air stones

[captainendoe]

whats a good site to buy cheap air stones and other hydroplonic equipment. I was tipped off to one with circle air stones but bought a new computer so lost the site any help would be appreciated

[BUCKETKING]

I do not use air stones.. Studies show they will give your root mass adequate DO(Dissolved oxygen) levels for 50 minutes, then the DO drops like a lead weight.

My plants perform much better without them. By not using airstones, you will get more of a "flooming" effect, which give's your plants maximum amounts of oxygen 100% of the time.

[CanGroIt]

I do not use air stones.. Studies show they will give your root mass adequate DO(Dissolved oxygen) levels for 50 minutes, then the DO drops like a lead weight.

My plants perform much better without them. By not using airstones, you will get more of a "flooming" effect, which give's your plants maximum amounts of oxygen 100% of the time.

Curious - How do you oxygenate your root zone without air stones??? Drip feed re-circ???

What's your method that "gives your plants maximum amounts of oxygen 100% of the time"???

CGI::::::

[GaGrown]

I'm thinkin' if you keep your res at 56-58 degrees then you'll have an enriched res.with or without the stone. The reason for the stone is so your nutes stay circulated.. Yes it does indroduce oxygen to the roots. The plant above the roots thrives off of co2. The roots thrive from oxygen.

I just can't see that adding oxygen depletes it after less than an hour? My air pump runs 24/7 as well as the stone bubblin'. That plant has taken over the tent! If that were the case then mine would be DEAD! I'm curious as well..

Ga.

[tinytoon]

I'm thinking that he isn't using the stone itself and just has the line stuck in the water. :jointsmile:

[prettygirlsmokes420]

Well I started my dwc bucket with just the two hoses attatched to.the bottom of my bucket and no airstones.
I was very discouraged at the lack of growth in my plant. I soon noticed the roots weren't making any progress either. I took my ass to wallmart and baught two cylindrical airstones from the fishy section and stuck them at the bottom of my bucket and my plant took off like crazy.
If you buy em at wallmart or meijers, it might be cheaper than ordering it offline.

[GaGrown]

I'm thinking that he isn't using the stone itself and just has the line stuck in the water. :jointsmile:

tiny... no disrespect! But what difference would it make... With or without? The air is coming from an air pump. This just has me befreakinbaffled... Cause oxygen is at it's richest content on a degree or res temps..I'm glad I still love dirt! Ain't gotta have no stones,ya just grow ya own stones. Speakin' of STONED.. I Damn sure am!

Ga.

[tinytoon]

Hey GG no disrespect taken as I am just guessing what the other person said. I on the other hand firmly believe in airstones for a simple reason. The more bubbles your making the better off you are so if we take that and look at it like this: Air line has 1 hole and although you can get quite a bit of bubble action going on it can only spit out 1 bubble at a time. As for airstones are a have a porous surface which allows for multiple bubbles being released at the same time and then of course you need to look at what size airstone for what you are doing. I believe Prettygirl is talking about the small round stones about 1" tall and aprox the diameter of a dime. Those will work fine in a 5 gal DWC setup (I always used 2) as your only talking about a small amount of water. On the other hand when I was using my 55 gal res it required a trip to Petco to pick up a pair of 12" airstones and we had lots and lots of bubbles lol. Again I myself do not understand exactly what was meant by not using stones, I was just guessing on the meaning.
One more thing I wanted to ask was I saw GG had said something about res temps to be around 55-58 degrees, I had always read that it was 68 for the magic number.

[GaGrown]

:thumbsup:
I totally agree! Nuttin' like bubble action! I shoulda specified why I said the res. temp should be 56-58 degrees.. Thats when the oxygen molecule in the res is at it's richest content. You still have oxygen levels in the res. at 68.. Just not as much present even with an air stone.. Good rule of thumb tiny! It's always a pleasure reading your reaction or response to a post!hehe

Ga.

[BUCKETKING]

Curious - How do you oxygenate your root zone without air stones??? Drip feed re-circ???

