20w or 40w commercial Aerator pump with 4x5g buckets ?

LEDBud

Well-Known Member
I have picked up 4x black 5g buckets with 6 inch net lids now its time to pick out the aeration , without any DWC experience I can only guess am hoping someone with experience with either of these two air pumps could offer me some advice on them.

My worry is that the stronger 40w pump will cause too much aeration in four 3/4 full 5 g buckets

Maybe the excess bubbles could cause a heat problem making the 20w pump a wiser choice ?
 
I have the eco air 1 and 3. The eco 1 runs alot quieter and it will supply air to 8 large stones in 2 - 10 gal buckets, 4 each. Not sure on the wattage of those pumps but that will give you an idea. Dont mess with aquarium style pumps, buy a good commercial pump like the eco pumps, you will be glad you did. The more air the better. As for the heat, if that small amount from the air pump warming the o2 is an issue, you need a chiller.
 
I checked on the eco 1 pump its the 18w version but looks to be the same as the 20w

I should get it and pass on the 40w version with its added noise and watt draw well unless the added o2 flow would help

Hate to make the wrong choice it would be nice to get the best size for the job for rapid growth especially when they are maturing.
 
I think GH dual Diaphragm pumps are the best small pumps out there and I have bought many different ones over the years.

I found eoc's to not last very long. To me they are not in the same league as a GH.

They are very quiet compared to most and they do not put out much heat. Much less then a piston pump.

I have been running four buckets off one for years with no chiller. I have four of them and have not had one die yet.

If I was going with the cheaper ones I would go with Whisper before eco.

Maybe it was just the eco's I had. But they did not last very long at all.
 
DukeO your post helped me make a decision and it was a hard one to make .. 20w magnetic or 40w magnetic or the GH linear pump

First was thinking would go for the cheaper magnetic pump and point a computer fan at it for cooling.

This morning I looked into the GH linear pumps and for good measure some linear septic aerator pumps to get a understanding of the various watt and lpm ratings and took the plunge and ordered the GH linear pump from Amazon with free 2 day shipping

The GH 320Gph linear pump specs : 3 psi 20L/min .2A / 24w draw and quiet operation , what sold me on it was its longevity and quietness from dukeO's report plus its cooler running )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Question part 2 ( I need the advice )

Air stones what do you guys suggest ?

I am thinking of using either the ring of black aerator tube or two thin 8" long stones per bucket secured in place.

What style of aerator stone / tube do you suggest to use and why do you prefer using it ?
 
I run my air tubes through a grommet at the top of my water level tube on the side of the bucket. It pumps air directly through the tube, elbow, and into the bottom of the bucket. To check water level I just pull the air hose out for a second. No need for an air stone that eventually will clog up. You can probably see it in my photos if you look on my journal. Good luck. :Namaste:
 
I tried a lot of stones and I like the Large 2" cylinders myself. They have the least back pressure.

The flat ones have a lot of it.

I run z7 water treatment with tap water and nutes. I wasted a lot of money on a bunch of stuff when I started out.

But those three things are all I use now and I never have any root issues.

If you can get some z7 it will make it much easiest to be successfully right from the start.

I started out using GH 3part and move to Botanicare Kind it holds the ph much better then GH does for me.

I would also get blue airline.
 
I drilled a hole 1" down from the top of the bucket for the air line and I slide my tops over and look into them to check water. That is also how I fill and check ph.

With 6" tops it is easy to do.
 
Yes, 6" baskets beat the 10" ...most of the time. I had a 54" tall plant, when I'd move the 6" basket slightly to the side to take a ppm reading it nearly toppled over out of the bucket. A 10" basket won't let that happen but it's harder to reach inside, that's when I pull sample using the side water level tube.
 
Thanks for all the tips guys your advice is invaluable I will surely use it all in the upcoming years.

Rifleman's no stone / straight tube method has intrigued me as it would provide both the coolest and strongest airflow of all the methods. With the past growing research I have read time and again that its the *surface* agitation that does most of the aeration

I am going to look further into it and will go check on ALL your grows for starters , thanks for the advice guys.

I remember seeing Rifleman's plants last year , I will head over now and see what your up to this grow etc
then go check on budhings and DukeO's set ups.


I may end up using the 2" cylinders for a balance between back pressure and flow , if rifleman gets along fine using a straight tube the big bubbles from a larger stone sounds like a good compromise between the methods.

I am going to keep looking into it a little longer maybe there is abetter product out there.

