DIY Aeroflo help

[Lothario]

Hey guys!

Ok so has anyone had success building an aeroflo type unit without the use of spayers using a smaller diameter pvc inside the larger tubes? I've read that 1/16th in holes are the size that the aeroflo uses. Can anyone verify this? And if that's true how much pressure do you need to maintain in those feeder pipes?

Thanks.

Loth

 

[Lothario]

If anyone can help I'd really appreciate it. I'm also trying to decide the spacing between plant sites going 6 in, 9in, or 12in squared. Opinions? I'm using a 1000 watt hps pl Light

 

[morrisgreenberg]

when they produce these units, for example they use a 1200gph pump for the 60 site, i recently discovered that for adaquate pressues you need 25gph per spray head, im sure you can use this method of calculating for regular drilled holes, from center of net pot to net pot 9 inches works well for me, i have long systems at 7.5' and i run 10 sites per channel, and if you wanna grow them out just skip a hole, this way you have options to lillipop or make em bushy

 

[gvega187]

Hey guys!

Ok so has anyone had success building an aeroflo type unit without the use of spayers using a smaller diameter pvc inside the larger tubes? I've read that 1/16th in holes are the size that the aeroflo uses. Can anyone verify this? And if that's true how much pressure do you need to maintain in those feeder pipes?

Thanks.

Loth

General Hydro started using new spray lines with larger diameter sprayers a few yrs ago. They are 1/16th or less...they used to be extremely small and prone to clogging. You will require at least that 1200gph he speaks of to be able to spray the opposing wall and create an adequate mist.

7" works well

 

[Lothario]

Thanks for your help guys! This is exactly the info I was looking for.

If I can pick your brains a little more do you think its worth going without misters? To me it seems slightly easier, simpler, and possibly cheaper going without them. I think if it really came down to it, I could change the configuration and add them later.

On a side note, while I was waiting to see if I got any responses(and I didn't think I would), I stumbled on "Heaths flooded tube vertical" thread and it messed me all up. I'm still gonna stick to this plan but damn if I don't wanna try Heaths lol

 

[naturalhigh]

you need misters..better yet i would jsut have them come from the top and no pipe inside..seems like a lot of work and it may get clogged by roots..

 

[Lothario]

Think this one will work?

http://www.buypumpsdirect.com/store/product/65604/Little-Giant-5-MSP-16-HP-1200-GPH-Submersible-Utility-Pump-10-Cord

 

[gvega187]

all you need is a magnetic-drive pump. The sizing depends upon how many sprayers you will be using and how far the water will be traveling before reaching those sprayers. Get back 2 us.

 

[morrisgreenberg]

i get all my pumps from ebay, i get larger than i need, all my pumps are 1700gph and i grabbed them for 75each, in a hydro store they sell 400's for same price, as for the sprayers vs inside spray line, i based my system off of a gentlemen named "mogie" on here, similar to stinkbuds but he used round pvc, i went fence post and i use exterior spray lines, from there a 1/4 inch spaghetti tube runs between the netpots attatched to an ez clone spray head, one thing with the interior sprayhead is the roots grow fast and furious and may get in the way, simply because of the angle they must go into the grow channel, just like the aeroflo's sprayline is in the corner, an exterior line is more work and if you dont use silicon you will get some leaks, but you can always change out a sprayer without dissassembling the unit

 

[gvega187]

i get all my pumps from ebay, i get larger than i need, all my pumps are 1700gph and i grabbed them for 75each, in a hydro store they sell 400's for same price, as for the sprayers vs inside spray line, i based my system off of a gentlemen named "mogie" on here, similar to stinkbuds but he used round pvc, i went fence post and i use exterior spray lines, from there a 1/4 inch spaghetti tube runs between the netpots attatched to an ez clone spray head, one thing with the interior sprayhead is the roots grow fast and furious and may get in the way, simply because of the angle they must go into the grow channel, just like the aeroflo's sprayline is in the corner, an exterior line is more work and if you dont use silicon you will get some leaks, but you can always change out a sprayer without dissassembling the unit

cool stuff, ever had a problem with sprayers flying off with that much GPH? jk...

I had 1 leak without using any silicone on the threaded male T-branch adapters. I put a cup under it and the leak stopped itself in about a day.

I have also found exterior sprayers to be LESS work as far as cleaning goes at least. I believe morris is talking about ease of installation.

Aeroflo2's do have a nifty spray line assembly that is really easy to replace and clean, BUT good luck threading a spray line back through all those holders while your plant sites are full.

but back to the matter at hand.

Go to Ebay to buy a pump where prices ARE based on GPH and company rep.

Buy Danner or Rio

 

[disposition84]

I use a AF2, I'm actually considering moving away from the internal spray line and using the same manifold to install pvc running between the arms to feed with 360* sprayer heads between the sites similar to the style Earl has.

