Blumat auto watering

[Eighths-n-Aces]

I don't think that aerating the water with blumats is necessary or even a good idea..

i've tried to boost DO by using air stones and H2O2. i always had small amounts of air in the lines when i purged them so i stopped using both. no more bubbles and no plant issues

But what do i have in my reservoir to make the water moving around the nutes and getting oxi in the water?

i just drop standard aquarium air line without a stone on it into the res. it's weighted with 1/4" 20 stainless steel nuts from the home depot so i can keep it away from the pump in the lower res and the outlets in the upper. the big bubbles keep things stirred but i don't have any air in the lines anymore.

 

[kollos]

i've tried to boost DO by using air stones and H2O2. i always had small amounts of air in the lines when i purged them so i stopped using both. no more bubbles and no plant issues




i just drop standard aquarium air line without a stone on it into the res. it's weighted with 1/4" 20 stainless steel nuts from the home depot so i can keep it away from the pump in the lower res and the outlets in the upper. the big bubbles keep things stirred but i don't have any air in the lines anymore.

So i should just buy a random small aquarium circulation pump and take the air hose and lets say make a hole in the bottom of the reservoir and take the hose and make it stuck pumping air up in the reservoir from underneit?

 

[kollos]

I don't think that aerating the water with blumats is necessary or even a good idea. I've been running without aeration for several years with no problems, and having air bubbles in the lines can create real problems - it's very easy to vapor lock the feed lines with air bubbles, that's why it is a good idea to have the plumbing set up so that the air bubbles can be easily purged.

Okey! but i need to keep te nutes moving dont i ? how will i make this happen on the best easiest way?

 

[rives]

Okey! but i need to keep te nutes moving dont i ? how will i make this happen on the best easiest way?

I have an aquarium stir pump that kicks on a couple of times a day at the same time as the lift pump that replenishes the upper reservoir. Seems to be enough for me.

 

[kollos]

I have an aquarium stir pump that kicks on a couple of times a day at the same time as the lift pump that replenishes the upper reservoir. Seems to be enough for me.

Okey thanks alot!

I will use it on a timer and let it kick on for about 5mins every 5hours just to get some movement then if thats enought im happy with that!

But with STIR PUMP do you mean a normal circulation pump that u drop down in the tank and it just suck water in from one side and shot it out the otherside?

 

[rives]

Yep, that's the type of pump that I mean. I point the discharge nozzle at the bottom of the rez and it works fine for me.

 

[kollos]

Yep, that's the type of pump that I mean. I point the discharge nozzle at the bottom of the rez and it works fine for me.

Awesome, thanks alot!
Hope i understand u correct i just orderd a small version on i think it was 250L/H and i will just connect it to a timer and drop it down in the reservoir and make it run about 5mins every 2 hours so it will just shot the water infront if itself.

 

[rives]

You got it.

 

[Eighths-n-Aces]

So i should just buy a random small aquarium circulation pump and take the air hose and lets say make a hole in the bottom of the reservoir and take the hose and make it stuck pumping air up in the reservoir from underneit?

you can use any air pump but i wouldn't be drilling any holes in the res that you don't need. if you are gonna use an air pump all you need to do is run the line in from the top and figure out a way to keep the end of the air line in the bottom

 

[Ez Rider]

Why use an air pump at all? My "lift" pumps flood my upper res every 4 hours, for 15 min. This seems to keep everything "mixed" just fine. The upper res is overflowing back to the lower res for most of the 15min cycle. Judging from the "gurgle" I get from the return, an awful lot of air is being introduced to the res with every cycle.

 

[kollos]

Why use an air pump at all? My "lift" pumps flood my upper res every 4 hours, for 15 min. This seems to keep everything "mixed" just fine. The upper res is overflowing back to the lower res for most of the 15min cycle. Judging from the "gurgle" I get from the return, an awful lot of air is being introduced to the res with every cycle.

Well my plan was to have only 1 reservoir elevated and not a lower and a upper.

is this just stupid when i can have one lower and one bigger and use the pump to lift the lower up to the upper?

