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Vibrations
- Thread starter clowntown
- Start date
why , my friend...would you need a 35w pump ?
what size are your buckets?
and if i may say so, i've seen you mention using no airstones....
i tried that and it was waaaaaay too loud for my situation
i live in an apt as well
if your buckets are no larger than 5 gallon the you could probably get away with
2 regular aquairium pumps ..like a 20-60gal pump
talk to me bro
mj
what size are your buckets?
and if i may say so, i've seen you mention using no airstones....
i tried that and it was waaaaaay too loud for my situation
i live in an apt as well
if your buckets are no larger than 5 gallon the you could probably get away with
2 regular aquairium pumps ..like a 20-60gal pump
talk to me bro
mj
The idea behind no airstone thing was:
1) Non-clogging
2) Supposedly higher DO levels
I'm running four 5-gallon buckets, filled to roughly 3.5 gallons for now, probably ~3 gallons in the future. Plus an 18 gallon Rubbermaid filled to about that level (I'd guesstimate ~9 gallons). I could divert some of the air into the Rubbermaid, and insulate the buckets. And put airstones in, if I have to.
1) Non-clogging
2) Supposedly higher DO levels
I'm running four 5-gallon buckets, filled to roughly 3.5 gallons for now, probably ~3 gallons in the future. Plus an 18 gallon Rubbermaid filled to about that level (I'd guesstimate ~9 gallons). I could divert some of the air into the Rubbermaid, and insulate the buckets. And put airstones in, if I have to.
yea , thats why i tried it ....but like i said it was way too loud
so i just keep plenty of airstones and check them frequently
i lost a crop 1 time...i was out of town for a weekend and when i came back
my plants were dead.......5 weeks of flower and dead
but , really it was my fault...i had noticed that the airstones were not really performing as well , but i didnt change them ............i paid for my laziness
now i keep my eye on them all the time
i even left for a week 1 time since then and came back and all was good
so ...if you do use airstone ..keep an eye on them
mj
so i just keep plenty of airstones and check them frequently
i lost a crop 1 time...i was out of town for a weekend and when i came back
my plants were dead.......5 weeks of flower and dead
but , really it was my fault...i had noticed that the airstones were not really performing as well , but i didnt change them ............i paid for my laziness
now i keep my eye on them all the time
i even left for a week 1 time since then and came back and all was good
so ...if you do use airstone ..keep an eye on them
mj
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jcsmooth
Member
Hi Clown....
Just a quick idea that I got when I read over your thread.
I'm not sure if you've been to a gym (health club), but they often have thick, heavy, and hard rubber mats underneath equipment. These compress minimally (I don't see sagging or indents when equipment moves) and of course handle a lot of weight.
You might want to check out a used exercise store and see if they have any of these mats. I have NO idea what they cost, but probably more than you or I would like
I'd make sure to give a used mat a good soak in vinegar or something before I used it. You never know what the hell might be in there.
JC
Just a quick idea that I got when I read over your thread.
I'm not sure if you've been to a gym (health club), but they often have thick, heavy, and hard rubber mats underneath equipment. These compress minimally (I don't see sagging or indents when equipment moves) and of course handle a lot of weight.
You might want to check out a used exercise store and see if they have any of these mats. I have NO idea what they cost, but probably more than you or I would like
I'd make sure to give a used mat a good soak in vinegar or something before I used it. You never know what the hell might be in there.
JC
Rare Groove
Member
Maybe you can use a softer material, like towels or something else, underneath that gym mat? That way you'd be dispersing the weight of the water across the gym mat...might just be enough to do the trick?
all this hydro stuff is completely foreign to me, so i am not sure what you are talking about, but i DO know that you are trying to get rid of vibration. an idea that comes to mind is putting inflated bicycle inner tubes underneath or, if we are talking more serious weight, an inflated automobile inner tube . good luck, mang.
jcsmooth
Member
Ah, my bad man. I figured you were talking about those yoga mats, something you can roll up and take on the road.
I suppose you could try those things, maybe a couple of them on top of each other. I suppose if the weight of the water compressed towels, it might compress yoga mats with little problem.
