Outdoor hydro do I need air stones?

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Outdoorhydropile

Outdoorhydropile

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Just to add the bubbles create water column mixing by pulling water up with them and surface agitation which is why its a good option but not the only option… waterfalls, fluming, fans and eace makers also can work.

Its not the bubbles but the action of the bubbles that aerate the water and why matching pumps to proper airstones is the key not by gph of the pump to the volume of water as many seem to have some formula for

As @Ponky said exposure or dwell time and suface area are
Depends on your delivery of water… its surface agitation thats key and where the gas exchange happens. Contrary to what most think it is NOT the bubbles but rather the surface agitation they create…. Can get more depth if you feel the need.

If your delivery or input is above the water level and it causes good surface agitation and water column mixing then absolutely no need.

On the contrary if its below and does not agitate the surface well you can do individual and possibly just the supply depending on how its setup.

If you can break out the crayons and give me a half assed look at the flow directions, pump rating and supply res are like i can give you a better idea.

Ideally your pump and return lines should be able to turnover the actual volume of water that your grow sites hold at a min 4x per hr and 10 would be a good place.

Hiw many sites on a loop matter so if you are feeding to each site individually from the res (done many way) then your in a good place for an easy answers
Hey, I appreciate your input! Soo, to start, I’m filling my sites from the bottom all from the same fill manifold/ 1 pump which takes about 15 minutes to start overflowing. At this point I get a waterfall effect in my res. I also run a circ. Pump that makes my res very turbulent 24/7.. what you think?
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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Hey, I appreciate your input! Soo, to start, I’m filling my sites from the bottom all from the same fill manifold/ 1 pump which takes about 15 minutes to start overflowing. At this point I get a waterfall effect in my res. I also run a circ. Pump that makes my res very turbulent 24/7.. what you think?
Sounds like to me you will need air stones. If you go with the comkon 4x2 cylinder one they like 10L per min each so 160 LPM (not gal per hr) pump would match your system
 
Outdoorhydropile

Outdoorhydropile

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Sounds like to me you will need air stones. If you go with the comkon 4x2 cylinder one they like 10L per min each so 160 LPM (not gal per hr) pump would match your system
Ok gotcha! I do have an air line run out to the greenhouse but I haven’t purchased an air pump. Looking in that size range they can get quite expensive.. 😳😂 I’m cheap-ish. Lol this might be a dumb question but, could you use a high volume air compressor metered down to a certain psi to achieve the same end result??
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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See that makes me think your ok. My only concern would be that if you cover it your not getting replenishment of o2 in the air at the surface so if your covering it i would put an intake and output for air in the lid with a small fan. There are a few option but that would be the easiest. If you use an inline fan you can draw air from anywhere you like with a ducted passive ouput to keep humid air from damaging the structure as it would likely do under a floor and vent it anywhere you like. Possibly go go further and use it as a humidifier on a controller if needed
 
Outdoorhydropile

Outdoorhydropile

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See that makes me think your ok. My only concern would be that if you cover it your not getting replenishment of o2 in the air at the surface so if your covering it i would put an intake and output for air in the lid with a small fan. There are a few option but that would be the easiest. If you use an inline fan you can draw air from anywhere you like with a ducted passive ouput to keep humid air from damaging the structure as it would likely do under a floor and vent it anywhere you like. Possibly go go further and use it as a humidifier on a controller if needed
I never thought of that!! I was really just trying to keep the light out. But I’m thinking you might be on to something there. Thanks man
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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Ok gotcha! I do have an air line run out to the greenhouse but I haven’t purchased an air pump. Looking in that size range they can get quite expensive.. 😳😂 I’m cheap-ish. Lol this might be a dumb question but, could you use a high volume air compressor metered down to a certain psi to achieve the same end result??
I wouldn’t just because they can leak oil
 
Outdoorhydropile

Outdoorhydropile

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Your going to need a taller green house.

Adding air stones is an attempt to increase DO levels.

What is your water temperature with the system running?
Definitely gonna need to go up.. 😳
Your going to need a taller green house.

Adding air stones is an attempt to increase DO levels.

What is your water temperature with the system
If he hits 72 lol. . . he is my hero. . and his trees will grow right through that roof. I bet the greenhouse is lifted 20ft off the ground lol. . dude is my hero.

I worry about the return line size. . but he's drain and flood so Idk. .

I think it would be hard to keep that water warm. I imagine the drums 25% buried and a geo loop/coil to cool it.

Overall as long as he keeps them low. . i think he will do fantastic. Must say im a bit jelous.
If he hits 72 lol. . . he is my hero. . and his trees will grow right through that roof. I bet the greenhouse is lifted 20ft off the ground lol. . dude is my hero.