The lines are cool and easy to deal with, but in the first stages of transplant I see slow initial development, and they have a tendency to clog. I feel that sprayer heads could rectify this problem, and was also looking into eliminating hydroton from the system and just stealing stinkbuds 2" netcups with 2" collars, but doing it at 3". I feel eliminating the hydroton will make cleanup much easier, i'm just nervous about how well the cups without hydroton will hold up during final stages of bloom.

 

[gvega187]

I use a AF2, I'm actually considering moving away from the internal spray line and using the same manifold to install pvc running between the arms to feed with 360* sprayer heads between the sites similar to the style Earl has.

The lines are cool and easy to deal with, but in the first stages of transplant I see slow initial development, and they have a tendency to clog. I feel that sprayer heads could rectify this problem, and was also looking into eliminating hydroton from the system and just stealing stinkbuds 2" netcups with 2" collars, but doing it at 3". I feel eliminating the hydroton will make cleanup much easier, i'm just nervous about how well the cups without hydroton will hold up during final stages of bloom.

You are wise. I have also thought of doing the 3"neoprene collars for the aeroflo, but could not invision an aerocloner taking up my entire closet. ..now I am thinking about adapting the 3" drill holes in my aero to 2" holes with the addition of custom plastic adapters.

Consider throwing your aeroflo in the nearest lake and making your own system. JK I had never considered adding spray lines to the Aeroflo thou...tis quite an idea, however it would require an additional pump.

Why GH figured aerocloning was 2 difficult for everyone to figure out angers me constantly. Basically they are endorsing the rapid rooter/rockwool clone tray method, which is much slower, hader to do and prone to infection.

curious guy, do you elevate your aeroflo stands any further than stock when running?

 

[gvega187]

the slow initial development you speak of is the roots dealing with being ransacked by pebbles and gravity as you place them in the 3"cups and bunch the nice roots into a mass of ugly...not a good way to start. Then they must recover, realize the situation is not to bad and break through your cocotek or 3" baskets.

Aerocloning I have found to be rediculously easy. No transplant shock, no pathogens ever, no pebbles, no expensive GH cocoteck liners.

 

[disposition84]

I don't elevate my legs at all, just let it run full time. I have tried different setups of time intervals, and haven't really noticed that much of a difference but felt I was putting more stress on my pump by having it turn on and off ever 5 minutes or so. I have kinda modded into a 2 reservoir 60 site system by adding another reservoir and a piece of pvc connecting them at the outlet. I reassymbled the manifold from the pump to use only the left side and put the black hosing attachments together as one long piece. I have never run my system with every row as this just looked much to crowded and I typically veg for a while as I top and supercrop.

I don't think the slow initial startup was due to the rocks necessarily. I think I had my water levels up much to high, for where I positioned the clones in the netcups. I had put the clones on the bottom with the hopes that positioning them in that manner would help give them the easiest time out of the cups, but I think the water level was too high up on the stem. I like your idea of using a plastic adapter, but was going to the hydro store to see if they sell 3" and be done with it as I don't know where to find 60 plastic adapters. I had also toyed around with the idea of checking out those foam pool noodle things and their diameter, that would be a much cheaper alternative than the neoprene collars as mine don't seem to like being recycled.

It would take up a lot of room to have 3" cups in cloners and i'd probably have to have 4 cloners with 20 each for sufficient clones. I am still probably going to move to this format to eliminate hydroton as I don't like dealing with the rocks and cleanup. I'm just nervous about how well those collars hold up against fully developed budding plants, would they become too top heavy and distort the collars creating a collapse to the bottom of the grow chamber? Would this necessariy be a bad thing if it was to rest on the bottom once it got bigger?

 

[gvega187]

if you are growing your plants huge and super cropping ect you will have them staked or netted up somehow....the neoprene will be fine.

Your cloning setup will indeed be a task.

Get 2 of those larger roughneck containers. You should be able to get at least 60-70 3" holes in those. I bet a 400gph pump ea. could still handle that.

putting clones into an aeroflo you should not need to raise the level at all. The mist in the chambers will keep the pebbles moist enough to encourage the roots out of the nets.

I started a thread with a poll a while ago called "net cup placement" or net pot placement cant remember.. you should check it out. Most people advised having pebbles in the bottom of the net, holding the starter cube in the net and then filling pebbles around that. Works great, just takes a few days longer to bust out of the net.

you can buy foam that is not in pool noodle form that you could cut with a 2" hole saw like your cloner. Either way u go I don't think foam is going to biodegrade that well.

 

[disposition84]

Yeah, once I top I have a giant pvc screen I setup to work the main stalks into evenly as I was having a problem with the cups turning inside the system with the root formations. My real question is will they become to top heavy causing the foam to lose hold of the plant and kinda fall out of place? I don't have any kind of support holding the plant up, just something there to make sure they don't fall over on their side.