An inner tube is a good idea though
I like that one green_grow
Maybe something as simple as cardboard could work for you. Again, stacked on top of each other. Maybe a hit from this volcano will get some ideas going...
Hope you solve this one soon bro,
JC
I suppose you could try those things, maybe a couple of them on top of each other. I suppose if the weight of the water compressed towels, it might compress yoga mats with little problem.
An inner tube is a good idea though
I like that one green_growMaybe something as simple as cardboard could work for you. Again, stacked on top of each other. Maybe a hit from this volcano will get some ideas going...
Hope you solve this one soon bro,
JC
Sauce
Active member
Those 35w pumps are way overkill for 20gal. I just bought a Dolphin 5 star (12w - 9L/min) for about 20gal, maybe more if I build a bigger system. The hydro store was kind enough to plug in the 10w industrial pump for me and that thing was insanely loud but puts out tons of air (very efficient too). I can only imagine how loud the 35w version would be.
Personally I would downgrade pumps, that thing does way more than you need and o2 levels will still probably be high with something smaller. Otherwise try some rubber mats like others suggested. Maybe try something like Reflectix to insulate the buckets.
Personally I would downgrade pumps, that thing does way more than you need and o2 levels will still probably be high with something smaller. Otherwise try some rubber mats like others suggested. Maybe try something like Reflectix to insulate the buckets.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
This coming week I'll get something to insulate the buckets and try out a pair of 6" airstones per bucket. I'm thinking Reflectix as Sauce mentioned for the insulation, since I don't want to deal with the fiberglass from the duct insulation type wraps. Hopefully this will deaden enough noise, but I'm still a bit worried about the water bubbling noise.
I'm still open for suggestions, if anyone else has any.
This coming week I'll get something to insulate the buckets and try out a pair of 6" airstones per bucket. I'm thinking Reflectix as Sauce mentioned for the insulation, since I don't want to deal with the fiberglass from the duct insulation type wraps. Hopefully this will deaden enough noise, but I'm still a bit worried about the water bubbling noise.
I'm still open for suggestions, if anyone else has any.
IIRC, the Dolphin pump is the same as the EcoPlus 4-outlet? I think it is... and EcoPlus just slapped their brand sticker on it. Is it the one with the adjustable dial on it? I used to have one. Wasn't too bad.Sauce said:
I just wanted more this time around, I wanted an overkill... but I never took into consideration that these things could generate some serious vibration from the buckets themselves.
I just might have to downgrade to that 4-outlet EcoPlus.
The Slickster
Member
Use the airstones to diffuse the oxygen quietly. You're air pump can be mounted into a 'quiet' box with ventilation. Or downgrade the air pump to a smaller one and bring in air through a fan to the water/plants base. Also styrofoam can be found cheaply, or you could double or triple stack the floor mats. Or sandwich a towel in between 2 mats. If they are 5 gallon buckets, you can get another empty 5 gallon and stack that under the regular 5 gallon, and add with styrofoam peanuts at the bottom of the bottom bucket if space and set up allows. Go for a half bucket of peanuts.
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Clowntown, Whacha talking about??
Depending on what height compared to your net pots you keep you water level at, you might consider not attaching the airstones to the bottom of the buckets, but rather hang them half way down in the water. Don't worry about the roots growing around them. Bubbles are always going to make noise, no way around it. If you can't hear it outside your front door, than don't worry about it. Aquaruims make the same noise.
Depending on what height compared to your net pots you keep you water level at, you might consider not attaching the airstones to the bottom of the buckets, but rather hang them half way down in the water. Don't worry about the roots growing around them. Bubbles are always going to make noise, no way around it. If you can't hear it outside your front door, than don't worry about it. Aquaruims make the same noise.
Sauce
Active member
clowntown said:
I believe it is the same one. The shop plugged in the Ecoplus for me and it was basically the same as the Dolphin 5 star. It has a rheostat but it's really quiet on high. Obviously it doesn't have near the output as the 10w or 35w industrial style pumps.
