Get rid of your air pump and make a waterfall with existing waterpump (6 site bucket)

HerbalRelief

HerbalRelief

Well-Known Member
I was thinking that airpumps suck balls. Posted this on another thread but it does deserve its own. Probably someone has already posted this idea. Anyways.

a) they suck in pathogens and bacteria and pump them to the very bottom of your reservoir where they then attach themselves to water via air bubbles and propagate in the heat of the hot grow room air being sucked into your reservoir...

b) along the same lines the hot air is perfect condition for pathogens and bacteria to thrive

c) airpumps and bubblers provide almost no oxygen at high reservoir temperatures, especially when hot air is being pumped into your DWC res! Hello root rot ! Even at lower temps airpumps are the LEAST efficient method of getting dissolved oxygen into your water.

d) waterfalls are way more efficient at creating DO.

f) air stones change your reservoir PH!

g) if you grow with CO2 air stones acidify your reservoir

So get rid of your air pump and see how to create waterfalls with your existing pump in a multi-bucket DWRC. Most of you probably know this but for those of you who don't here it is. I just figured this out for myself today and switched my Bubbleflow system to waterfalls - total RDWC. . 20170324_190518.jpg

This is the flow rate from a 700GPH pump 1/2 to 6x1/4inch manifold disbursement.

20170324_190531.jpg
 
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HerbalRelief

HerbalRelief

Well-Known Member
Well, I won't be doing that. Raises PH, solution temp, and bacterial cultures. If it works for you, power to you!
 
PetFlora

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
I removed my air stones in 2 rezes now using small air pumps, but found the water gets hot when left on, so I put them on deep cycle timers to minimize heat. On ~ 5 minutes, off ~ 20 minutes.

I was digging through my parts bin and came across a Hydro Halo drip ring, which is similar to water fall. Underneath is a a mix of polished stones

I also have a plant in DWC with a 4 stone air pump running 24/7. It looks fine as well

IMG_3796.JPG
 
Dreddd

Dreddd

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, haven't tried this with weed yet but i'm currently growing beefstake tomatoes in DWC with no bubbler, just the smallest submersible pump i could find, running on a timer for 15 minutes every 2 hours, just to keep the fertilizer from falling out of solution, its on a time to keep the water temp down, constant running heats it up a bit, theres basically zero surface agitation when the pump is running.

20170330_190549.jpg

The roots are pearly white and i've found theres much less PH swing with this method.
 
J

J Henry

Active Member
Air is a mixture of gases containing only 21% O2, that’s all there is and that O2 concentration is the limiting factor for oxygenation. Doesn’t matter if air is bubbled through air stones, sprayed, dripped, mechanical agitators, waterfalls, etc. The volume of air pumped through any air pump does not increase the oxygen concentration >21%O2 either, that's often contrary to popular beliefs…. The sad truth about trying to insure minimal safe oxygenation with air is… air is only 21% O2 and that’s all the oxygen you will ever get using air.

On the up side of using air - air is composed of 79% Nitrogen, an inert filler gas which is not metabolically active and makes a lot of gas bubbles and looks good.
 
A

Atomizer

Well-Known Member
The sad truth about trying to insure minimal safe oxygenation with air is… air is only 21% O2 and that’s all the oxygen you will ever get using air.
Click to expand...
My system uses atmospheric air and your nano bubbles wouldnt come close to the rootzone O2 it provides ;)
 
Gary Goodson

Gary Goodson

Well-Known Member
J Henry said:
Air is a mixture of gases containing only 21% O2, that’s all there is and that O2 concentration is the limiting factor for oxygenation. Doesn’t matter if air is bubbled through air stones, sprayed, dripped, mechanical agitators, waterfalls, etc. The volume of air pumped through any air pump does not increase the oxygen concentration >21%O2 either, that's often contrary to popular beliefs…. The sad truth about trying to insure minimal safe oxygenation with air is… air is only 21% O2 and that’s all the oxygen you will ever get using air.

On the up side of using air - air is composed of 79% Nitrogen, an inert filler gas which is not metabolically active and makes a lot of gas bubbles and looks good.
Click to expand...
:finger:
 
HerbalRelief

HerbalRelief

Well-Known Member
Atomizer said:
My system uses atmospheric air and your nano bubbles wouldnt come close to the rootzone O2 it provides ;)
Click to expand...

That is super interesting. Do you have a link to a thread maybe where this is explained? Sounds wild.

Do you find you need to use less nutes due to the DO and ORP being so high?
 
HerbalRelief

HerbalRelief

Well-Known Member
My guess is yes. You use way less nutes. A res solution lasts way longer. Relative humidity in the root zone ensures that less water is used.

I just looked this up on the web, it would be super cool to get a link to a system build as well. Would love to try this!
 
BobCajun

BobCajun

Well-Known Member
While investigating what air stone is made of, I found an interesting tidbit;

"Oxygen in the air actually takes a long time (typically 90 seconds for an average sized bubble) to dissolve into the water via an airstone. It is the action of rising bubbles which causes water movement from the bottom of the aquarium, where oxygen levels will be lower, to the surface where the oxygen from the air can diffuse. The bubbling water surface actually has a larger surface area so allowing more oxygen to diffuse over time." https://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Airstone

It's not even the bubbles that do the aeration, it's just the water movement mixing it around so it all gets to the surface at some point. You could probably just as well have a mixer of some sort in there with no bubbles at all, like a small water pump, though apparently the bubbles do increase surface area, but by how much? Probably not a huge amount. And by pumping air through the res like that you're also pumping in whatever is in that air and the heat, as the OP mentioned. Plus those air stone air pumps are noisy as hell. They're like miniature jackhammers. Drive ya nuts.
 
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J

J Henry

Active Member
HerbalRelief said:
My guess is yes. You use way less nutes. A res solution lasts way longer. Relative humidity in the root zone ensures that less water is used.

I just looked this up on the web, it would be super cool to get a link to a system build as well. Would love to try this!
Click to expand...
Here you go - http://byo.com/malt/item/1894-aerating-wort-techniques
The general concept and options are only limited by your imagination and knowledge. You will find the science solid as a rock. The beer guys know all about keep their bennies alive and healthy.
 
A

Atomizer

Well-Known Member
If the root zone receives a mixture of 99.9% of 21% O2 atmospheric air and 0.1% H2O by volume. The DO content of the water is irrelevent, it only needs to provide moisture and nutrient. Its easier to suffocate roots in a bucket of water compared to one that contains mostly atmospheric air.
 
BobCajun

BobCajun

Well-Known Member
Pots of medium is so much simpler. I guess you probably get higher yields with DWC but how would you ever withhold water near the end to increase dry weight and resin? They're sitting right in water all the time. Might as well grow in a swamp.
 
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