Aquafarm Modification

[Ezygee]

hi bubbelheads,
read an article recently about adding an airstone to the bottom of an Aquafarm res. turning into a DWC bubbler. wondered if any of you have experience with is and any pitfulls you could mention. I change the res. manually by lifting the top pot out and was worried that the airstone may damage the roots.

thanks guys, im looking forward to becoming a Deep Water Culture.

 

[Mr.Rose]

Do the roots in an Aquafarm reservoir actually grow into the water? Looks like theres quite a bit of hydroton in that setup and that its setup for a drip system.

You may want to see if anyone else here as any better experience with the Aquafarm as I have none but if the roots do manage to grow into the water then by all means get an airstone in there and create some bubbles!

 

[Ezygee]

thanks for your response Mr.Rose. yes the roots are growing into the res.

 

[Mr.Rose]

Ezygee,

If you do stick a stone in there, make sure the air pump is powerful to make bubbles and oxygenate the water.

Also don't forget to report back and let us all know how it goes and if you see any differences so that other users will have this knowledge.

 

[Ezygee]

no probs, i will certainly share any benefits. thats the whole reason im here;-)

 

[Roseman]

He's telling you good, oxygen is so very beneficial in any hydro grow.

 

[Ezygee]

thanks Roseman, that was my way of thinking too. i have seen a grow, where the grower modified the aquafarm with a flat, round airstone and he apparently got 19oz of one plant(indica). im just not too sure on the way to move forward with it. as you can see from my 1st journal, im getting close to completion, and so i will modify the aquafarm as soon as ive harvested. however, im not sure on how to modify it. im thinking of drilling a hole for the air supply tube low in the res. and silicone sealing it. the airstone or airskirt (not sure which one yet) will be permanently located in the bottom of the res. if my last grow was anything to go by, im hopiing that by the 4th week of veg, the roots will be in the res. and will then benefit from the oxygenated nutrient supply.

 

[PitViper]

is this the same as a Waterfarm or Powergrower?
air is always good but the limiting factor is the resovoir size..if its the same as the 2 I mentioned

 

[Ezygee]

hi pitviper, no its not the same as either. i think it maybe the larger version of the waterfarm. i originally thought it was a waterfarm, but i managed to find some documentation on it. the res. holds 45L of nutrients. ive seen a couple of grows using this method/modification and i must say i was rather impressed. im hoping to replicate there awesome results. so it will have a dripper and then become a DWC.

 

[PitViper]

its a large waterfarm...should do well!

 

[Ezygee]

thanks for the vote of confidence pitviper

 

[first-tymer]

I am using waterfarm systems and have been flirting with the idea of adding a small airstone to the bottom of each individual reservior. I even purchased a cheap one from wally world with the intention of giving it a try. Only thing that stopped me was the fact that I needed a small hole somewhere in the system so that I could feed the extra airline down into the res. I thought about drilling a small hole in the side of each bucket near the bottom of the medium holder right above the max water level, but I am afraid the bubbles may cause the water to leak out that hole slowly. Another thought was to feed the extra airline down through the same tube that the standard airline runs through, but there are small plastic rings that hold the standard airline in place and prevent the additional line from fitting down the tube at the same time. I may remove the plastic rings that hold the standard line, but I'm not sure that is a good idea considering that the standard line already keeps coming detatched from the bottom of the tube as it is. Any ideas???

 

[DrTentgrow]

I have just bought a aquafarm and will be modifying it with a air stone, it looks like there will be enough space to feed the air line down the small gap there is either side just under the handles. I will upload some pictures when i have done it.

I am a bit worried that due to the size of the dripper ring compared to the area of clay pebbles that it won't wet them all properly, could someone please tell me if this is true or not? thanks.

 

[Mottspeed]

I've got 10 aquafarms connected,using 9 for grow 1 to feed. The results from these are amazing. I use the drippers until roots hit the water then remove drippers. I then feed air stone through feed pipe.