Cleaning Air Stone

[WenworG]

I was setting up my hydroponics, hooking up the air stones. Of course, bubbles (do not laugh) but soap bubbles are coming from the air stones so, my question is, Do I keep blowing it out till the soap bubbles are gone or is there another way?

 

[013]

maybe soak in H2O2 & water solution, let the fizz of hydrogen peroxide do the heavy lifting.

we use it to sterilize water for soaking seeds- so should be good

but let’s see what else comes in too

 

[cbdhemp808]

hey @WenworG,

I recently went through a whole saga with air stones when I was making some batches of aerated worm compost tea. I learned some things about those stones.

Are these brand new stones? If not, what were they used for before... why are soap bubbles coming out? Soap from where?

 

[WenworG]

The stones were used for the first-time hydroponics, after the harvest I put the stones on the bathroom sink, I cleaned the bucket in the shower, then the bucket to dry and walked out of the bathroom. Couple of days later the stones were moved, so I didn't think nothing about it till I had soap bubbles coming out of the top of the 5-gallon bucket.

I think it was my grandchildren, in the bathroom, with Dawn to fight the grease out.

 

[SmokingWings]

The stones were used for the first-time hydroponics, after the harvest I put the stones on the bathroom sink, I cleaned the bucket in the shower, then the bucket to dry and walked out of the bathroom. Couple of days later the stones were moved, so I didn't think nothing about it till I had soap bubbles coming out of the top of the 5-gallon bucket.

I think it was my grandchildren, in the bathroom, with Dawn to fight the grease out.

Where did the air stones come from. As in, were they from a tropical fish store and intended to be used in aquariums? Those stones are often made to produce smaller sized bubbles. Stones from outdoor pond and pool stores will have larger bubbles. So will most of the stones from hydroponic stores.

Or, just throw out the stones and start over. Might be easier and cost less in the long run than trying to clean the used ones. I doubt that some Dawn soap will be a problem after rinsing but there is no telling what else the grandchildren might have dumped into the bucket along with some soap if that is what is causing the problem.

 

[Phytoplankton]

The hydro set-up, was it new water/nutes, clean reservoir? In aquariums, the fine bubbles are used to remove protein from the water (protein skimmer), they will form "soapy looking bubbles if there is algae or other things growing in the hydro reservoir, just a though.

 

[WenworG]

Nope I don't have any kind of fish tanks in my house I use the air stone for cannabis only. I'm going to put them in a bucket and blow them out. Thank you.

 

[seaofgreen18]

I was setting up my hydroponics, hooking up the air stones. Of course, bubbles (do not laugh) but soap bubbles are coming from the air stones so, my question is, Do I keep blowing it out till the soap bubbles are gone or is there another way?

Next time you clean them try 35% hydrogen peroxide soak them in that for a bit. Dilute it of course like maybe 50/50