Flooming

[donpaul.p]

very interesting,

its something i could actually try with ease but id need to set up a bigger dwc setup, im tempted to get rid of my soil grown methods and flip to a full dwc set up with 2 or 4 big res's, so interesting idea, i could possible run 2 with air pumps and stones and 2 with water pumps, ive actually got 4 small water pumps from outdoor ponds that my mom used to have, they used to pump water to small water falls, these pumps are not big at all, id say if you put 2 ait pumps together then the water pumps are about that size, they come with lots of attatchments so you can have fountains and stuff like that, so i got the gear to get it set up but cant try it till this round of plants are done,

ive got some big tubs i can use as res's for plants, could possibly run 2 plants per res as their pretty big plastic tubs, the kind you hide all the kids toys in and put in cupboards, so got plenty of them lying around as well, so could run some as air and some as water pumps, so its an interesting idea and would take some testing, it depends on how harsh the pressure is going to be on the roots also so it would need directing in the right place as you could just rip the roots apart if the pressure is to much, even the air pumps break some roots as i do have the odd piece of root floating around each time i empty the res,

 

[Wacky Kush]

That would truly be a wonderful experiment. Please advise with results if you proceed. Thanks for adding to the thread.

very interesting,

its something i could actually try with ease but id need to set up a bigger dwc setup, im tempted to get rid of my soil grown methods and flip to a full dwc set up with 2 or 4 big res's, so interesting idea, i could possible run 2 with air pumps and stones and 2 with water pumps, ive actually got 4 small water pumps from outdoor ponds that my mom used to have, they used to pump water to small water falls, these pumps are not big at all, id say if you put 2 ait pumps together then the water pumps are about that size, they come with lots of attatchments so you can have fountains and stuff like that, so i got the gear to get it set up but cant try it till this round of plants are done,

ive got some big tubs i can use as res's for plants, could possibly run 2 plants per res as their pretty big plastic tubs, the kind you hide all the kids toys in and put in cupboards, so got plenty of them lying around as well, so could run some as air and some as water pumps, so its an interesting idea and would take some testing, it depends on how harsh the pressure is going to be on the roots also so it would need directing in the right place as you could just rip the roots apart if the pressure is to much, even the air pumps break some roots as i do have the odd piece of root floating around each time i empty the res,

 

[GreatLife4All]

very interesting,

Agreed.

...they come with lots of attatchments so you can have fountains and stuff like that, so i got the gear to get it set up but cant try it till this round of plants are done,

With a fountain set up - you should be able to build whatever you need.

I would use one pump and get a PVC 'T' to use as a splitter. Run a separate line to each bucket and you are done. This will also help to lessen the water flow in each bucket.

 

[donpaul.p]

interesting idea, im at my moms tomorrow so ill dig all these pumps out, i know their is 2 small pumps as they was from water features that was in the front yard, they was in the bottom of a round tub and it sprayed a fountain in the top part and it fell down onto stones then, so pressure wasnt high but it could be adjusted, we had it turned right down as the wind would blow the water all over the place and we had to keep filling the water feature up, so we got plenty of pumps, so ill have a dig around tomorrow when im over my moms and see what their is.

 

[trichomes]

So if I am correct, FLOOMING has nothing to do with a "venturi" type water pumpp, thank you for clarification!

Maybe if we try real hard
Maybe we can stop this rain
No rain, no rain

LSD Lucy Sky Diamonds

 

[Wacky Kush]

C/p from link.

"It is not important, or even desirable for the water being "floomed" to break the surface - we DO NOT want a geyser.
All we want is a gentle swell at the surface where the water looks like it's "bulging" over the pump location. You see, oxygen exchange occurs only in contact with atmospheric "air" which is 21% oxygen. Venturis and other bubblers simply create agitation of the water and the bubbles lift the water to the surface for gas exchange.

So if I am correct, FLOOMING has nothing to do with a "venturi" type water pumpp, thank you for clarification!

