I need good airstones...

[Pedro_De_Pacas]

thescissors..that soker hose..Does that work pretty good for water aireation?...I was looking at that today ....but i wasnt sure if that would make a good bubbler system or not...What are your thought on this.?...PEACE

 

[Pedro_De_Pacas]

Well hey everyone im going to go to bed now...my mom just got some serious surgery done...and its been a really long day for me...so thanks for the suggestions...I will holla back at ya all tomarrow morning.....Thanks...PEACE....

 

[Scay Beez]

Smaller bubbles oxygenate the water faster and are better for growing chemical. When making compost teas and dealing with organics, smaller bubbles sever some of the larger microorganisms into pieces like fungi and protozoa. Bigger bubbles "stir" the water more as well. Organics can also break down rubber so be careful. Anything with small pores will need to be cleaned. Buy more than necessary so you can soak them for a day or two in hydrogen peroxide or just soap & water.


- sbz

 

[Trichome Toker]

I will pray for your mom bro.

Sleep tight.

 

[Guest]

BE FUCKING CAREFUL!!! If your going to play around with Miuratic acid to clean your airstones, know the dangers of using this shit

VERY FUCKING CORROSIVE!!!...I used the shit to ETCH smooth polished granite tiles...Poured some on the tiles, agitate with a brush, let it sit for 3 minutes then rinsed it off with a hose...Tiles looked like they were exposed to the weather and elements for 300 years after using the shit...This shit literally BURNS solid stone...YOU DO NOT WANT THAT SHIT SPLASHING ON YOUR SKIN!!! Get it in your eyes, and YOUR GOING BLIND!!! I wore a rubber apron, special respirator, rubber boots, gloves and safety glasses when I used it...Would NEVER use it again without the same protection

VERY DANGEROUS FUMES!!!...A big breath or sniff of those fumes is enough to collapse your lungs...Most likely will seriously burn your lungs and throat tissue also...If this happens, your throat will swell up and close off your airway, and your lungs will start filling up with fluids from the burns...Then YOU'LL MOST LIKELY DIE

VERY COMBUSTIONABLE!!! Make sure you have this shit stored somewhere VERY safe and away from ALL sources of ignition...If you have kids, make sure they have NO POSSIBLE WAY of accessing the stuff...I know when I was a kid, I'd do anything in my power to get my hands on some for burning bugs, Hot Wheels cars, plastic army men, you name it

My advice is to NOT FUCK AROUND with Miuratic acid or any acid for that matter...Trust me, I've seen that shit literally burn away layers of marble and granite which is much tuffer than your skin...I'm speaking from first hand experience, not BULLSHIT or HEARSAY

THIS SHIT IS VERY DANGEROUS PEOPLE!!!

DO NOT LET CHILDREN HAVE ANY WAY TO ACCESS THIS!!!

You can pick up 20 airstones for roughly $10 at Walmart...So its a small pain in the ass to change out a stone every month or so...Better than blinding yourself, or blowing up your dwelling, or having one of your children hurt permanently, trying to clean a ceramic stone with this shit

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! NOT JOKING, NOT TALKING BULLSHIT

Please excuse all the capitals and cursing, but REALLY people, you must exercise EXTREME CAUTION if your going to use this stuff

 

[Trichome Toker]

You can use "Oxy clean" with similar results if your that worried about murry.

Or just use disposable stones like you said.

 

[Guest]

Its not about being worried...Its about uninformed people using a very dangerous, caustic chemical than can permanently injure someone if they dont exersize precautionary measures...I've personally seen what this stuff can do...All it takes is an accident...Someones kid playing with it and spilling it on their's or a friends face...Even a drop splashed into your eye will most likely cause permanent damage

This shit and especially the fumes from it is nothing to take lightly

I will say this...I admit theres a lot of things I have "some" knowledge about, but I have personally used this shit literally hundreds of times, and NEVER, not once did I ever use it without the proper protection after seeing what this shit can do to solid stone tiles in a matter of 2 minutes

Its really that strong, and really that dangerous

 

[Trichome Toker]

For sure, it is on the same level as bleach, you definitely don't want to splash it in your eye.

