DWC without airstones

[nibec]

Hey 420'ers!

i'v been dealing with air stones for a while in my dwc, and am getting annoyed with them clogging up.

i started searching online for air stone alternatives, and came across a few posts of people having great success by simply... unplugging the airstones, and letting the hose bubble away unrestricted.

the theory behind this, is that larger bubbles actually work better by agitating the surface of the water more, creating a flooming effect.

anyone ever tired any methods with success, that dont use airstones, and dont use a pump, that will heat up the water?

 

[nibec]

hmmph, no ones tried it?

looks like i have something to experiement with next go-round

 

[Aberration]

I have heard of good results without. Go for it.

 

[preprodigy]

im sorry nut this info is incorrect. esecialy in a DWC. thats because in a DWC your root and net pot actually break the surface tension of the water which means its in the way for that floomage effect to even work. also with such large air bubbles (from open ended tube) you dont get good area coverage in your resevour. you want TINY bubbles. because the smaller the bubbles the more area those bubles will be able to take up, which in turn equals an extrememly aerated nutrient mix, not only that but smaller bubbles will actually penetrate and cover more of the root zone better, allowing the smaller bubbles to cling onto more of the roots surface area, this equalts to explosive root development. check out my latest grow.

one thing i did try once was used a stanless steel nail to plu the end of my 1/4" air line. then tool a bobby pin and places several hole through the 1/4" air line to make my own bubbler.
this actually worked quite well, esp. if you have a strong air pump (essential to any DWC system, the more air the better!!)

I use micro pore airstones and also use some organics like Mycoryhzae, nitrozyme, hygrozyme and they cause my air stones to get plugged up QUICK, i change my stones once a month and actually place the clogged ones into a pot of boiling water (while air hose is still attached, then i dip and remove over and over to help loosen up all the algea growth. it actually works quite well.
then a quick scrub with some bleach water and a quick fresh water rinse and the stones are good as new.

for the really really bad ones, i attach my air stones to a water pump and stick that pump in hot water, 90- 110 deg. F, and pump that hot water through and out the air stones to help push the nasty shit out of the air stones pores., again, this method works great.


but moral of story, NOOOOOOO, you dont want huge aggressive bubbles,, you want million of very tiny, gentle, docile, slow moving bubbles that completely dilute the reservoir with oxygen.


not only do i say this because i have been researching DWC for litterly YEARS, but because i have tried a few methods for airating my DWC set up and i have had the quickest and BEST results with BIG ASS AIR PUMPS, and TINY ASS BUBBLES!!! (micropore air stones)

check out my previous grows for proof, all of my DWC plants are monsters! they grow fast! and they produce ALLOT OF BUD.. just saying, the proof is in the pudding

I have heard of good results without. Go for it.

where is the proof, its actually a bad idea.

 

[SpaceGhost]

Try the air stone in the corner of this pic. You can find them at Meyers in the pet section for $3.50 I haven't had one clog yet.

 

[nibec]

i figured as much, but figured i would throw it out there anyways, always looking to think outside of the box and try to make things more simple..

so far all i'v come up with... is use a simple organic tea with dwc, and forget about root rot lol. litterally... i purposely let my water heat up to 75F, and removed a bunch of my light proofing from my res, just to see what happened when using the tea.. and well.. no slime, no algea, nothing... just clean water, and a squeeky clean res.

since testing that, i'v re light proofed, and dropped by water temp back down.

the last airstones i got only cost me $1.50, and i figured they would be crap... but, they've been holding up for a month and a half now and show no signs of clogging whatsoever yet.

they are fragile, as i broke one while hooking it up the first time, but,as long as you are gentle with them, they're awesome for only a buck and some cents.

so in other words, im not too worried about having to replace them often anymore.

 

[trichomes]

get a "venturi water pump" (rio makes the quality) you'll have more bubbles than u have ever seen, they don't clog and come in many sizes, smallest one will work fine for you, they are for reef-tank protein skimmers, im sure you can find them in action on utube look here

 

[oldman60]

I did a run with something similar once. It will definitely heat up your water without a chiller.
It will move the water as good as any air stone. That is the key.

A common misconception is that the plants use those air bubbles so they think the more bubbles
the more oxygen gets into the roots. The oxygen the plants uses is dissolved into the water
(meaning you can't see it). The agitation at the surface is where the oxygen get dissolved
into the water. This is at the molecular level. It doesn't take a whole lot of agitation to
saturate the water with DO.

 

[Alkeeholick]

 

[Alkeeholick]

I feel bad for people who have to read stuff that people like preprodigy post. I'm going to tell you this right now you do not need air stones in a DWC system. I've been in aquatics for 20 years and every time you see a fish tank without a bubble stone in it how do you think the fish are breathing? It's simple, the water is always moving so it's able to allow dissolved oxygen. All you want bubble stones for on a dwc is in case your water pump fails and the bubble stones will keep the water agitated so it doesn't go static. As long as you have good water movement you will have plenty of oxygen for the plants!!!!!

 

[Skunks]

Hi my air stone have stopped working will they be ok till get new tomorrow first grow so I don’t know a lot

 

[JUDGEmentDAY]

look up KRATKY METHOD for non circulating DWC

 

[JUDGEmentDAY]

i had a round 4 inch round stone with suction cups to stay on the bottom. never had a clog. i dont have it anymore. wish i did

 

[Rifleman]

I dont use them in my buckets. Follow the link below to The Roost and look at post #2559. It shows what i use and how i avoid airstones.

 

[Aroxol]

Dwc without air stones is dangerous, can get away with it in RDWC because water is moving.

Air stone alternatives are DIY air diffusers or actual oxygen diffuser products like O2 Grow. Air stones are cheap man, I’d just go with those and spend the extra $3 if one goes bad.

 

[Rifleman]

What's dangerous? I've been doing it that way for five years and haven't blown up the house yet.

 

[Aroxol]

Then you’re not doing it wrong enough yet

Lol idk man, do whatever you guys want