 

[kollos]

you can use any air pump but i wouldn't be drilling any holes in the res that you don't need. if you are gonna use an air pump all you need to do is run the line in from the top and figure out a way to keep the end of the air line in the bottom

Okeyokey! i will simply buy a pump that i drop down in the water

 

[rives]

Well my plan was to have only 1 reservoir elevated and not a lower and a upper.

is this just stupid when i can have one lower and one bigger and use the pump to lift the lower up to the upper?

The higher the reservoir feeding the blumats is mounted, the better they will work - they like pressure. It's far easier to maintain and support a larger reservoir that is at ground level, and have a small, light reservoir mounted up high to get the head pressure that the blumats work best with. Post #3808 shows one of my systems.

 

[kollos]

The higher the reservoir feeding the blumats is mounted, the better they will work - they like pressure. It's far easier to maintain and support a larger reservoir that is at ground level, and have a small, light reservoir mounted up high to get the head pressure that the blumats work best with. Post #3808 shows one of my systems.

Okey! well maybe i think alittle wrong and do unnceccesary work, but im going to have a 50L reservoir elevated about 1Meter up.

And when its time to do anything with the reservoir clean or whatever i just use the shutoff valve and take the tube away, then do my stuff put tube in again and let the valve rip again.

What i have understand it dosent create bubbles in my system if i shutdown the feeding line valve first by the reservoir then take resevoir away? just if i dont leave it there for hours and hours so the lines go dry

 

[Eighths-n-Aces]

Why use an air pump at all? My "lift" pumps flood my upper res every 4 hours, for 15 min. This seems to keep everything "mixed" just fine. The upper res is overflowing back to the lower res for most of the 15min cycle. Judging from the "gurgle" I get from the return, an awful lot of air is being introduced to the res with every cycle.

my lift pumps only cycles when the upper res needs to be topped off .i also don't put any nutes in the lower res. i am always here so when i do run nutes through the blumats all i do is put them in the top res every night. sometimes i run things through the blumats that funk up a res pretty fast but if i just put them in the top they don't have the time to cause me trouble. the air pumps aren't there for the RO really, all they do is keep things stirred but the pumps are cheap and they work.

 

[Ez Rider]

Well my plan was to have only 1 reservoir elevated and not a lower and a upper.

is this just stupid when i can have one lower and one bigger and use the pump to lift the lower up to the upper?

That's how I started. I just found that a higher res(6'+) works better. It's a lot easier to maintain a small res at this height(for me anyway). My system is noticeably more stable now. The extra pressure helps to keep the 3mm lines clear.

my lift pumps only cycles when the upper res needs to be topped off .i also don't put any nutes in the lower res. i am always here so when i do run nutes through the blumats all i do is put them in the top res every night. sometimes i run things through the blumats that funk up a res pretty fast but if i just put them in the top they don't have the time to cause me trouble. the air pumps aren't there for the RO really, all they do is keep things stirred but the pumps are cheap and they work.

I was playing a similar game with Botanicare products. Got tired of the fuss, muss and smell. Also, I no longer have time to fiddle with my res all the time. Switched to v+b. It's super easy, and my plants look better/bigger than ever. Aroma seems to have increased as well. Can't say for sure till after harvest, but.... I get a small amount of sludge in the lines, but a quick purge of the loop every few days handles it. I'm looking at the blumat canister filters as a possible solution. Anyone know if they're cleanable?

 

[Eighths-n-Aces]

filters as a possible solution.

any filter i have tried does what it's suppose too and it catches stuff ....... problem always seems to be that stuff grows on the stuff and the stuff grows into stuff that clogs the filter so i gotta clean the stuff out at some point and it is usually much sooner than i wanted. to be honest i know damn well some of the stuff i run is gonna be an issue anyway so i gave up on the filter idea and purge before/when things go south. you are running "cleaner" nutes than me so you might not have those issues

IME blumats just don't like chunks or air and your purge valve solves both.


it'd be cool as hell if blumat filters actually solved all those problems !

 

[Harley420]

I am interested in blumats for about 4 plants.using 11ltr pots..do I buy the small cones or larger cones,? also how many cones to a pot ?

 

[Ez Rider]

I am interested in blumats for about 4 plants.using 11ltr pots..do I buy the small cones or larger cones,? also how many cones to a pot ?

1 regular blumat/pot will be fine.

 

[Harley420]

1 regular blumat/pot will be fine.

thanks for the reply. I will order some now..