C
cousin_ed
- 5
- 0
hello fellow medicine men and growers!
i have a few questions pertaining to aeration and also some theoretical improvements and maybe ideas that will increase our yeilds!
first off, what is aeration?
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/choosing-aquarium-equipment5.htm
this basically states that surface tension is what we are fighting with these air pumps and air stones. is this correct?
im convinced that the amount of DO (dissolved oxygen) in a solution is directly related to the agitation of the solution. see below
mpb's commonly use 1800gph or larger pumps. 4lb per plant + yield.
undercurrent commonly uses 500-900gph and larger pumps. huge yields.
rdwc using 150gph and larger pond pumps. pretty large yields
standalone dwc with only air-stones. yields more than soil.
i understand the huge variation in lighting, nutrients, water quality, pump size, air pumps, stones, etc....etc....
but! what defines the growth rate and size of the plant? the oxygen content near the roots.( I.E. soil<coco<hydro ) causes the larger yeilds. use the same nutes and light in soil and then do it again in hydro. the hydro plant will yeild more. therefore this identifies two possibilities :
#1: plant has greater oxygen quantity near the roots
#2: plant just has the ability to eat 24/7 like nutes on demmand.
#2 seems to be the wrong answer because of the evidence supported by comparing rdwc to undercurrent or mpb's. both have 24/7 nutrients on demmand yet the mpb's yeild more.
simply aeration? or the reduced surface tension by increased agitation from the bigger and bigger pumps?
i understand that agitation is also aeration, but thats not what im getting at.
this may be a shocker to yall
i think while airstones may do the job, cheaper more efficient ways of simply highly agitating the water would do just as good if not better than stones and pumps!
:sick0004:
the only reason to use a stone is the porosity to cause the small bubbles which do not splash up in huge spurts of water like the end of an open air hose.
if the same volume of air per hour is injected, does it really matter if the bubbles are small? the plants roots do not use the air bubbles, they simply break the surface tension. correct?
wouldn't a large agitation machine: say, an electric motor that drives a quite large impeller inside the reservoir do the same thing? maybe somehow surround the impeller and assist the flow or something. it would be cheaper to buy a motor and impeller than a 1800gph pump. i have an old trolling motor off a bass-boat with variable speeds i was thinking of testing out.
im not saying not to pump in air, but these $30 stones.... c'mon
also, wouldn't it be beneficial to maybe add an additive like soap that removes the surface tension?
i have a few questions pertaining to aeration and also some theoretical improvements and maybe ideas that will increase our yeilds!
first off, what is aeration?
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/choosing-aquarium-equipment5.htm
this basically states that surface tension is what we are fighting with these air pumps and air stones. is this correct?
im convinced that the amount of DO (dissolved oxygen) in a solution is directly related to the agitation of the solution. see below
mpb's commonly use 1800gph or larger pumps. 4lb per plant + yield.
undercurrent commonly uses 500-900gph and larger pumps. huge yields.
rdwc using 150gph and larger pond pumps. pretty large yields
standalone dwc with only air-stones. yields more than soil.
i understand the huge variation in lighting, nutrients, water quality, pump size, air pumps, stones, etc....etc....
but! what defines the growth rate and size of the plant? the oxygen content near the roots.( I.E. soil<coco<hydro ) causes the larger yeilds. use the same nutes and light in soil and then do it again in hydro. the hydro plant will yeild more. therefore this identifies two possibilities :
#1: plant has greater oxygen quantity near the roots
#2: plant just has the ability to eat 24/7 like nutes on demmand.
#2 seems to be the wrong answer because of the evidence supported by comparing rdwc to undercurrent or mpb's. both have 24/7 nutrients on demmand yet the mpb's yeild more.
simply aeration? or the reduced surface tension by increased agitation from the bigger and bigger pumps?
i understand that agitation is also aeration, but thats not what im getting at.
this may be a shocker to yall
i think while airstones may do the job, cheaper more efficient ways of simply highly agitating the water would do just as good if not better than stones and pumps!
:sick0004:
the only reason to use a stone is the porosity to cause the small bubbles which do not splash up in huge spurts of water like the end of an open air hose.
if the same volume of air per hour is injected, does it really matter if the bubbles are small? the plants roots do not use the air bubbles, they simply break the surface tension. correct?
wouldn't a large agitation machine: say, an electric motor that drives a quite large impeller inside the reservoir do the same thing? maybe somehow surround the impeller and assist the flow or something. it would be cheaper to buy a motor and impeller than a 1800gph pump. i have an old trolling motor off a bass-boat with variable speeds i was thinking of testing out.
im not saying not to pump in air, but these $30 stones.... c'mon
also, wouldn't it be beneficial to maybe add an additive like soap that removes the surface tension?