Show me your stones

I bought these 6â?� stones by EC plus

[attachment=o230607]

I put them in a pre-veg bubbler

[attachment=o230608]

The problem I have is that they arenâ??t consistent in delivering air either across their width or over time. I go in to check on things and one may have stopped bubbling altogether, I rebalance the air delivery at the manifold and the next time I return a different one may have slowed or stopped all together. They seem to get waterlogged.

Another gripe is that a stone may only deliver bubbles over a spot or two. If I increase the volume to that particular stoneâ?¦..I donâ??t get increased dispersion, all I get is larger bubbles from that particular spot in the stone.

So far itâ??s only an annoyance. But when I move my girls down the line to (6) 5gal bubbler buckets it will become a major problem. The buckets are bubblers and recirculating, but I definitely want to have the freedom to limit the pump time in case heat issues arrive in the future. With a scrog screen aboveâ?¦.checking inside regularly on bubbler action may be very disruptive.

For the buckets I want a stone that wonâ??t come and go on me. And for the pre-veg bubbler, one with even dispersion across itâ??s width would be a pleasure. If that turns out to be two different kindsâ?¦I can live with that.

Please share what you know
Horsemanrocks

Okâ?¦..that was a bust!

Any comments on glass bead airstones might be helpful.

Horsemanrocks.

Quote:

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Okâ?¦..that was a bust!

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Yeah, "Need help with airstones" probably woulda attracted more of the right kind of attention. Only a perv.... *kef* Never mi-i-i-nd....

Anyway, after lousy luck with an assortment of airstones from Petco, etc. I found one at walmart. This is the "Aqua Culture" brand, $1.67, I think. It's weighted so it doesn't float around, delivers an even stream of bubbles, and hasn't fouled up even though I've put it through some rough conditions.

I'll put a pic up later for ya. Bear in mind I got some other brand of airstone previously from the OTHER Walmart near here (this is truly whitetrash central) and it didn't work worth a crap, and then it broke in half as I was fondling I mean cleaning it.

The package says to pre-soak the stone for at least an hour before use, and at this moment I have 3 more soaking. I'll let you know if these deliver evenly like that first one's doing.

If I were doing a scrog atop a 5 gallon bubbler I'd definitely cut an access hole large enough to get my hand in there. You can just cover it with some light-proof tape or suppin. Greatly simplifies obtaining water samples, checking airstones, etc.


L8er mang. DH

hasn't fouled up even though I've put it through some rough conditions.

Rode hard and put up wetâ?¦..pobrecitos.

and then it broke in half as I was fondling I mean cleaning it.

Donâ??t askâ?¦â?¦donâ??t tell.

The package says to pre-soak the stone for at least an hour before use

Then a couple of weeks should be enough.

If I were doing a scrog atop a 5 gallon bubbler I'd definitely cut an access hole large enough to get my hand in there. You can just cover it with some light-proof tape or suppin. Greatly simplifies obtaining water samples, checking airstones, etc.

Good call��except for the part where I built in a very large obstruction.

[attachment=o230930]

Gonna have to think on this a littleâ?¦..maybe Iâ??ve outsmarted myself. It appears that once the screen goes onâ?¦..the pump is going to have to carry the load.

Many thanks Dr. Hermie, I appreciate the help. Looking forward to the pictures. I really hate making a trip to the big city and coming up dry.

In search of tiny bubbles,
HMR

Yo! Horse.

There ya go stressin' out over details. :D

My friend, it no gotta be/gonna be perfect.
Ever!

With all due respect to Don Ho, it's more da fact dan da size or volume udda bubbles.

Some guys dont use airstones a'tall. Just shove a hose in da root ball.:rastasmoke:


I'm sure you know that at a given temperature, a given volume of water will only hold a certain maximum volume of dissolved gas.

Tinier bubbles, increased air volume, ad nauseum will not change that.

If one needs more dissolved air to, say, prevent anaerobic slime molds from growing, it would seem that the most effective way of doing so would be to lower the temperature of the water.

So, stone schmone.
Just weight the end of the hose and toss it in.
If you are obsessed with bubble size, or efficiency, seal the end of the hose and poke umpteen holes in it.

Or use a soaker hose as da bottom section.

What ever.

