Could Air Stones Be Doing More Harm Than Good?

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PhatNuggz

PhatNuggz

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My 300 gph pump doe a nice job.

where I live they get into the house when the doors open. Once they get into the rezes, the larvae get sucked up into the f & d totes, where they develop (hence no waterfalls). I fought this all the way through to harvest last summer

This is one reason why I shifted to the tall Igloo, but that means my plant totes need to be higher up, reducing grow height, which is why I use the Cube to semi scrog. I am using a hydro halo drip ring to spray the nutes into the rez

Chiller Floom


IMG 3630
Chiller Floom
 
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PharmHand

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No airstones in RDWC. I'm at the finish line with some of the healthiest looking flowers I've grown. Running CMH 315s, reeflo 6000 gph pump with waterfalls and not one single airstones.
Beautiful work!
 
H

heisen

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In all fairness they are more than waterfalls.you have a huge pump and pipes with small holes creating multiple jets.you don't have just the return line in the control bucket.it would be unfair if people see this and pull there stones and see there plants start dropping like flies.
My question is how do you chill the system when the recommended gph pump is 550 on smaller chillers
 
H

heisen

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Im trying to figure out a way to do a smaller scale system to incorporate the water jets like you use with a water chiller.Obviously you cant run 7500 gallon per hour pump though a 1/4 HP water chiller so i would have to setup a seperate pump for the chiller and a seperate to shoot the water into the buckets.I think i would need to put another outtake in the buckets and than have the pipe with the holes in it come in from the top.

There is no doubt waterfalls in the buckets are better than stones its just trying to design a smaller scale system is a PIA
 
PhatNuggz

PhatNuggz

2,121
163
In my current grow, seedlings were started with 4 air stones and water level half way up the net pots. The roots grew 360*s and were plentiful. I moved the 2 biggest to individual F & D totes, and replaced the air stones in the starter tote with a 300 gph pump + Venturi

I noticed the plant directly above the pump looked sickly so I moved it to the opposite side. Now it could be that that plant got sick from close proximity to the electricity, or it was too far away from the flooming water. Dunno, but I suspect the former

such is life when experimenting
 
Aktommy

Aktommy

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In all fairness they are more than waterfalls.you have a huge pump and pipes with small holes creating multiple jets.you don't have just the return line in the control bucket.it would be unfair if people see this and pull there stones and see there plants start dropping like flies.
My question is how do you chill the system when the recommended gph pump is 550 on smaller chillers
Sorry I'm in no way trying to be misleading, I've been very forthcoming and transparent on my engineering. I'm using a 6000 GPH pump due to the amount of totes I'm running, it's very scalable and the only difference of a waterfall would be the removable of the 1/2 pvc with the holes drilled for the water streams. I actually restrict the flow of the pump to about 60-70 percent of its max flow rate via a ball valve. The pump is over kill for my system but I've learned through trial and error it's better to have to much than to little. I'm just showing proof that it is possible to grow healthy plants in RDWC without airstones. I am currently designing a RDWC system for a commercial grow and I will not be using airstones, just the jet system I shared in my post.
 
Aktommy

Aktommy

96
53
In all fairness they are more than waterfalls.you have a huge pump and pipes with small holes creating multiple jets.you don't have just the return line in the control bucket.it would be unfair if people see this and pull there stones and see there plants start dropping like flies.
My question is how do you chill the system when the recommended gph pump is 550 on smaller chillers
As for the question of the chiller: I am using a 1/2 hp chiller using a 1000 GPH pump that is directly in my epicenter. I am having no problem keeping my water temps at 66-68 with an ambient room temp of 79-80, even when vegging 18/6. I do use active air through 6 inch duct blowing directly on the back of my chiller. I could make it more efficient by installing the pump inline but it's working fine submersed in my epicenter.
 
H

heisen

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As for the question of the chiller: I am using a 1/2 hp chiller using a 1000 GPH pump that is directly in my epicenter. I am having no problem keeping my water temps at 66-68 with an ambient room temp of 79-80, even when vegging 18/6. I do use active air through 6 inch duct blowing directly on the back of my chiller. I could make it more efficient by installing the pump inline but it's working fine submersed in my epicenter.
Im with you.all about it.If i can figure out a way to do this in a smaller scale 6 bucket system im on it.Im over the air stones as much as anyone else.
 
J

JustMeds

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Them are some nice looking roots for sure. If you google Quad12 you can see and stop in and leave a comment on my build. Would like to hear anyone's thoughts on my build.
 
Magic M

Magic M

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Thank you to all that have contributed to this thread. i am currently setting up a 12 site x 45 l w/ a 102 l rez . i have 2" return lines and the pods will be fed by a 2700gph pump split down to 1/2" lines for the waterfall. no air stones . Im glad to see your guys systems working so well for you . I have been growing in dirt for about 6 years but im tired of the mess that comes with the dirt. I ve been researching UC systems for several months , on many different sites & THCFARMER is definitely the authority on UC systems and im glad to be a part of this community. looking forward to sharing my experiences with you guys.
 
RunAmuch

RunAmuch

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1
Thank you to all that have contributed to this thread. i am currently setting up a 12 site x 45 l w/ a 102 l rez . i have 2" return lines and the pods will be fed by a 2700gph pump split down to 1/2" lines for the waterfall. no air stones . Im glad to see your guys systems working so well for you . I have been growing in dirt for about 6 years but im tired of the mess that comes with the dirt. I ve been researching UC systems for several months , on many different sites & THCFARMER is definitely the authority on UC systems and im glad to be a part of this community. looking forward to sharing my experiences with you guys.

So how did your setup work out? I'm in beginning phase, specking out my system, I'm wondering what size pump to get, I'll either go with 8 large sites or 12- 4 gallon sites, hoping to get a good waterfall effect in each site, but there are so many pumps out there! You speak of a 2700gph, that sounds way overkill, was it? Can you recommend a make n model? Are pool pumps useable? Should I go by horse power, thinking either 1/2 to 1 HP. Any thoughts?
 
RunAmuch

RunAmuch

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1
New system I just built without airstones. Each tote has an adjustable ball valve with a jet type system, running off a 2800 gph reeflo pump.

How did your setup work out? Was the pump the right size? I've read many say keeping the water as dark as possible is important, did those yellow lids create any problems by letting too much light into the water?
Thanks in advance! Your setup looks solid!
 
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