If you want to dish out some more $, buy coolers. Not only will they insulate well to keep temps stable, they should stop most noise and dampen vibrations.
Good luck
I just put some 1/4" tees on the end of these tubes, and it cut down the floor vibration noticably as well as lessen the noise. Still not enough but certainly an improvement.
Something worthwhile noting is that the inner diameter of these 1/4" fittings are smaller than the 1/4" tube itself, so it might be a running with a slight bit less efficiency now.
I just might be able to get away with using this pump. Gotta do some more tweaking in the next couple of days. Got 4 clones (in 3" cubes) ready to throw into the bucket. One of them rooted really fast and has roots flying out the bottom, so I will need to work out a solution fairly soon before they outgrow the cubes.
Something worthwhile noting is that the inner diameter of these 1/4" fittings are smaller than the 1/4" tube itself, so it might be a running with a slight bit less efficiency now.
I just might be able to get away with using this pump. Gotta do some more tweaking in the next couple of days. Got 4 clones (in 3" cubes) ready to throw into the bucket. One of them rooted really fast and has roots flying out the bottom, so I will need to work out a solution fairly soon before they outgrow the cubes.
The Slickster
Member
With so much air, you could probably allow to kick the noise down a notch with some air stones. They have big ones like small plates to diffuse the oxygen into the water.
It is and was for aquariums a mispreconceived direction that all the air or oxygen that went into the water was because of surface agitation= and that all the oxygenation happened at the surface. While this is the case, there is still a great amount of oxygenation occuring through any and all water to air contacts(especially bubbles in motion. When the oxygen makes contact with water, through bubbles, the smaller broken bubbles have more surface area just like small carbon. And thus more oxygen can enter the water through the bubbles' surfacing. There is more than enough movement, that is where the noise comes from mostly. With a size of air pump like that, you should consider breaking down those bubbles with some air stones. It will raise your oxygen levels even though there is back presure for the air pump, I think it can more than handle it in this case.
It is and was for aquariums a mispreconceived direction that all the air or oxygen that went into the water was because of surface agitation= and that all the oxygenation happened at the surface. While this is the case, there is still a great amount of oxygenation occuring through any and all water to air contacts(especially bubbles in motion. When the oxygen makes contact with water, through bubbles, the smaller broken bubbles have more surface area just like small carbon. And thus more oxygen can enter the water through the bubbles' surfacing. There is more than enough movement, that is where the noise comes from mostly. With a size of air pump like that, you should consider breaking down those bubbles with some air stones. It will raise your oxygen levels even though there is back presure for the air pump, I think it can more than handle it in this case.
The increased surface area thing was certainly my (logical) thinking as well at one time, but upon further research it's shown that to not be the case. Some more information in this thread:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=48448
But I do agree that I need to break up the bubbles in order to reduce vibration and the water noise via airstones or similar. Won't be able to get out to the stores until tomorrow, but I'll try it before resorting to a smaller pump. I wish I had gotten the 18w version... it didn't seem like a good deal since it was only like $5 - $10 cheaper than this one ($70), you know?
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=48448
But I do agree that I need to break up the bubbles in order to reduce vibration and the water noise via airstones or similar. Won't be able to get out to the stores until tomorrow, but I'll try it before resorting to a smaller pump. I wish I had gotten the 18w version... it didn't seem like a good deal since it was only like $5 - $10 cheaper than this one ($70), you know?
N
Neptune
my clowntown,
I used small dual outlet airpumps from Ecoplus(with airflow dial), and i hung them with tie wraps. I also used 10" airstoned from Walmart, "bubblecurtain" and the noise was negligable on 10 buckets.
One option is to run a recirculating DWC system that uses few if any airstones, like a bio bucket(?) But I don't know if this works for ya...
peace
I used small dual outlet airpumps from Ecoplus(with airflow dial), and i hung them with tie wraps. I also used 10" airstoned from Walmart, "bubblecurtain" and the noise was negligable on 10 buckets.
One option is to run a recirculating DWC system that uses few if any airstones, like a bio bucket(?) But I don't know if this works for ya...
peace