Point is.
Whatever it takes to saturate the res. water with air, in your situation, is enough!
Any advance on that is by definition, in-efficient, yah?

As for your dilemma?
I had trouble balancing pressure with even a 4 port maniford.
So at the end I was using one pump per bucket with dirt cheap mail order stones and Wallyworld pumps.
Too cheap to clean.
When they get funky, I toss 'em. I have 6 dozen.

That said, I hadda stop growing DWCoco.
Worked way too well.
I need to limit my yield to stay legal and still have a wide variety of meds to choose from.

In udder news.
Just got some Bubbledust clones ,(Bubblegum X Angeldust), from a friend.

Will grow some in coco and some in a soil mix that's used in the the best producing dirt grow I've ever seen.
(Check out Issack ovah at ICM.)
If his dirt can out-do coco, I'll be a very impressed convert to dirt.
But, I doubt it.

Funny, I'd have called it Angelgum.

Weeze

I like these but for your pre-veg set-up try one of these takes all the length of tubing variables out of the equation.

Hermieâ?¦.I found the stones that you spoke of on the WM websiteâ?¦.Thanks again.

Yo! Horse.

There ya go stressin' out over details.

My friend, it no gotta be/gonna be perfect.
Ever!

With all due respect to Don Ho, it's more da fact dan da size or volume udda bubbles.

Some guys dont use airstones a'tall. Just shove a hose in da root ball.


I'm sure you know that at a given temperature, a given volume of water will only hold a certain maximum volume of dissolved gas.

Tinier bubbles, increased air volume, ad nauseum will not change that.

If one needs more dissolved air to, say, prevent anaerobic slime molds from growing, it would seem that the most effective way of doing so would be to lower the temperature of the water.

So, stone schmone.
Just weight the end of the hose and toss it in.
If you are obsessed with bubble size, or efficiency, seal the end of the hose and poke umpteen holes in it.

Or use a soaker hose as da bottom section.

What ever.

Point is.
Whatever it takes to saturate the res. water with air, in your situation, is enough!
Any advance on that is by definition, in-efficient, yah?

I appreciate all that and I know that you have my best interest at heartâ?¦..didnâ??t want a stone that would quit on me in the buckets thoughtâ?¦..gonna have to go â??on faithâ?� once things get closed up. Due to the depth, DO shouldnâ??t be an issue. But zero DOâ?¦..no bueno.

And in the pre-veg bubbler. DO is a non-issue again with (4) 6� stones in 2 ½ gal. But even distribution would be very helpful in such a small space. Dialing it in should be within grasp with stones that showed a little consistency. If a netpot is supposed to get a little splash, then I intend to oblige.

I also appreciate your not calling me analâ?¦â?¦.I much prefer OCDâ?¦â?¦Iâ??ll be back in a minute, gotta go wash my hands. Well Iâ??m back but seem to have misplaced my latex glovesâ?¦..hmmm I wonder if I turned the gas off on the stove.

Ok, I know that you figure that Iâ??m nuts (Iâ??m not even saying that youâ??re wrong) But being â??occasionally employedâ?� means that when I have work (away) thenâ?¦..I gotta go. It also means that between work I have the time to dial in as much consistency as possible. If that means automating as necessaryâ?¦.then so be it.

My father was a tough old bastard, very demandingâ?¦..and heâ??s gone now. But you know that since Iâ??ve joined hereâ?¦..and youâ??ve kinda taken me under your wing, and looked out for meâ?¦â?¦Well youâ??reâ?¦well youâ??re likeâ?¦.well like a grandfather to me. (on my fathers side)

El Oh El
HMR

Forget,
The 1â?� stones are smaller than I had imaginedâ?¦..but then, you helped me imagine other possibilities. All I really need is consistency, with that I can rework and place them where I need them.

I might even be able to use the hoseâ?¦..2 ifâ??s though. If it could uncoil in a straight lineâ?¦â?¦.and if I could cut it to length and glue another cap on the end.

Lemme know what you think.

If youâ??re in MoV then weâ??re pretty closeâ?¦.Iâ??m just â??up the hillâ?� from you. Iâ??ll leave a link.

Thanks for the input
HMR

Hey, Horse, disregard what I said about access holes. Didn't know you were talking about a recirc DWC system. You can check / balance at the rez, of course... I reach in there with a small kitchen strainer and scoop out root particles and any other debris-- screw that $$$ cannazyme type stuff. Mechanical controls, baby!

