Best water-aeration device?

[Heady NUGs]

Hi everyone. Was wondering what you guys use to aerate your resovoir water. Do you go with a giant air pump, or a water pump?


What are the biggest and the best water aerators? I need something to keep 4-55 gallon poly drums saturated with oxygen. Thanks!

 

[Arkaya]

most use a aquarium pump with the blue airstones at the bottom of the res. Pick one up for a cheap price from any pet store that's local. To keep four 55 gallon poly drums saturated I think you will need 1 fairly large pump for each drum.

cheers mate

 

[EZB581]

Hi everyone. Was wondering what you guys use to aerate your resovoir water. Do you go with a giant air pump, or a water pump?


What are the biggest and the best water aerators? I need something to keep 4-55 gallon poly drums saturated with oxygen. Thanks!

Nugs, IMHO, A water pump or large aquarium power head would be more efficient then an air pump & airstone at aerating a 55gl drum. Water movement & breaking up the water's surface is the key.

 

[DangerP]

A water pump or large aquarium power head would be more efficient then an air pump & airstone at aerating a 55gl drum.

I'm not sure this would be true. It seems to me that as the container gets deeper the air bubbles get more and more time in the water, so more oxygen would diffuse into the water. I guess you'd have to try it to be sure. Any possibility of trying a couple of different things on different containers?

If you do go with bubblers, I'd get a pump like this: http://www.wormsway.com/detail.asp?sku=DDAP500 and hook three or four airstones up in each bucket. That way if one diaphragm in the pump goes bad you've still got the other one, and if an airstone gets clogged the other ones can make up the difference.

 

[Guest]

SSSSSSHHHHH.....Trade Secrets......lol....Not a lotta folks know about keepalive.net that has thru-the-hull bait aerators that`ve `BLOWN my ebb and flow buckets away for a while now...Nothing else compares ANYWHERE.......Millions of microscopic bubbles suspended in and moved thru nutrient solution constantly...You`ll haveta get an a/c adapter to be able to hook it up and plug into the wall cuz they run off marine 12/24 volt d/c batteries in tournament fishing boats..Or run em off a battery charger....Improvise and you`ll be glad you did........I imagine they`d help the dwc`ers and bio-bucketeers more than anyone though....Peace....DHF......

 

[Pipedream]

Both air pumps and powerheads will work. With a power head, you want to keep the actual pump out of the water to keep temps down, and make sure the intake is at the bottom of the barrel to assure a good turnover of the water. With an air-pump, the issue is a bit different. Most aquarium pumps are designed to work in tanks that are only 12 to 20 inches deep. Where as a 55 gallon drum can be 3 feet. That small difference in depth makes a great change in the pressure of the water against the pump. Most will not supply the air you need at that depth. If you decide to go with air, make sure the pump you buy is rated for deep submersion outlets. They aren't that expensive and well worth the difference.

My vote is for air pumps!

 

[Heady NUGs]

WOW DEDHEDFRED! That is one bad-ass aerator, thank you much for the reply. Gonna order me a couple-three of those thanks to you!


Awesome

 

[RamCTD1027]

WOW DEDHEDFRED! That is one bad-ass aerator, thank you much for the reply. Gonna order me a couple-three of those thanks to you!


Awesome

+1

Gonna order a few of these also. Thanks DEDHEDFRED

 

[Heady NUGs]

I am thinking that I could flood the plants for longer than 15-30 minutes with that much aeration. What do ya think?

 

[Heady NUGs]

I found that Cabelas sporting goods carries these aerators and they are $10 cheaper than the manufacturers site.

Can't wait to get mine.

 

[EZB581]

These sedra pumps are very good at injecting air into water.
They use a large venturi & a needle wheel impeller. they come in various sizes. I have one mounted to a large protein skimmer. They really do put out the bubbles! I bet The bait well aerators Dedhed refers to use these needle wheel impellers.
http://www.google.com/products?q=sedra+needle+wheel+pumps&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIC

I don't know anything about this site & not promoting it in anyway. I just found good picts of the pump & needle wheel.

 

[Heady NUGs]

Nice EZ581. Thanks for the link.

 

[Guest]

Glad to help Heady.......

Glad to help Heady.......

Dewd..........I don`t think there`s ANYTHING on the market that costs so little and SUPPLIES so much ya know?........Hell it runs off 12/24 volts for pennies a day no shit and blows BILLIONS of microscopic bubbles that SUSPEND indefinitely in solution instead of bubbling off at the surface of the rez .........Mine are run though battery chargers which are nothing more than a/c converters that yas can plug in the wall..........Your question about flood times is basically the time it takes ONLY to get to fill level and then drain as quickly as possible back to rez to pull major O2 down through the medium and into the rootzone ALONG with the super-oxygenated nute solution.........I use 2 pumps on different timers for feed and drain .....That way everything`s fast ........Fillem full of bubble juice ,then drain it out with the quickness and what`s left in the bottom bucket will save your plants if there`s ever a power outage between feeds till you can reset everything if you don`t have auto re-start on your lights,pumps,a/c`s,dehumidifiers, etc,etc............Peace......DHF........

 

[pontiac]

I think a cheap submersible aquarium water pump with an air-intake works best. Roots become very strong and hardy when this method is used.

 

[vaprpig]

I found these in an aquarium catalog. They look perfect for buckets.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=10669&N=2004+113405