What's your method that "gives your plants maximum amounts of oxygen 100% of the time"???

CGI::::::


Well, I dont have too much time this morning to explain my concept... But if you would like to visit my Journal/Tutorial you can visit CLOSETGROWTH'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROW TUTORIAL (http://www.closetgrowth.userboard.net) and see my results. Be sure to check out the tutorial. Thanks, and have a nice day :)

[BUCKETKING]

Look up "flooming" on Google... By removing them useless air stones, you create "turbulance" in your buckets/rez,..which in turn adds a huge amount of DO than what a typical air stone can put out... Its not an opinion, ... Its a straight up fact... Peace :)

283342

[BUCKETKING]

The overlapping/agitation of the water on the surface is what gives your nutrients the added oxygen level... Air stones wont give you this kind of turbulence, or oxygen..

Air stones are helpful for fish in an aquarium, but not for extreme root growth...

[killfrenzi]

When it comes to aeration:

Nothing comes close to "flooming" - This requires nothing more than a water-pump which can lay flat on the pond or tank bottom and force water upward to the surface of the vat.

It is not important, or even desirable for the water being "floomed" to break the surface - we DO NOT want a geyser.
All we want is a gentle swell at the surface where the water looks like it's "bulging" over the pump location. You see, oxygen exchange occurs only in contact with atmospheric "air" which is 21% oxygen. Venturis and other bubblers simply create agitation of the water and the bubbles lift the water to the surface for gas exchange. Even better, a water pump forces large amounts of water to the surface for gas exchange, and it does so "simply" and very quietly. Flooming is ideal in retailers tanks because, unlike air bubbles, flooming causes less surface distortion.

A water pump lifts more water than an airstone could EVER lift to the surface for gas exchange.

Almost any brand of pump can work. You will find some pumps "stand up" better than others. It can be disastrous if the pump lays over and stops "flooming" the surface.

So, a gentle flooming in any tank or vat is superior aeration. And it's as simple as dropping in a submersible pump and aiming it at the heavens.

[BUCKETKING]

When it comes to aeration:

Nothing comes close to "flooming" - This requires nothing more than a water-pump which can lay flat on the pond or tank bottom and force water upward to the surface of the vat.

It is not important, or even desirable for the water being "floomed" to break the surface - we DO NOT want a geyser.
All we want is a gentle swell at the surface where the water looks like it's "bulging" over the pump location. You see, oxygen exchange occurs only in contact with atmospheric "air" which is 21% oxygen. Venturis and other bubblers simply create agitation of the water and the bubbles lift the water to the surface for gas exchange. Even better, a water pump forces large amounts of water to the surface for gas exchange, and it does so "simply" and very quietly. Flooming is ideal in retailers tanks because, unlike air bubbles, flooming causes less surface distortion.

A water pump lifts more water than an airstone could EVER lift to the surface for gas exchange.

Almost any brand of pump can work. You will find some pumps "stand up" better than others. It can be disastrous if the pump lays over and stops "flooming" the surface.

So, a gentle flooming in any tank or vat is superior aeration. And it's as simple as dropping in a submersible pump and aiming it at the heavens.


Thats absolutely correct!.. In my case,.. I use a 280 watt air pump to "floom" w/out stones,.. Because of my massive root mass in my isolated 5 gallon dwc buckets (8).. Thanks for adding that great info. :)

[ThePinkJina]

Thats absolutely correct!.. In my case,.. I use a 280 watt air pump to "floom" w/out stones,.. Because of my massive root mass in my isolated 5 gallon dwc buckets (8).. Thanks for adding that great info. :)


Did you use an individual pump for each bucket or did you get a pump strong enough to cause a current in all the buckets. If 1 pump where did you place the pump to get such a current? Also, have you MR. Busketking, heard of "Undercurrent"? It basically uses your flooming technique by causing an undercurrent within the buckets. My buddy uses a 1300 GPH pump that recirculates his nutes from his main res thru is DWC buckets via his 1" diameter tubing, which connects all buckets together.

Any thoughts on this process?