Am I the only one using Air lift water pumps

[Unrestrictedgrowth@]

So I have been growing recirculating deep water culture systems for 10 years and I have never used a submerged or external pump to circulate water. I use air lift columns, it’s a tube in your reservoir connected to one end of a circuit of plants that displaces the water held inside by means of air via air pump. This results in circulation(very slow).it works spectacular and I have never had to run chillers thanks to the heat reduction.just wondering am I the only one?

 

[go go kid]

i think ive seen something like it, but never used in hydro grow. ypou got a pic of it, im sure peeps would love to see it

 

[Unrestrictedgrowth@]

Yes sir here ya go….. four columns, each circulating four plants this reservoir supplies 16

 

[Unrestrictedgrowth@]

Yes sir here ya go….. four columns, each circulating four plants this reservoir supplies 16
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Yes sir here ya go….. four columns, each circulating four plants this reservoir supplies 16

 

[rkymtnman]

Yes sir here ya go….. four columns, each circulating four plants this reservoir supplies 16

do you have an air stone in there too?

 

[Unrestrictedgrowth@]

do you have an air stone in there too?

Yes,and one in each bucket

 

[amneziaHaze]

if you have an airstone why do you need more? dont the airstones move the water?

 

[Unrestrictedgrowth@]

No the airstones are just for oxygenating the water…another 4 airlines supply the tubes that are displacing the water and circulating the water. You can see the water coming out of the elbows at the top of these tubes in my pictures. The airlines come in at the bottom, and when the tubes are full of water submerged in the reservoir, the air pushes the water out of the tubes. When I get home from work, I will post some pictures of my columns, a.k.a. tubes.

 

[Unrestrictedgrowth@]

The water that enters the tubes from the bottom, comes from one of the buckets and the other end of the circuit connects right back into the reservoir each column is circulating a four plant circuit

 

[rkymtnman]

it's a neat idea. similar to a GH waterfarm

i always thought a waterfall inside a res was a better option IMO. more DO and it also keeps nutes well mixed

 

[Drop That Sound]

Besides the people still using hydrofarm drip ring kits in buckets, I would have to guess that you are the only person. You're basically a legend..

 

[rkymtnman]

Besides the people still using hydrofarm drip ring kits in buckets

if somebody would 3d print or have them mfg'd, you could make some $. the parts kit that used to be available for waterfarms are impossible to find

 

[Drop That Sound]

Even if you did have problems with heat, you could probably hook an intake tube up to the air pump, and suck in cold air from inside a freezer (or a coil placed in front of an AC, etc). It would cool the water off much better than just pumping cold air into the air stones, because its actually circulating the water too..

 

[go go kid]

if you have an airstone why do you need more? dont the airstones move the water?

i allways thaught the more the better, i used to put insaine amounts of airstones in my hydro tanks, still not as much disolved oxygen as misters. and misters do a better job then air stones

 

[go go kid]

Even if you did have problems with heat, you could probably hook an intake tube up to the air pump, and suck in cold air from inside a freezer (or a coil placed in front of an AC, etc). It would cool the water off much better than just pumping cold air into the air stones, because its actually circulating the water too..

if you have problems with heat, get a small RV 12v /gas operated fridge, make two holes in the door and just cram as much tubeing in the fridge as you can, job done

 

[Unrestrictedgrowth@]

Even if you did have problems with heat, you could probably hook an intake tube up to the air pump, and suck in cold air from inside a freezer (or a coil placed in front of an AC, etc). It would cool the water off much better than just pumping cold air into the air stones, because its actually circulating the water too..

I’m holding around 68f and the room temp inside is around 78f.I hold cold temps on the outside of the room along with the pumps and I haven’t gone higher than 71 and that’s in summer .also my top feed tanks are very cold.that’s a brilliant idea maybe this summer if needed I’ll convert a chest freezer. I’m running 120gallons of water between two systems