Here's the airstones I found, plus an airpump Weez recommended which is very quiet, also Walmart, $13+ change.

[attachment=o230965]

I think those EC stones you have are the kind I broke. They floated real well, too, the SOB's... :mad: Dese mo' betta. :thumbsup:

I compared those 3 new stones and they were all similar, +/ - maybe 5%. One had a "lean" area in the middle (slightly more bubbles from the ends) but probably nothing I'd have noticed if I weren't looking real close. Total airflow seemed similar between the 3 stones.

But check it out: I tried to "tee" 2 airstones off the same air line, and 90% of the bubbles come out of the stone that's only 5% better in a one-to-one comparison. Obviously, the air's gonna take the path of least resistance, but I would have guessed they'd "share" better. Pneumatics noob, here... :D

Tha's why I showed ya the pic of the air pump. I put one stone on each pump, and I'm now evenly bubbled. ;)

Punching your own holes in an airline for your pre-veg bubbler might be your best bet for even bubble distribution from a single air source. I would do it under operating conditions, though -- under water -- and start punching from the end furthest the pump. Evenly spaced holes are not gonna give you even bubbles in this instance. (Though, as W. pointed out, that doesn't seem real critical. I've got a 5" airstone, off-center, in a 5 gal bucket and it's doing a fine job, with even root growth despite the uneven bubble distribution and mid-80's temps.)

And how deep is that water gonna be? I think the bubbles will oxygenate the water better if they have to travel through it for a ways...

:thumbsup: HTH, Hermie

I don't really have any experience with the tube, jsut thought it would work good for your set-up, seeing as it comes in assorted lengths. But with the 1" stones, they are very consistent, just place one either under each plant or in between to save a dollar or so.

-C


p.s.
whats the MoV?

I compared those 3 new stones and they were all similar, +/ - maybe 5%. One had a "lean" area in the middle (slightly more bubbles from the ends) but probably nothing I'd have noticed if I weren't looking real close. Total airflow seemed similar between the 3 stones.

Good score Hermieâ?¦..thatâ??s exactly the kind of information that I was looking for. With luck Iâ??ll be able to track them down onlineâ?¦..a picture is always worth $0.98

But check it out: I tried to "tee" 2 airstones off the same air line, and 90% of the bubbles come out of the stone that's only 5% better in a one-to-one comparison. Obviously, the air's gonna take the path of least resistance, but I would have guessed they'd "share" better. Pneumatics noob, here...

Yeah, I never had any luck w/ Tâ??s either. The picture that I used at the top is old newsâ?¦.the tray already has 4 separate lines in (the tees are history)

Punching your own holes in an airline for your pre-veg bubbler might be your best bet for even bubble distribution from a single air source. I would do it under operating conditions, though -- under water -- and start punching from the end furthest the pump. Evenly spaced holes are not gonna give you even bubbles in this instance. (Though, as W. pointed out, that doesn't seem real critical. I've got a 5" airstone, off-center, in a 5 gal bucket and it's doing a fine job, with even root growth despite the uneven bubble distribution and mid-80's temps.)

Hope it doesnâ??t get down to thatâ?¦.but you never know, could be valuable for a retentive kind of guy. Hmmmâ?¦..what size drill bitâ?¦.hmmm.

And how deep is that water gonna be? I think the bubbles will oxygenate the water better if they have to travel through it for a ways...

Well in the buckets about 8â?� deep (plenty of travel there) In the pre-veg only about 1 ½â?� at best. Still Iâ??m pretty unconcerned with (4) 6â?� stones in 2 ½ gallons.

Golly gee DHâ?¦..or maybe it should be â??uncleâ?� DHâ?¦..Gracias amigo

I don't really have any experience with the tube, jsut thought it would work good for your set-up, seeing as it comes in assorted lengths. But with the 1" stones, they are very consistent, just place one either under each plant or in between to save a dollar or so.

Thanks for getting back Forgetâ?¦..I may end up there yet

whats the MoV?

My attempt to not disclose anything that you held privateâ?¦â?¦forgetaboutit. If it didnâ??t make any sense to you then it was my error.

Out to the shop
HMR

Haha alright then, cool. The attempt is appreciated. lol.

-C