Air pump size for DWC

tryan2grow1

Well-Known Member
Team, my DWC buckets currently run a 20gal aquarium pump each for a 5gal setup. Is this enough air or should an investment be made to get larger pumps? My plants seems to be happy but just wanted to know if they would be even happier with more air. Thank you to all in our 420 community for your input.
 
I had pumps rated for 20-30 gallons and ran one in each bucket but when the root mass got big and thick i felt like it wasn't enough air. I went through several kinds until i found a good one. I have an eco plus 18watt one that is really pretty good for the money but i have heard good things about general hydroponics dual diaphragm pump and that'll probably be my replacement if and when this one poops out.
In dwc good airflow is super important and if you think you have enough you should probably go a little bigger. Oh also, on airstones... Best ones ive used so far are from a company called bubblemac. Theyre a little pricey but they are bonded silica and they really produce nice size and quantity of bubbles.
 
I had pumps rated for 20-30 gallons and ran one in each bucket but when the root mass got big and thick i felt like it wasn't enough air. I went through several kinds until i found a good one. I have an eco plus 18watt one that is really pretty good for the money but i have heard good things about general hydroponics dual diaphragm pump and that'll probably be my replacement if and when this one poops out.
In dwc good airflow is super important and if you think you have enough you should probably go a little bigger. Oh also, on airstones... Best ones ive used so far are from a company called bubblemac. Theyre a little pricey but they are bonded silica and they really produce nice size and quantity of bubbles.

Thank you very much Lazarus. Going to look those items up right now. The root balls are becoming massive and I agree with you that air is uber important therefore a bit more investment will be worthwhile. Keep the advice coming team, old man here, but a rookie cultivator with DWC. Loving it so far.
 
Dwc is awesome when you get it dialed in. Explosive growth and nice yields. There are some great hydro guys on here and they are the reason ive had the successes i have. I'm still learning but if theres anything i can assist with i will do my best. This is my 4th grow in dwc and i havent lost a harvest yet and they keep getting bigger every time. Do you have a beneficial bacteria you use or do you run sterile? Don't know where you are but the heat of the summer is coming here and benes are a big part of my success as my rez temps were hitting in the upper 70s. I just had to break down and buy something to cool my water. Coukdnt afford a chiller quite yet but i scraped together the $ for an ice probe. Its been keeping my single bucket at 68°-69° but when i get my bigger tent back out next year im going to have to bite the bullet and get an actual chiller.
 
Team, my DWC buckets currently run a 20gal aquarium pump each for a 5gal setup. Is this enough air or should an investment be made to get larger pumps? My plants seems to be happy but just wanted to know if they would be even happier with more air. Thank you to all in our 420 community for your input.
That's a great question I was also looking into DWC, I built my own buckets and bought everything needed except a pump or two. I was looking into a commercial pump with a 6 outlet manifold. It's a 40 watt. I was wondering if that would be enough for 2 buckets. Lol
 
Lol yeah that oughtta do it, DA. Only thing is some of those bigger pumps get noisy. Depends on where you're going to put it and how stealthy you need to be. My 18watt pump is quiet but it vibrates a good bit and whatever i put it on amplifies it. I have it upstairs and downstairs in my living room it sounded like i had a weedwhacker engine running on the floor. Fixed it with a few layers of soft foam and rubber mat. Make aire you get stones rated for the amount of air output too. If your stones are wrong they can be louder than the damn pumps.
 
Here is my first set up with DWC. Girls are going strong. The one on the left is the overachiever. The one on the right is the lil gal. An LST snafu occurred earlier this week leaving the hole you see on the overachiever and has led to a bit of stress on her. The lil gal started out as a runt but has caught up nicely and is completely au natural, with just a bit of tucking. So far so good with my 20gal air pumps and 6 inch stones. But I have never heard of "too much air" so bigger pumps coming. This is now day 47 from germ.
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These babies are loving the GH 3 part nutes along with Hydroguard. The strain is good ole bag seed. The lights are 4x23 watt 6500, 4x40 watt 2700 and a Mars Hydro Reflector 96 rated at 207 watts. This puts me at a total of 459 watts for a 1.67x3x5 tent or 91.62 watts per sq ft. The ventilation is a 4inch fan and filter. Res temps remain in the 72-77 range just like the air temps. My domicile is in the land of perpetual heat with year round 100 degree temps outside. My a/c works very well. So the walk in closet this is stashed in is perfect. Lights run at night and off when the sun rises. Love these plants just like they were my kids. So good ole O2 for the roots will be upgraded. And they love the fact that I sit in front of them for hours at a time breathing good ole co2 on em. Thanks again to all for the info. Grow babies grow.
 