Oxyclean works just as good for cleaning ceramic air stones.

Hell even boiling water will do a good job.

Always be careful when working with strong acidic chemicals for sure.

I just pour some murry in a pot, gently drop my air stones in, and let them soak between crops.

Not much room for error, but yeah, you definitely don't want that shit splashing in your eye or something, no fun.

 

[mtnjohn]

hope your mom's ok pedro

 

[Chiefsmokingbud]

I've been using the 5" ones from http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/9653/cid/2265 for the last 4 grows and have yet to have a clog, they put out alot of air too

 

[thescissors]

thescissors..that soker hose..Does that work pretty good for water aireation?...I was looking at that today ....but i wasnt sure if that would make a good bubbler system or not...What are your thought on this.?...PEACE

right now it is kicking MUCH ass! Its cheap (you have to buy like 50ft but its CMEMORY), and so far this is just my third week using the soaker. if it does clog up again, a simple stretch im sure would unclog it! What I will do is just either re-stretch it or replace it with new, stretched soaker with each bucket change, since i have so much of it on hand and it is sssooo cheap!! STRETCHING it is key, however!! stretch it to the point where it feels like its about to snap, but dont snap it! (duh) actually next bucket, im going to run several coils to make many more bubbles! my plant is looking awesome, first week of flower and it has tripled in size! (in a week!)

 

[Pedro_De_Pacas]

Hey everyone...I want to thank you all who have good wishes for my mom...That means alot to me...She is doing better today..a matter of fact she is doing alot better....

Da Napster, Wow that sounds like some serious shit..To be honest with ya..I have no experiance with that at all...So i dont think im going to even going try and fuck with it...Ill leave it alone and try to find another way....

I have yet figured out what i want to use ....Everyone here has made really good suggestions...I am going to browse the links you all provided for me and try to narrow down what i want to use....If anyone can think of anything else please feel free to post it..to me there are no right and wrongs as of this point...Im just trying to explore all the options there are....Thanks everyone...PEACE...

 

[Pedro_De_Pacas]

This is my 200th post....lol...

 

[kingspade]

Try using no stone, just an open line. There's been a lot of discussion as to whether small bubbles are actually beneficial in aerating a solution, or more surface agitation, and even with all the reading I was still a bit skeptical. That is, until the preliminary results posted by morgancola with his DO meter. Granted it wasn't very thorough or completely conclusive, but it did certainly show that it was plausible that running an open air line with no stone produced better aeration / higher DO than with an airstone. No more clogging to worry about, and quite possibly higher DO levels.

i've done two grows with no air stones at all, just straight line going into the bucket, making big, loud bubbles...i can't tell the difference between them, i see no difference in the weed...

 

[Ono Nadagin]

airstones are imo only good for one grow then I replace them...and I would suggest always using an airstone... better airation means you have more time to survive a air pump outage... there is more air(disolved oxygen in the water) than just the bubbles you see coming from the stone/hose... if I remember my chemistry correctly

 

[clowntown]

All the people who are still talking about using airstones: did you have a chance to read about the no-stone method?

 

[Ono Nadagin]

Yes

 

[clowntown]

What do you think of it?

 

[mrwags]

Well is sure does sound simple BUT:


Take a look at at the air bubbles produced by an aquarium aerator. Watch how quickly the bubbles rise to the surface. They provide little aeration, but are aesthetically pleasing to watch. Bubbles must remain contacting the water, if they are to do the job properly. A good rule of thumb is: The smaller the bubble, the longer it will remain suspended in water to dissolve.

So I wonder if someone with a o2 water meter would do the group a favor and run a quick test?

