waterfall aeration

[watermelon]

i know its not neccessarily practical, but i like the idea of waterfall aeration.

i would have though it aerates the water better than with a standard airstone, however im not sure if it would work as well in a deep res.

what pumps should i use and how much power do you think i need to create a good waterfall? has anyone got one of these?

 

[alphacat]

Use a pond pump and know your physics. Pressure & flow rate requirements are going to be largely dependent on the final setup of your system - how high are you pumping the water, etc.

It shouldn't be too hard to design an enclosed PVC system w/ two reservoirs, one higher than the other.

 

[watermelon]

ive read that having more steps is better at oxigenating water than one large drop, this would be not only more effcent, but also much quieter.

 

[Guest]

ive read that having more steps is better at oxigenating water than one large drop, this would be not only more effcent, but also much quieter.

A waterfall should work but I'd rather go pump and stones or Alita diffuser tubing. That's the way nature aerates water by movement and tumbling. An option for a larger res setup is from KeepAlive as recommended by DEDHEDFRED...looks very nice. I picked up a dissolved oxygen test kit, high end but not a meter as good ones are around $300, and will run some experiments regarding DO. I've heard lots of stuff so gonna check what my setup looks like before and after some air diffusion mods.

 

[alphacat]

I tend to agree about the stones/diffusion over this method... but you could always get creative and make something like a square spiral or helix out of 90* elbow connectors.