I would like to make a brewer myself. Any advice would be great. I'm thinking in the 10 gallon range or so with quality componets..Thank you
Here's the tank I used to make a compost brewer. I matched it with a 65 liter per minute commercial air pump. The whole get up is mounted on plywood that is attached to a two wheel hand cart. I have used from spring till now, and it works great. Ace / DenHartog 10 Gallon Square Specialty Rinse Tank (A-SP0010-SQ8)
I just bought an aquarium air pump and a 5 inch air stone and a 5 gallon bucket... I reccomend this way because you can make the 5 gallons as strong as you want and dilute it after its done... And you can make a nice brewer for around 20 bucks at walmart.
Kinda. Air-stones need to be disposed of or cleaned with EM after each usage. Tiny aquarium pumps are frowned upon also. Poke around this section a little more. I've seen some awesome brewers here.
frowned on huh... I was taught by a college teacher that you can make just as good tea with my setup as a 3000 dollar rig... and he even has his findings published ran up against top of the line equipment. But I respect your opinion. I mean I understand expensive rigs if you're doing acres of field but for what I need this will do.
I'm sure it's possible, but would a guy with a walmart airpump have the microscope to really know? You can see the failings of a small aquarium pump with your own eyes. A tiny pump leaves a lot of dead zones. A big-ass pump and a PVC manifold is the ticket for maximum aeration. Still comes in at way under 3 grand.
Might come in under 3 grand, but it will still be a loooong ways from $20-$30, more like $125 or so minimum for what you are suggesting one must have. A basic 5 gallon bucket, airstone, and air pump is better than no bucket/airstone/pump. Would you rather someone do without because they couldn't afford a $75+ air pump and accessories, or, make do with what they could afford and start making teas/ACCTS? You don't need a Lexus to learn to drive. Wet
But a car needs enough oxygen to mix with the gas to run at all. Lexus or no Lexus. Starve the engine of oxygen and it will die... Just like your aerobic microbes.
Here is a web site that may help with the needed size of air pump for your tank. Microbe Organics I have around $150 in my ten gallon brewer but I use it for the veggie garden, flowers around the yard, edible herbs, lavender and the like, and my small indoor grow. I'm not sure what it is exactly, because I'm also using homemade compost/ewc at the same time but it seems everything that gets tea likes it. I dilute the tea at least by half up to 3/1 water, and it seems as good as, full strength. I have no conclutions to draw from this or proof of anything, just saying a little can go a long ways.......MIW
???????? This makes no sense. Where are you starving for oxygen? Hell, you can just stir the tea or pour it back and forth from bucket. I'll amend what I'm saying about ACCT and CT. You may need larger air pumps for ACCTS, but you can still do compost teas with the 5 gallon bucket and a aquarium pump/stone and quite well. Do you get a noob on the road to tea's with a $30 setup, or tell him/her that they must wait until they can afford the much more expensive equipment before starting? It would be like saying, "You can't learn to drive till you get a Lexus". THAT'S the point I was trying to make. Don't be ACCT snobs. LOL When I can budget a better set up, I will. For right now, I'll just have to make do with what I have, a 22 YO truck rather than a 2011 Lexus. Wet
It would not be beneficial for a noob to brew 5 gallons, with a small pump, at a time though. But 1-2 gallons of brewed tea goes a long way. After seeing how well my teas are going now, I suspect the teas I made before, while not bad, were not doing all that much either. Come winter when I start brewing indoors again I'll stick to small teas, after seeing first hand.......shredder
Exactly! I have 5 gal buckets, but don't fill them up. You're right, might not be doing much, but it beats none at all and 1 or 2 gallons goes a long way. We all have to start somewhere. Wet
Compost tea has almost nothing to offer in terms of NPK. If the microbes aren't their either, why not just use water?
My tea brewer seems to be working well, Im still new though... I brew around 20 gallons at a time in (4) 5 gallon buckets. My set-up cost me around $150 give or take a few dollars..... Pump : $80 Buckets : $20 12 Airstones : $40 Air Line : $5 The biggest air pump I could find , came with a 12 outlet manifold. Food Grade Black Buckets 12 Airstones total , 3 Airstones in each bucket , 2 large normal ones, and 1 disc style. Some Air Line.... 20 Gallons of Tea go's a long ways .....
If my pump creates plenty of oxygen for a fish to live It must be adding oxygen to my couple gallons of water... No need to fight about whats better people, we all have different opinions. Just be happy people are out there interested in and trying new things. -Mack
7" x 1.5" with 3/8" barb. Hooked up to an 81 lpm pump and this set-up is good for up to 30 gallons and @ 75F it will produce a balanced AACT (bacteria to fungi ratio) in about 27 - 30 hours. Much of that depends on what fungi foods you include into your AACT formula (kelp meal, alfalfa meal, fish hydrolysate, fish meal, et al) as far as the fungi colonies as well as whether you're starting with worm castings or viable thermal compost. If you are doing your own worm castings then you can manipulate the microbial colonies fairly easily or at the very least easier than trying to accomplish the same goal in the thermal compost process. HTH LD One other note - because this type of airstone is designed for pond/lake aeration, the holes are larger than the airstones you might buy at an aquarium shop or pet store. The larger holes make it much easier to effect the removal of the biofilm with Oxyclean and a bubble session of a few hours.
LD, do you experiment with making compost/ewc fungal through using baby oatmeal to grow a fungus before making your teas? Or just rely on what is already in the ewc/ compost, and give it enough time? Thanks MIW
MI Wolverine I absolutely do advocate kick-starting the fungi colonies with a grain like oatmeal. (Others are equally effective and in the case of barley grain it may be the best grain that is easily sourced. Chia seeds are also a good choice but sometimes difficult to source. Raw, unprocessed quinoa seeds are also off the chart). AND I also add grains, kelp meal, neem seed meal, crustacean meal and glacial rock dust to the worm bin to encourage fungi development. Both approaches has been the best deal for me. HTH LD
Thanks, I'm afraid my little bin type worm bin is just enough for teas, I'm a little disappointed and did not want to go big, and I have not really targeted their food. I do feed them a fair amount of bakashi. My last couple of bakashi had plenty of fungus though. I have concentrated on my compost more. And that has gone well. It starts as oak leafs and yard debris, then gets veggie scraps, lit up with bakashi, and the flames are fed with alfalfa meal. I'm a fairly avid mushroom hunter, and I have thrown at least a bushel in for a 90% filled compost sak, so i figure it must be ballanced if not fugus dominated...I'm guessing here without a scope, but, i have used the last batch all around the yard and everything loves it. Oh and the girls all all healthy too. MIW
MI Wolverine Strive for making good compost and worm castings and don't get too hung up on specific microbial ratios. It can and will drive you nuts. You'll end up like me. It ain't necessary. Just remember that what you add to your worm bin and thermal compost has everything to do with viability - garbage in and you'll get garbage out. The levels in either will take care of themselves like they have for several billion years without our input. The health of your own garden is all the proof you need. LD