Flooming for aeration?

Discussion in 'Hydroponic Growing' started by brianmmj, Feb 2, 2016.

  1. #1 brianmmj, Feb 2, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 3, 2016
    I would like to try a bin hydro setup with flooming for DO rather than an air stone.

    Does anyone have experience with this?

    I see some old posts here and on other forums comparing flooming vs. air stones, although I don't see any informed recommendations one which would be better. From what I am reading, the primary aeration that comes from bubblers is from circulation and surface disruption - not from air being absorbed from the bubbles themselves.

    I assume that the absorption of O2 happens within nanometers of the surface of the water. Changing the surface of the water by pumping water from the bottom to the top should keep a lot of undersaturated water in contact with air.

    If the air on the surface were stagnant, I would guess that water soluable gases in contact with the surface would be absorbed and low soluable gases would form a barrier, preventing good interaction. Because of this, I think that a fan moving air over the surface of the water would really improve absorption.

    I have a 20 gallon bin I want to use for this experiment. I'll have a submerged 10W (100gph) pump that will keep the surface churning without producing much heat. I'll have a 3" hole (net pot hole) with an 80mm fan pushing air under the lid. This may even cause enough evaporation to cool it a little.

    I'd love to know if anyone has tried something similar.
     
  2. It is set! This is my first grow, so i added a small bubbler as well to mitigate risk. I have a 4 watt pump in the bottom that is pushing up water through the surface just fine, though, and the USB fans keep air moving over the surface of the water fine.

    I'll reserve the real test with a control for after I have done a couple of grows.

    After a couple of hours the water temp is 2 degrees below ambient. I will watch for any rise in temp, since that would really work against what I'm trying to do.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Update: I don't have anything to compare to, but these plants are super healthy and the leaves are bigger than my hand. The soil plant on the right is now half the size of the others. I don't know how much flooming has to do with it, but it sure doesn't hurt.
     
  4. Another update: There is a bit of a problem with this. The roots fill the bin quite densely and block much of the water flow up from the pump. The flooming area needs to somehow be kept clear of dense roots. I am close to being able to try flooming vs bubbles with all other variables equal.
     

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