Maybe if we try real hard
Maybe we can stop this rain
No rain, no rain

LSD Lucy Sky Diamonds

 

[RainStacks]

Very cool thread Wacky. I use a small pump to aerate my tap water to give to my plants in soil. I am going to switch it to point up! The pump has a hose which allows air to the spout under water. Now if the Hose allows 02 from the atmosphere in as well, wouldn't this 02 exchange also be happening underwater? Is it just that the movement of water on the surface has a much higher surface area relative to the surface area of the bubbles of air:water beneath the surface? Pretty interesting stuff. Thank's for the thread +reps

 

[GreatLife4All]

Ok... one negative that I have been thinking about. May not apply to all - but definitely applies to my set up.

I run buckets that are essentially sealed from the environment (not really, but close enough). There is not enough air exchange in the bucket itself to keep up with the plants. One of the advantages of my air stones is that I am bringing fresh air into the root zone. For my system, there is no other way to get air to the roots.

This is important because the roots consume O2 and release CO2. In any enclosed space - you will quickly end up with all CO2 and no O2. This anearobic condition is very bad for the roots.

The only way flooming can work is if the surface of the "floom" is exposed to a constant supply of new air. Which implies that it either must be open to the environment... or I must be pumping air into the system.

Thoughts?

 

[RainStacks]

I agree with your logic.

I use a bucket and small pump w/ snorkel to aerate and de-chlorinate my tap water and pointed my pump up. I don't know if it is helping, but it can't hurt. It certainly has more movement on the surface, and bubbles are also moving under the surface. So I am happy with the change

 

[donpaul.p]

good comment, if the system is sealed then it will need some air source, so you would need to run an air stone in the system as well to bring the air into the system, without it the roots would really suffer as they need oxygen as much as they do water,

so flooming would be perfect for fish tanks where the O2 is always going to be their, so to work with plants you would still need an air pump and stone,

when i do my 2ltr dwc i can grow them without air stones as the water gets used up and filled up pretty often so it can go a day or 2 without an air stone but any longer and the leaves start to wilt, i only know this as my air pump shorted out a while back so i had to wait a few days till i went to my moms to go and get my other pumps out of storage, so while i was waiting to visit my parents i was using no air stone at all, as long as i refilled the res every 2 days their was no real issues,

but i have noticed that my air pump im using now is more powerful and the plant seems to be doing better with the new pump that it was with the old pump, my dwc is just full of bubbles now, im sure i can turn the air down and the plant would still be find but with the air screw maxed it seems to improve growth and plant health

 

[GreatLife4All]

If the reservoir is open for air exchange - I see no issue with it.

I agree with your logic.

I use a bucket and small pump w/ snorkel to aerate and de-chlorinate my tap water and pointed my pump up. I don't know if it is helping, but it can't hurt. It certainly has more movement on the surface, and bubbles are also moving under the surface. So I am happy with the change

 

[Ascended Master Kief]

If the reservoir is open for air exchange - I see no issue with it.

I gotta disagree, unless the reservoir is lightproofed, or in a very dark area. Algae can grow otherwise, though I may be wrong, since the water would be moving a lot. I've seen fishtanks that had lots of movement, though, if the sun hit it through a window, it'd be green inside shortly after.

A cabinet with vents in it would solve photo issues.

 

[GreatLife4All]

I gotta disagree, unless the reservoir is lightproofed, or in a very dark area. Algae can grow otherwise, though I may be wrong, since the water would be moving a lot. I've seen fishtanks that had lots of movement, though, if the sun hit it through a window, it'd be green inside shortly after.

A cabinet with vents in it would solve photo issues.

You are correct - hadn't thought about that angle.

Thanks!

 

[donpaul.p]

yep my fish tanks used to turn green when they was near some light from the window so had to move them to the other side of the room, even the fish tank light turns the water green as i have living plants in the tank so need the correct light, so even a pump dont stop it turning green, my small 2ltr dwc used to have algae growing so had to make sure its in the shade, the res is covered but some light must of been getting through as the algae used to still grow.

you might be able to make some sort of raised vents though, you know the type that wouldnt let light in at all, sort of like a raised hump the same as some electronics have, some ballasts have these raised vents so it lets the air flow but you cant drop anything into the ballast as from the top you cant see into it but from the side you can then see into the raised vents

 

[GreatLife4All]

You could use a 5 micron bio filter sheet and design a bag for the pump discharge...

