Worlds Best Aerator - Krusty Buckets - DWC - General

It has been working fine for over three years now, still stoned in the head, not the res.
H

baskets

baskets

thanks haps
my air stones in dwc had me pullin' my hair out
what about those net pots in your buckets
is that your intake/outlets???
you got two sets
and is that 2 air hoses going in??
whats going on in there?

I pickede up a good tip on another grow site. Instead of air stones, I put a tee on the end of my hose and attach 2 360 degree emitters from the hydro shop. they are like 50 cents a piece, and I haven't had one clog yet...to hell with stones....

That is my big rig, the high end design, redundancy squared, and yeah those are inlet covers, or root cages made of net pots, they just slip om and off to facilitate cleaning.
H

Alita tube still going strong after 2 years.

looks like its unanimous (unanimous enough for me anyway =)
stones are out
what a relief!

Hi BlindDate...it's time for your annual update of this thread

It's now spring 2009 and can you report that these are working happily 3 years later? I'm very, very interested in all things related to kbs soaker hoses at this moment, and I was debating using porous pvc when I came across your find from 2006. I purchased some 1/4 in. black micro soaker hose but it was only $8 so I'm not gonna be too upset if I decide to go with a superior design. I still haven't purchased my compressor or regenerative blower and I'm furiously researching that this weekend...love to hear more about your experience.

I've followed all your input on the kbs threads throughout the site...you have a memorable icon so I always notice you...

snowkitty said:

Hi BlindDate...it's time for your annual update of this thread

It's now spring 2009 and can you report that these are working happily 3 years later? I'm very, very interested in all things related to kbs soaker hoses at this moment, and I was debating using porous pvc when I came across your find from 2006. I purchased some 1/4 in. black micro soaker hose but it was only $8 so I'm not gonna be too upset if I decide to go with a superior design. I still haven't purchased my compressor or regenerative blower and I'm furiously researching that this weekend...love to hear more about your experience.

I've followed all your input on the kbs threads throughout the site...you have a memorable icon so I always notice you...

Click to expand...

kbs doesnt need to be followed to the letter to work, you can scale things down or change design to facilitate space or available parts. i always thought a walk in terrarium was a bit too outlandish, but thats me.

I have not had experience with the silicone hose from Alita.

I have had experience with the pvc like tubing from Alita.

I have considerable KBS (Killer Bucket System) experience.

I ended up drilling tiny holes in the bottom of the Alita pipe once it was all clogged up, and that worked well.

I never buy Alita tube anymore. I only use solid PVC with tiny holes drilled in the bottom.

The other improvement made to Killer Buckets is using a Sweetwater Regenerative Blower (made for aeration of ponds) (www.aquaticeco.com) rather than a stupid small Thomas Air Pumps.


Hope that Helps

SYK

~SYK~ said:

I ended up drilling tiny holes in the bottom of the Alita pipe once it was all clogged up, and that worked well.

I never buy Alita tube anymore. I only use solid PVC with tiny holes drilled in the bottom.

Click to expand...

SYK, your experience is one I definitely take to heart... I am thinking I might end up buying the Alita porous pvc just to see what it looks like and how it performs and then see what I can do to make my own after that.

~SYK~ said:

The other improvement made to Killer Buckets is using a Sweetwater Regenerative Blower (made for aeration of ponds) (www.aquaticeco.com) rather than a stupid small Thomas Air Pumps.

Click to expand...

OK, I definitely need some help here. Glad you included a link. How do I size my regenerative blower relative to my pipe/tube or number of buckets?

I was planning to go with a soaker hose and Thomas air pump but I'm glad I kept researching it instead of buying it right away...

snowkitty said:

SYK, your experience is one I definitely take to heart... I am thinking I might end up buying the Alita porous pvc just to see what it looks like and how it performs and then see what I can do to make my own after that.

Click to expand...

Thank you.

Now - that is just silly. I can tell you right now, that it costs $10 per foot, and will last between 3 and 4 weeks before clogging impeding flow to almost none.

I would try that silicone tubing if I *had* to try something different.

If I was personally building my own room again, I would forgo the cute airstone toys, and simply drill some tiny holes (say like 1/16") every 2-3 inches down the pvc on the BOTTOM of the tube.

What this will do, is to allow small bubbles to bubble thru your solution, causing the "roaring boil" we all want in our buckets/rez.