I'm about as open minded as they come after every run I take mt=y stones out scrape them with a sharp knife throw them in the dishwasher and they work fantastic but as stated they make small bubbles where as tubes would make larger ones that would rise to the surface 3 - 4 times faster,but as I said until I see a test I'm open for what ever works for you in YOUR garden.


Mr.Wags

 

[clowntown]

Take a look at at the air bubbles produced by an aquarium aerator. Watch how quickly the bubbles rise to the surface. They provide little aeration, but are aesthetically pleasing to watch. Bubbles must remain contacting the water, if they are to do the job properly. A good rule of thumb is: The smaller the bubble, the longer it will remain suspended in water to dissolve.

That's what I thought, initially:

How was it determined that surface agitation is what provides oxygenation and not the bubbles rising through the surface? I've heard the whole powerhead theory and how it requires no airstones, etc. Isn't surface agitation providing oxygenation by exposing the water to oxygen via surface area? So why couldn't small bubbles do this on its way up, since there is a lot of surface area to be had?

And inflorescence (along with other people) schooled me:

Because the bubbles are encased in a shell of surface tension of their own.
As the bubbles travel up no o2 escapes from the bubble into the water due to this shell. When the bubble reaches the top, the surface tension on the top is broken and gas can then permeate the water because of the temporary break in surface tension.

I've seen pics of insects that exploit surface tension by forming a gas bubble around their head and going under water to hide while they carry their extra 02 supply with them. Natures original SCUBA tank. Their o2 supply doesn't permeate the surrounding water because the surface tension encapsulates it.

Capillary action/surface tension is also one reason why large redwood trees over 300 feet tall can transport water up from ground level (their roots) to the top canopy 300 feet up. The trees don't actually "pump" the water up the internal plumbing of the tree but rather have adapted to have plumbing that is small enough in diameter to allow the water to "stick" to itself as it rises up the tree.

I even think I heard once why trees like redwoods can't grow taller than a certain height is because the force of gravity overwhelms the capillary action at some height and starts pulling the water back down. That's why there are no 2000 foot redwoods.

Which is inconsistent and conflicting with information posted by guineapig (which is the intuitive explanation, the 'theory' that I once subscribed to):

Why an Air Stone
While an air pump tube alone can bubble air into a nutrient solution, oxygenation or the process of getting atmospheric oxygen dissolved into the liquid nutrient, is much more effective where many tiny bubbles of air are created, rather than a slow stream of larger bubbles. The greater the surface contact between the air bubbles and the nutrient, the more oxygen will diffuse into the nutrient solution and smaller bubbles create a far greater surface area than a few larger bubbles will. Air stones simply break up the air flow and distribute along the surface of the porous 'stone' so that many tiny bubbles are rapidly introduced into the nutrient. Depending on the size or dimensions of the nutrient reservoir into which air is being introduced for oxygenation, air stones of different shapes and sizes can be selected. For small rectangular tanks, long thin air stones (some up to 1 foot in length) can be placed on the base of the reservoir to distribute air bubbles and oxygen uniformly. A larger number of smaller, round, cylindrical or oval air stones placed at equal distance inside a nutrient pool or tank also ensure high levels of oxygenation.

Air stones also have the benefit of acting as 'weights' which remain stable on the base, or in the lower layers of the nutrient tank - the further the bubbles have to travel to reach the surface of the nutrient, the more time oxygen has to diffuse into the liquid and the higher the rates of dissolved oxygen than can be obtained from an air pump and stone set up.

But after some off-site reading (Googling 'surface tension' as recommended by Suby) combined with the preliminary testing results, I'm convinced. That (larger) bubbles rising faster would generate more surface agitation which would in turn generate higher levels of DO.

So I wonder if someone with a o2 water meter would do the group a favor and run a quick test?

More testing is being done, but preliminary (simple) testing has shown that in buckets of plain water, an open-ended airline produces higher DO than one with an airstone:

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=47837