The pump has 2 outlets and with both stones in 5g bucket it rolls the water really good.
 
S

SpaaaceCowboy

Well-Known Member
JSJ said:
I bought the biggest aquarium pump wally world had, not in front of me atm but think it for like a 40g tank, 8ft tubing and 2 stones for less than 30 bucks. The pump has 2 outlets and with both stones in 5g bucket it rolls the water really good.
Click to expand...
How many gallons is the bucket you brew in ?
 
Banana444

Banana444

Well-Known Member
It was to my understanding aquarium pumps just dont cut it when brewing ACT. I have a air pump thats rated for a 700gallon aquarium and I think it is barely adequate for a 5g brew. Now you will still get some benefits from making almost any kind of areated tea but you wont get the full benefits of having a tea that is full of aerobic microbial life.
 
S

SpaaaceCowboy

Well-Known Member
Banana444 said:
It was to my understanding aquarium pumps just dont cut it when brewing ACT. I have a air pump thats rated for a 700gallon aquarium and I think it is barely adequate for a 5g brew. Now you will still get some benefits from making almost any kind of areated tea but you wont get the full benefits of having a tea that is full of aerobic microbial life.
Click to expand...
maybe I'll just buy the one from the local hydro store....I usually pick of some nice tidbits of info when I buy stuff there anyways....That way I know I'll be getting a pump that is right for the job.
 
Banana444

Banana444

Well-Known Member
Nice, im gonna buy that pump^^^^. The pump I have now is the fusion 700 5.6l per minute, so 88.74gallons per hour.
 
Metasynth

Metasynth

Well-Known Member
Banana444 said:
Nice, im gonna buy that pump^^^^. The pump I have now is the fusion 700 5.6l per minute, so 88.74gallons per hour.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that Fusion is a crap pump. When I first started working with water, I used aquarium pumps...I still use three ActiveAir dual outlet pumps, but I have to put them all in the same rez to do anything...

Where as the commercial pump I listed powers 3 separate reservoirs by itself.
 
Cannabidude

Cannabidude

Well-Known Member
Banana444 said:
It was to my understanding aquarium pumps just dont cut it when brewing ACT. I have a air pump thats rated for a 700gallon aquarium and I think it is barely adequate for a 5g brew. Now you will still get some benefits from making almost any kind of areated tea but you wont get the full benefits of having a tea that is full of aerobic microbial life.
Click to expand...
I have the same air pump as the OP and my 5g brewer has foamed over and smelled great every time i've run a batch. it DOES work. Look at any non-mmj site that talks about compost teas they mostly point you to aquarium pumps for starter kits.
 
Mr.Head

Mr.Head

Well-Known Member
Foam has nothing to do with the effectiveness of your tea.

Aquarium pumps are a waste of money when you can get a good pump off amazon for $50(cheaper in the USA) that is no louder then your pet store pump. I have a pump rated for 100 gallon tank thing cost me like $35 and was supposed to be good. It can be heard in my basement when it's bubbling a bucket on the top floor. My commercial pump is quieter and moves about 1000x more air. 5 gallon bucket and it will make water jump out, like a large quantity, my pumps a little over powered for my needs but I won't have to buy another if I upgrade for now I hook it up to a speed controller and it still moves more air turned down to 25% and can't be heard outside of the spare room door let alone in my basement.

Pet store pumps are low quality over priced garbage. Get a commercial pump for a few dollars, or even less then a pet store pump depending on how much your petstore mark up is. You will spend the money replacing petstore pumps, or just buying more to get enough air in your bucket, spend the money once on a good one and don't fill landfills with plastic garbage that doesn't last a year.

Cannabidude bubble your tea for over 24 hours with one of those shit pet store pumps I bet it gets real nasty smelling.

There is no way JSJ's pump is moving enough air.

Get one like Metasynth linked they are the tits. I got a hydrofarm one works great.
 
Cannabidude

Cannabidude

Well-Known Member
Mr.Head said:
Foam has nothing to do with the effectiveness of your tea.
Click to expand...
and while this is true its not about effectiveness, foam is an indicator of microbial activity, the teas "effectiveness" is irrelevant, if my tea foams and smells good i can guarantee it has enough microbes in it for my needs, also foam usually indicates there are proteins present. Have you read Teaming with Microbes? it explains this better than i.
 
vostok

vostok

Well-Known Member
Compost tea is easy even if you must spend money, go to your local Asian store and buy some shusee seaweed, chop it fine and add to your drink bottle water allow to sit for ....as long as you want...sniff each week to see if ready, when it stinks ...its a ready ...easy too
 
Mr.Head

Mr.Head

Well-Known Member
Cannabidude said:
and while this is true its not about effectiveness, foam is an indicator of microbial activity, the teas "effectiveness" is irrelevant, if my tea foams and smells good i can guarantee it has enough microbes in it for my needs, also foam usually indicates there are proteins present. Have you read Teaming with Microbes? it explains this better than i.
Click to expand...
What pump do you have? I bought the most expensive pump my petstore had and it didn't work for shit, I may have got 1-2 good uses out of it before it went nutz. My teas smelled horrible after a 24 hour brew let alone from 48.

This is what I was going off for foam copied from http://www.microbeorganics.com/#What_is_Compost_Tea_

7/ You can tell that your ACT is finished or ready to use when it forms a head of foam.

More bunk! But this does have a bit of foundational truth. Foam can be formed by proteins in the water created by microbial activity, however this is not a reliable indicator. Foam can also be created by saponins (aloe vera, alfalfa, yucca) or just by adding molasses or by worms which might have made it in there. I have examined very foamy ACT microscopically which was practically devoid of microbes and ACT with no foam at all which has been swarming with microbial activity.
Click to expand...
No I have been meaning to read that damn book for a long time, it takes me to be in the right mood to be able to read a book. I'll sit on here and read all day but there's something about page turning :) Just can't do it. Think I got the Ebook downloaded somewhere, I think I got the nutrients one too. I should really get too those everyone speaks highly of his books.

I watched a youtubes of his.
 
Cannabidude

Cannabidude

Well-Known Member
this is the one i use, to be fair in my 5 gallon brewer i usually only run ~3.5 gallons, but i find i get the best results if i dilute it 3:1 foliar and 2:1 for soil drench. My teas are comprised of only my own home made compost + a little of my soil mix, its a mix of LW & FFOF (~1:1 no extra perlite), this is mainly for the ewc in them, they have other beneficial components, but in very small amounts. I've been running this way for 3 months now, but i have no problems with it so far and the plants ive flushed and switched from nutes (2 mother plants) have responded very well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top