I personally dont use water in my bottom buckets anymore ( another improvement to the "Killer Bucket System" (or simply "trees") over Kru*&%^ Buckets ... )

I have converted my blowers to oxygenate my rez now only; it helps keeps the nutrients in suspension doing it this way as well.

OK, I definitely need some help here. Glad you included a link. How do I size my regenerative blower relative to my pipe/tube or number of buckets?

I was planning to go with a soaker hose and Thomas air pump but I'm glad I kept researching it instead of buying it right away...

Click to expand...

No problemo - happy to help; lord knows I learned KBS the HARD way ... even with Krusty Underwear holding my hand helping me dial the system in -- there were still too many problems with the 'original KBS' design and it had to be modified to work well IMO.

I'm not really sure how to "size" the blower. I would buy the largest one that you can afford; taking into consideration the energy use it is going to use during your operation as well.

Soaker Hose and Thomas Pump are a BAD combo. Trust me; I've pounded soaker hose for hours with a hammer making it more porous, and I have several Thomas Pumps in my trash bin.

Look on eBay. I think that is actually where I got both the blowers that I had running.

Like I mentioned before though - even though Krissy said that you "need aeration" in the bottom bucket - it is not true, and works better if you try and keep as much root mass as possible in your TOP bucket.

Tip: Do this by increasing your root zone area. Think larger buckets. Rubbermaid makes a nice 10gal sized bucket that looks like it might work well :
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100643602

This will give you twice the area for root mass to begin with.

Another Tip : Scrap the LavaRock! Like Yesterday! Try perlite for a more inert, balanced, workable media.


Hope that points you in the right direction. Anything else?

Take Care,

SYK

P.S. Do a search for "SYK" on the forums here to get a little bit of my history if you like.

Very helpful posters in here!

I came across this thread when seeking methods to reduce noise for a stealth growing I plan on creating, and micro bubbles seem to be less noisy. I've read that Alita air diffusers need a stronger air pump (though im not sure if they were referring to the silicon rubber). Do you think this product will be fine with my underpowered Whisper 10 air pump?

And I forgot to add, the lead wiring is enough to keep the tubes from floating, correct?

This might be of interest, its my way of aerating my DWC. I call it SRDWC! Maybe it'll bring some new ideas to the table. Check out my video on Super Recirculating Deep Water Culture http://youtu.be/2nd-p8uyxeA

SRDWC

SRDWC

This might be of interest, its my way of aerating my DWC. I call it SRDWC! Maybe it'll bring some new ideas to the table. Check out my video on Super Recirculating Deep Water Culture http://youtu.be/2nd-p8uyxeA

Texas Kid said:

To bad we lost all the old threads from Krusty, those were packed with killer information from the man himself. He also used something like 1hp Thomas Betts compressors that just made a super frothy bath of air and nutrient rich water in the buckets.

Good find though BD

Tex

Click to expand...

does anybody know if those threads were backed up anywhere? there was tons of great info in them!

Do you ever have, have you ever had a low oxygen crisis resulting in root rot and fungal infestations in DWC/RDWC and tried to cure it with more atmospheric air, more air bubblers, H2O2?

The problem with aeration is air itself, air is a mixture of elemental gases that contains mostly Nitrogen (80%) and a little dab of elemental oxygen, O2 (20%) and a dribble of trace elements.

If you bubble 2 X more air or 3 X more air, your don't get 40% O2 or 60% O2.

The oxygenation limitation of air is always 20% O2 and that's sad. A small pore bubbler will not increase the DO with all the atmospheric air in Alaska contrary to popular belief.

Nano is the word

Nano is the word

clowntown said:

Are fine bubbles what you want, though? I used to think this, until recently. Here is a pretty good explanation of why. I'm reading more and more about people using simple tubes with fewer, larger holes punched in.

Thoughts, opinions?

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Bubble size is a cool topic, bubble rocks and soaker hoses have inherent problems -
We have bubblers that make micro bubbles, mini bubbles, macro bubbles, fat bubbles, skinny bubbles, there’s all different kinds of bubbling rocks and bubbling tubes to choose from when it comes to bubblers.
Check out “nano bubble,” what are nano bubbles? http://www.nanobubbles.com/nanobubbles-2/what-are-nanobubbles/#.WMaLQTYzWvE
Oxygen and Air Nanobubble Water Solution Promote the Growth of Plants, Fishes, and Mice Published: June 5, 2013 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0065339

Google - “nano bubble generators and electrolysis devices” this is the world of the extremely small bubbles.