I worry about the return line size. . but he's drain and flood so Idk. .

I think it would be hard to keep that water warm. I imagine the drums 25% buried and a geo loop/coil to cool it.

Overall as long as he keeps them low. . i think he will do fantastic. Must say im a bit jelous.
Reservoir temp is currently at 70 degrees.. 😁the outdoor temp in my location is currently 84 degrees
 
Outdoorhydropile

Outdoorhydropile

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Yeah I would agree. Turning over the atmosphere around the res might help with the exchange of gasses.
See that makes me think your ok. My only concern would be that if you cover it your not getting replenishment of o2 in the air at the surface so if your covering it i would put an intake and output for air in the lid with a small fan. There are a few option but that would be the easiest. If you use an inline fan you can draw air from anywhere you like with a ducted passive ouput to keep humid air from damaging the structure as it would likely do under a floor and vent it anywhere you like. Possibly go go further and use it as a humidifier on a controller if needed
I took the lid off the res after this comment. It’s currently sitting at 70 degrees. Where is the sweet spot for temps in your opinion?
 
Cashmeh

Cashmeh

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I took the lid off the res after this comment. It’s currently sitting at 70 degrees. Where is the sweet spot for temps in your opinion?
Once you get above 70 you would have to switch how you combat pythium. I think you said you add something every so often, im assuming a corrosive to break down cell walls. Once you get into the 70's your biological growth in the res will outpace your ability to combat it with corrosives. Basically you will have to switch over to more of an aquaponics system, where you use bacteria to combat pythium. Similar to lakes and what not, vs the swimming pool method. In hydro we run live or sterile systems. Your currently running sterile with your additive. Sterile systems like temps between 66-70, lots of people use chillers. Now i run my hydro in a live system. I dont do full res changes, I dont add corrosives or enzymes, nothing. . just some bacteria. My bacteria wont work if corrosives are added.
I run warmer water temps because you get faster growth. Im assuming it speeds up the plants metabolism. If you do a side by side with 68f plants and 73f plants, same genetics, same everything, well its drastically noticeable how much faster they grow. But. . its highly debated lol. . so when we say your fine there, its because theres one hell of a learning curve if you want to really push them. So much false info out there too. Not many run warm water in hydro.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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Once you get above 70 you would have to switch how you combat pythium. I think you said you add something every so often, im assuming a corrosive to break down cell walls. Once you get into the 70's your biological growth in the res will outpace your ability to combat it with corrosives. Basically you will have to switch over to more of an aquaponics system, where you use bacteria to combat pythium. Similar to lakes and what not, vs the swimming pool method. In hydro we run live or sterile systems. Your currently running sterile with your additive. Sterile systems like temps between 66-70, lots of people use chillers. Now i run my hydro in a live system. I dont do full res changes, I dont add corrosives or enzymes, nothing. . just some bacteria. My bacteria wont work if corrosives are added.
I run warmer water temps because you get faster growth. Im assuming it speeds up the plants metabolism. If you do a side by side with 68f plants and 73f plants, same genetics, same everything, well its drastically noticeable how much faster they grow. But. . its highly debated lol. . so when we say your fine there, its because theres one hell of a learning curve if you want to really push them. So much false info out there too. Not many run warm water in hydro.
Or dose more frequently. Like each day or couple days… just to explain to the OP what your saying.

The warmer the temos the faster the metabolism for both plants and microbes. Sterile works by knocking both beneficial and undesired microbe populations down to an insignificant level and dosing frequency will be determined by reproduction rates of those microbes. Typically this is done as @Cashmeh indicated avout ecery 3 days with temps around 68… Now a few degrees may not seem much but in terms of speeding up not only the plants metabolism but also the reproduction rates of microbes you would need to dose more often to achieve the same goal. From 68f to 72f i would give a rough guess of 1/2-1/3 more often.

Personally i prefer a live system as this increase in reproduction is a benefit but also creates a slightly higher demand for o2 which in your case i dont think is an issue once you mod the lid. Biomedia is also a good addition to any live system.

Also the difference in growth rate sfrom 68f to 72f is visibly noticeable since rootzone temps are very ket to plant temps… i wont get deeper into it but as high as upper 70”s can be very beneficial provided you can maintain adequate o2 since as water temps go up o2 saturation point goes down. At those temps i feel aeroponics would be more well suited
 
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Outdoorhydropile

Outdoorhydropile

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I don't grow in hydro but likely will change that in the future at some point. Plant development is so much faster...This is a bad ass looking outdoor hydro system for sure man! I'd like to watch this progress ✌️.
I started a grow diary for this one. I’m not sure how to share a link
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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I started a grow diary for this one. I’m not sure how to share a link
I got ya.

Link to @Outdoorhydropile grow diary.

 
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