I NEED HELP !!!! WATER PUMP VS AIRSTONES?

[Dietrich]

Hello everybody and thank you for all the help in advance!!!

alright so I have a flood table that I just got going and I have 6 airstones in my 20 gallon reservoir, these things are so damned loud I have a towel under the air pump but its still crazy!! My buddy swears by using just a water pump rather than airstones but I’ve never ever heard of that. Now I see something called a Venturi valve that you connect to a water pump and it’s supposed to mix/oxygenate the Nutrient water, does anybody know anything about this or what I can do other than airstones???

 

[Dietrich]

@Aqua Man could you help me out here?

 

[Stanfields]

You put the water pump in your nutrient tank to keep it from separation due to Settling. Airstones are to enrich the water with oxygen for the roots and why replace airstones

 

[Cashmeh]

Ditch the stones and hook the airline directly up to the pump and its fitting. No need to buy extra parts if your pump came with a fitting. If you want to use a pressurized one thats cool too but I would run a pump that is rated for high pressure and use the fittings that are specific for your tubing. The more you homogenize the air and water in the fitting, the better it works. I dont know how big of a difference it will actually make just upgrading a plastic fitting. I would say there are PSI requirements and plastic equipment wont last unless its rated for such. At that point if you have metal fittings, you would want to directly inject O2 full effectiveness.
Video is about shrimp, but same principals apply.

Quick Method to increase Oxygen in your Biofloc Tanks for Vannamei Farming | Aquaculture Technology

Hello Everyone!Here's a quick video on how do we quickly enhance the amount of oxygen available in the biofloc culture! Oxygen is require for the shrimp in o...

www.youtube.com

 

[Dietrich]

You put the water pump in your nutrient tank to keep it from separation due to Settling. Airstones are to enrich the water with oxygen for the roots and why replace airstone

I don’t necessarily need to ditch airstones but what I have now is entirely to loud… so if I ran 2 airstones rather than 6 and put a water pump in the reservoir I wonder if that would work

 

[freezeland2]

The water turbulence at the surface of the reservoir is where air exchange occurs. You can do that with a pump. Personally I’d use air stones to create that surface turbulence.

 

[Stanfields]

I don’t necessarily need to ditch airstones but what I have now is entirely to loud… so if I ran 2 airstones rather than 6 and put a water pump in the reservoir I wonder if that would work

It would work, but not optimal by any means. I would get quieter pump.

 

[Dietrich]

What do you recommend for a 20 gallon reservoir???

 

[RootsRuler]

As has been mentioned one of the spots where air/water oxygenation happens is at the surface where air and water meet but airstones also oxygenate by dissolving O2 into the water as the bubbles pass through it.

Air pumps for airstones are usually made for aquariums and are made to run at low volume. Not sure why yours is so loud. They usually have flexible rubber feet to isolate the vibrations.

I have a 6 inch airstone I used when I was attempting DWC in 30 gallon trashcans. It oxygenated the water really well and I only needed one in the reservoir.

 

[Dietrich]

Im using the eco 6 commercial grade that I used for my 6 bubble buckets, I have the ecoair4 that is much quieter but didn’t think that was enough water movement\bubbles

 

[WizCokzilla]

water pump definitely!

 

[Dietrich]

water pump definitely!

Could you explain how I would do this ?

 

[Cool_Beans]

Could you explain how I would do this ?

The orange thing with the vent line hooked to it. Vents to the atmosphere, puts out lots of bubbles, no air pumps. I have no experience using this in a hydroponic system, but I can tell you it does those things. Currently in testing for my future setup lol.

 

[Cashmeh]

The orange thing with the vent line hooked to it. Vents to the atmosphere, puts out lots of bubbles, no air pumps. I have no experience using this in a hydroponic system, but I can tell you it does those things. Currently in testing for my future setup lol.

So I like the air pump because it chills the water, keeps it around home temp at 72f. You gotta test with lights at max to see if this does too. LEMME KNOW

 

[Cool_Beans]

@Cashmeh just unplug your airline from your air pump and stick a vent on it if you like that air better. Only needs to terminate above water level of your system, doesnt need to vent in your grow area.

 

[Dietrich]

The orange thing with the vent line hooked to it. Vents to the atmosphere, puts out lots of bubbles, no air pumps. I have no experience using this in a hydroponic system, but I can tell you it does those things. Currently in testing for my future setup lol.

Where do I get one of those
And is that a Venturi valve

 

[Cool_Beans]

Yes, it is a venturi. You can get them from Amazon or garden/irrigation supply. Might also be called a "fertilizer injector".

 

[Smokey0418]

Could you explain how I would do this ?

Just a regular activeaqua pump would come with an aeration plumb .

Would be as simple as assembling and putting in the tank.