Lol yeah that oughtta do it, DA. Only thing is some of those bigger pumps get noisy. Depends on where you're going to put it and how stealthy you need to be. My 18watt pump is quiet but it vibrates a good bit and whatever i put it on amplifies it. I have it upstairs and downstairs in my living room it sounded like i had a weedwhacker engine running on the floor. Fixed it with a few layers of soft foam and rubber mat. Make aire you get stones rated for the amount of air output too. If your stones are wrong they can be louder than the damn pumps.
Ok cool yea I'm not overly worried about the noise as it will be in my basement. The basement is all concrete. Maybe I'll hang it up by some twine or something? That may help with some of the noise? I'm legal here so I'm not overly worried. Do you think a 40 watt would be overkill? I'm only thinking of running 2 buckets because it will be my first try at it, and I don't want to overwhelm myself lol
 
DA, like tryan2grow1 said, no such thing as too much air. Lol 2 bickets is a good starting point and, if you should choose to expand a bit, that pump should be able to support another bucket or two.
Ive seen people hang their pumps and its supposed to zero out a good bit of the noise. I would if i had somewhere to hang it. As i don't i put my pump in fron of my central air vent to keep it cool and push a little cooler O2 into my rez. I have my intake pulling air from there and blowing onto my rez too. I still needed a chiller. Im jealous of both your freedom to grow and that you have a basement to do it in. Looking for a house now and a basement is a must.
Tryan2grow1, your girls look very happy indeed. How many watts does your led pull from the wall? I had some old mars hydro 300s that pulled about 145w but i just grabbed a perfect sun and I'm loving it as is my girl.
Shes a white widow strain from feminised seed co. About 25 days old from seed in this pic (about 4weeks veg) and just had some supercropping done(gotta take some new ones this week)
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Cool. I thought it looked like a mars light. Seen good stuff done with the newer mars lights. Their old lights worked ok and were priced good for starter lights and their newer ones are waaaay better. I think you'll be happy with your outcome, brother. Keep em green man
 
DA, like tryan2grow1 said, no such thing as too much air. Lol 2 bickets is a good starting point and, if you should choose to expand a bit, that pump should be able to support another bucket or two.
Ive seen people hang their pumps and its supposed to zero out a good bit of the noise. I would if i had somewhere to hang it. As i don't i put my pump in fron of my central air vent to keep it cool and push a little cooler O2 into my rez. I have my intake pulling air from there and blowing onto my rez too. I still needed a chiller. Im jealous of both your freedom to grow and that you have a basement to do it in. Looking for a house now and a basement is a must.
Tryan2grow1, your girls look very happy indeed. How many watts does your led pull from the wall? I had some old mars hydro 300s that pulled about 145w but i just grabbed a perfect sun and I'm loving it as is my girl.
Shes a white widow strain from feminised seed co. About 25 days old from seed in this pic (about 4weeks veg) and just had some supercropping done(gotta take some new ones this week)
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Ok thank you for the info shopping around for a good pump isn't the easiest thing in the world to do lol. I'm just getting my list ready and everything I build my own buckets and bought 2 lids from my little brother for 10 bucks. I love him so much. I got some black tubing and everything just need the pump lol
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( shopping around for a good pump isn't the easiest thing in the world to do ) I have been running GH dual diaphragm pumps for years now.

I run four buckets per pump with large 2" cylinder stones and they work great are real quite and they do not add heat to the water like piston pumps do.
 
I run two 20 gallon reservoirs off of one whisper pump rated for 40-60 gallons. I have one 4" air stone in each res and this little pump seems to be enough to keep the ladies happy. Huge root growth and the pump is quite. It's $12 on Amazon, for that price you could buy 2 or 3 for backups. I have had mine running 24/7 for about 4 or 5 months now with no issues. Tetra Whisper Pump

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I started with this Eco Plus 18 watt. It was awesome but just too loud for my closet grow. It is a beast and would recommend it if you can find a place for it where you cannot hear it.
 
I run two 20 gallon reservoirs off of one whisper pump rated for 40-60 gallons. I have one 4" air stone in each res and this little pump seems to be enough to keep the ladies happy. Huge root growth and the pump is quite. It's $12 on Amazon, for that price you could buy 2 or 3 for backups. I have had mine running 24/7 for about 4 or 5 months now with no issues. Tetra Whisper Pump

I have the same pump! I have 2 of them in my 16L bucket and there's a lot of bubbles! :)

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