I already have two 60 site (2") rubbermaid roughnecks using these I'm kinda picky on containers but the roughnecks seem to work great, with minor leaks. To stop the leaks I had to put weatherstripping to seal it, and use 4 clamps to make extra sure I don't have any problems. I'd probably just set 2 more up and run 20 (3") spots in each one so I can use for cloning, and possibly even veg time. Building the cloners isn't too hard, I'd be better off going with one huge tub to cut down on cost in parts but I like the redundancy of having multiple tubs in case.

I actually already broke down and bought more 2" plugs to use for now as I'm in week 3 veg and have time to research it.

The reason I installed the clones the way I did was I had never done it that way before. I have tried with coco cups, base of rocks, clone, then fill the rest with rocks and it worked ok but I decided I didnt' like the coco. I have also tried putting a base of rocks down without coco liner as you've suggested and didn't have problems. I had read somewhere that keeping the water up for the first few days helped things take, but from personal experience I can now say that mixed with low clone installation lead to a rough start. I paid attention closely too the roots and realized my problem and corrected it before things got too bad. My next attempt will probably be the 3" cups with 3" collars and no hydroton. I'm still debating weather or not I really want to go through installing the sprayer heads, as things are looking really good right now and "why fix what's not broken?" I just need to get over my constant wanting to upgrade and change things and work on finetuning my methods.

The reason I like my aeroflo, besides the price, is the fact that i've used much worse systems and am grateful for this. I first started out with homemade dwc units that were very basic and became hard work when the plants got big. I then got a good deal oh a Waterfarm setup with the res, and that turned out to be a truely "epic failure" of a system unless you transform them into a recirculating system or don't mind putting in tons of work. My next project is going to be building my own aeroflo type system thats a hybrid of SOG, Earl's shuttle, and stinkbuds system for my mothers with 16 or so plants. Still looking for those white fenceposts that stinkbud uses, i've been to home depot and lowes but I guess they might be more seasonal? I was a bit nervous to ask for assistance cuz I was a bit too baked and figured it might be a bit suspicious buying 2 fence posts and being in the condition I was in.

Anyways I'm rambling, I really appreciate your bouncing ideas with me. Thanks!

 

[morrisgreenberg]

this is the ebay link from the guy i get my pumps from , they are submirsble pond pumps and they are no name but really heavy and constructed well compared to some of the name brand ones, http://cgi.ebay.com/Pond-1700-GPH-Waterfall-submersible-water-Pump-Fountain_W0QQitemZ180346661528QQihZ008QQcategoryZ103440QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[morrisgreenberg]

i used 2inch neoprene on my last run stinkbud style, without the net pot, straight from cloner to DIY aero and the stem got so thick the neprene looked like a rubberband, plus it gets good support from the roots forming a bed in the chamber, my first aero set i used round pvc, with netcups and 1in rockwool and they kept falling over, primary reason for going with fence posts, anyhows i recently sent back a waterfarm 8 pack bcus you have to do mods and the salt jams up the airline, so i feel you, i was looking for maintance free, like an aero setup =) as for the posts, home depot never had enough, plus they only had 4's, lowes hooked up i got 98inch peices for like 23bucks and 72in for 18bucks, they are a bit seasonal thats why they should have them by now

 

[disposition84]

I could use a pump like that for draining my res, that shit would be really fast. It looks A LOT like the ecoplus pumps that I use for various purposes. It looks like it comes with removable connection pieces? (sorry forget what they're called right now)

Yeah, I was figuring the fencepost was seasonal as I went about 2 months ago to check it out. I saw the larger PVC they have, but I don't want to work with round pipes, I like the stability of the square design. You seem to insinuate that they cut the posts to your desired specifications, or do they have pre-cut sizes? Are they just called plastic fence posts at lowes? I'm definitely going to have to get my hands on some of those for some DIY comparisons.

I figured if the plants did fall through of the collars they would rest on the roots, but I wasn't sure if the roots could support this kind of weight without stressing them out or breaking parts of the roots. I had let my last mothers go out of control for about 5 months and they were in 2" collars and the main stalk got very heafty and basically mutilated the plug and ended up laying on it's side LSTing itself, hence my nervousness to use them as main system medium. Though, I typically only take 3 months from clone to finish, so they wouldn't have the extra 2 months to get rediculous.

 

[gvega187]

you really don't need to worry about the neoprene thing...its one of those tested and proved things..

If you are still worried...mebe try growing not gigantic plants?

I have also messed with the big 8 pack drip system things....what a waste. The thing came with clear tubes all around first of all...Those clogged, salted up and stopped working really fast. The drip rings built up so much salt on them I thought I was going to dehydrate just looking at it. The 8 pack I bought had no good way of recircuilating and thus lead to more clogging and still water problems. With the addition of about $100 worth of stuff I got the farm working for a few cycles and got decent results....2 bad there were only 8 of them...Indeed I shall have 2 agree with you Disposition a grand failure.