Hey blades I am trying to find some new setups for my dwc. Currently using an active aqua 4 slot air pump and cylinder airstone. Not really impressed. Doesn't seem to be creative enough oxygen bubbles in resivoir. Would love to see yalls set ups.
EcoPlus® Commercial Air Pumps | Eco Plus I use their 1030gph unit and a metal valved manifold for 4-6 buckets. I often used it with only 4 and would use two 4" long stones per bucket. I think many people don't use enough air. I found that more air would dramatically improve root health and prevent bad growth. You almost need a lack of air to get root rot. If there's plenty it can't grow.
Yea that inline fan is arriving Friday with the ducting and filter. Room temps are 79° and resivoir temps are 78°. The high resivoir temps are probably dropping oxygen levels a lot. Will be venting the air out of my window. That should drop the temps alot. I was thinking about buying some flat round airstones. Also those air stone diffusers look interesting. This weekend should be pretty fun. Have 8 items coming in for my grow. Including two mean well 320h-54A drivers and 96 v2 boards arriving. Only thing pissing me off is Amazon still hasn't shipped the wago connectors, power cord, and pH meter. Need to pick up some silica nutrients at the store. Just need your opinion on something. Do you think switching to an ebb and flow system would be wise? I read it alot more oxygen to roots.
I tried those, and I don't really recommend them. They tend to get clogged easier than the cylinder airstones imho. Plus, the cylinder airstones are much easier to untangle and move around when they start getting caught in the web of roots. I've also been having issues with those Active Aqua 4-slot pumps. They tend to break down easy and lose air strength. I've already thrown 2 away. I've been looking into their commercial air pumps instead. I'll probably try those out in my next grow.
Yea I think I will go with the one @Tbone Shuffle mentioned. Just two plants now all future grows will be 4 plants. Well for now I will go to the hydroponic store and pick up more tubing and add another cylinder stone to each bucket. That should do the trick.
I got a vivosun 950 gph 32w pump off amazon with 2 of the cylinder air stones black silicone hose havent ran my bucket yet though. This will be my first time dwc i got a waterfarm kit for my bucket so was planning on using the pump to run the top feed drip and the 2 air stones in the 1 bucket.
I thought one airstone would suffice being they are rather large. Guess not. Pick two up tomorrow. Think I have black tubing at work.
Lot of the builds i have seen use 1 but i got a 2pack deal with the stones and hose so i figured got the extra outputs might as well just use extra stones. Never seen where to much oxygen hurt
I believe top feed is better than air stones. I've been using a couple of GenHydro top feed Ecogrowers that are sold without air stones. A few months ago I ran one of them with an added air stone, and one without. I noticed no difference between actual growth and expected growth in either Ecogrower, so I now believe air stones are unnecessary in a top feed system, assuming enough water flow. A big advantage of top feed is that it keeps res fluid well mixed. An air stone sitting in an empty pocket of roots won't mix the res well. But if a top feed is done using a submerged water pump, undesired heat will be added to the res. GH gets around this by using external air pumps to "air lift" the res fluid. GH also has a "Farm Kit" that can be added to systems for top feed. GH Farm Kit
if you get the farm kit be sure you have a big enough basket i think i got a 4 or a 6in and cutting the top feed ring to fit it got me several crimps
I run this same exact air pump have for years I will warn you it is loud and it will get very warm I have mine hanging outside the tent with a pc fan blowing on it Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
If you want to quiet these air pumps, add a buffer. That is use a liter pop bottle and add a go-in-sa and a go-out -sa airline through the cap. I use a can myself. Use a valve to control the output. Will quiet down the pump a lot. Check out post #6 What air pump? DWC Check post #13 sizing air pumpd for dwc
That's the plan. What is the difference between ecoplus and vivosun pump? Seeing better reviews with vivosun
I've been hearing some wild stories about vivosun products lately over on reddit. I trust pretty much any other brand besides them.
Actually decided next grow I will be building a super soil. When it comes to what I love about weed it is the terpene profile. Soil apparently has a lot higher terpene profiles than hydroponics.
I feel the same way. I use a Air Force 80 which is basically the same volume as yours. From that, the air goes to two 12inch hose diffusers. I only run 2 pots 17 gallons each. I've gotten into arguements with other folks on other forums over this. I'd say the plant in the picture did just fine. This was one of two that season. 27oz total yield
You can substitute airstones with good water circulation but it's tricky. I still feel like with a really large rootball you could easily get root rot. What I've found happens is if you get a really thick and full root ball it will limit the water circulation and lead to bad growth unless you can boost the flow somehow. More air is a good way to do that. That bad growth really hates large amounts of air. As I said earlier I've driven root rot away by simply adding a second airstone to my larger plants. Watched it disappear overnight practically after adding more air.