That should knock out algae without affecting the nutes.

Just thinking out loud here...

 

[RainStacks]

I had a 75 gallon cichlid tank with a 78w T5 on it, and it was also right near a window. I had a sump tank below it running a lot of water constantly and I had almost 0 problems with algae. I cleaned the tank every few months. But the sump acted as a filter of sorts. It was amazing how well that sump worked. I really want to run some type of outdoor aquaponics some day. Maybe I will set up an indoor situation soon just for fun

 

[donpaul.p]

i found the best thing for algae in fish tank is a plek, they keep the glass nice and clean, my main area for algae is on the cover for the lights in the top of the tank, the bubbles must splash a small amount of water onto the light cover and after a few days its green so have to clean that every few days to stop it getting to green, i have a lot less algae in the tank though now its not near the window, it just seems to keep cleaner a bit longer, my coffee table fish tank is a bit harder to keep algae free as its bigger area of water and not up against a wall so its in the light for most the day, but my plek does a good job of keeping it clean then when i do a water change very 4 to 6 weeks i make sure i give everything a good clean and its keeps everything ok,

in the past i have used the old fish tank water for feeding my plants with, i found it works very well in fact, most nutrients are made up of nitrites which is whats in the fish tank water, so all the crap that comes out of the pump i used to mix in with the old tank water in a bucket then water the plants with that, never needed nutrients when i was using the tank water but wasnt to sure if it was good for the plant or not so not used it since, ive just stuck with the nutrients but fish tank water seems to work well, just dont seem to be a lot of info about the risks involved to plant or the buds at harvest, but aqauponics would work well, im pretty sure of it, if i didnt have a solid wood hood over my fish tank id give try growing a plant in it like a dwc, the fish may nibble at the roots but they dont eat lots of my other living plants in their so pretty sure the roots would not suffer much, but dont have the room to give that a try else i would of

 

[Ascended Master Kief]

i found the best thing for algae in fish tank is a plek, they keep the glass nice and clean, my main area for algae is on the cover for the lights in the top of the tank, the bubbles must splash a small amount of water onto the light cover and after a few days its green so have to clean that every few days to stop it getting to green, i have a lot less algae in the tank though now its not near the window, it just seems to keep cleaner a bit longer, my coffee table fish tank is a bit harder to keep algae free as its bigger area of water and not up against a wall so its in the light for most the day, but my plek does a good job of keeping it clean then when i do a water change very 4 to 6 weeks i make sure i give everything a good clean and its keeps everything ok,

in the past i have used the old fish tank water for feeding my plants with, i found it works very well in fact, most nutrients are made up of nitrites which is whats in the fish tank water, so all the crap that comes out of the pump i used to mix in with the old tank water in a bucket then water the plants with that, never needed nutrients when i was using the tank water but wasnt to sure if it was good for the plant or not so not used it since, ive just stuck with the nutrients but fish tank water seems to work well, just dont seem to be a lot of info about the risks involved to plant or the buds at harvest, but aqauponics would work well, im pretty sure of it, if i didnt have a solid wood hood over my fish tank id give try growing a plant in it like a dwc, the fish may nibble at the roots but they dont eat lots of my other living plants in their so pretty sure the roots would not suffer much, but dont have the room to give that a try else i would of

Holy crap, if you grow a pot plant in a fish tank with fish in it.....I will have to see that!!

 

[RainStacks]

Well I feel stupid now. I completely forgot that I had a foot long plec in there too. I apologize for that :/ :ban:

There is a guy on Yewtube name robbob, who has some really good videos. He does some aquaponic watering, and it is really cool. I bet he would be interested in flooming too.

 

[shaggyballs]

interesting!!!!