TheBudKing your plant looks killer !

wake n bake
 
Ive been through a lot of stones and have never been satisfied. I grabbed a product off of the big online retailer that is made for aerating compost teas. Ot is basically 2 concentric circles made of that porous 1/4 in tubing and a bunch of t's and straight connectors that link them together and its the best thing I've used. It sends microfine bubbles from the whole bottom of my bucket. I liked it so much i bought the parts for way less and made a few more of them.
That GH pump is on my list if my 18w eco pump goes out. Its been running for almost 2 years non-stop now though.
 
I am back from looking into those flexible aeration hoses that are used to make the dwc / tea bubble rings.

When its compared in a vs test against stone the hoses produces the least amount bubbles but possible the largest its hard to tell on video.
the bubble hose is cheap enough from overseas. I may by some to test out regardless of what other stones I pick up.

Anyone have experience with this type of aerator ?

$_57.jpg
 
( I have read time and again that its the *surface* agitation that does most of the aeration) That is really only while the plants are little.

The roots will fill the bucket and swallow the airstone if it is a good grow.

So action sounds good and all. But by flower there is almost no action visible when looking in. Just a few bubbles work up out of the root-ball.

I have been using the same stones for 3years. The z7 keeps them just like new.

That pump with a half way good stone will put far more air into the water then it can hold.

Not enough air will not be a issue you will have.

I pop the stone off of the hose and pull it out of the root-ball at the end of the grow.

I always like that part for some reason...LoL
 
Thanks for that tip DukeO

Finished research and bought these stones they are 5.75" total length 4.72" stone , cost $28 for a 10 lot

I will try two per pail but want to compare to 3 per pail but was 1 short so picked up a extra four lot , for $13

I want to try three of them in a triangle semi circle shape to give more even coverage , not sure how the pump will like all those air stones though , i will test.



$_57.jpg
 
The GH Dual diaphragm pump arrived today , it has strong airflow with four valves open I expect it to work great.

The box says its good for 16 GH water farms which is the same water volume as 8 5g DWC buckets.
Although most growers use one per four buckets as will I

Its watt rating says 8w not 22w like I had mistakenly deduced from its 0.2 Amp rating


It turns out to be a very economical pump to run 8w 3 psi 20Lpm
 
I am hoping I can control the buckets temperature by raising or lowering the air pumps position in the basement room , as the basement floor is 60* F.

I picked up 15 ft. of 7mm i.d 13mm o.d thick silicone tubing to fit directly onto each of the pumps dual diaphragm outlets.

My thinking is the thick hose will reduce pressure drop as well as be a good heat sink

Each side will use equal lengths of the tubing that will be run to and split between two buckets with a section of a 5mm I.D hose and split inside each bucket again for the air stones.

3M_5mm_I_D_food_grade_silicone_tubing.JPG


Most of the hoses will be kept outside the tent where its cool , I'm hoping the tubing's mass will act as a heat sink and cool the compressed air a few degrees although the main reason is thick tubing will help reduce the small pressure drop between the two ends
 
As a cheap option thought I would mention this pump

I was worried how well the GH Dual pump would handled twelve 1 x 4 stones so picked up a cheaper 2nd pump to lighten the load and run 1/3 of them.

Apparently it has a multi muffler system

Price - $30

Still looking for its psi rating

240-GPH, 6 watts , maximum amperage .08 maximum decibels 45.

6-inch length by 4-inch width by 9-2/5-inch height. weighs 3.1-pound.

15LPM.jpg



Amazon Review

Great pump. Good amount of air for four six foot lines going in dwc buckets. It is quite noisy at the maximum output and it vibrates, but a foam underneath it takes care of that.
The product is bigger than I tought, so forget about suspending it with the powercord. Too heavy. Which is a great point, it seems durable and built to last. I would recommend!
 
I have been running 12 buckets on 3 GH pumps with one big stone per bucket for three years in buckets with temps up to 78-80f without any kind of issue. Most of the time they run 71-76f. But in the summer it gets harder to keep them there.

The GH pump puts off very little heat. Almost none to the lines. I keep the pumps on the floor outside the tents.
 
As a cheap option thought I would mention this pump

I was worried how well the GH Dual pump would handled twelve 1 x 4 stones so picked up a cheaper 2nd pump to lighten the load and run 1/3 of them.

Apparently it has a multi muffler system

Price - $30

Still looking for its psi rating

240-GPH, 6 watts , maximum amperage .08 maximum decibels 45.

6-inch length by 4-inch width by 9-2/5-inch height. weighs 3.1-pound.

15LPM.jpg



Amazon Review

Great pump. Good amount of air for four six foot lines going in dwc buckets. It is quite noisy at the maximum output and it vibrates, but a foam underneath it takes care of that.
The product is bigger than I tought, so forget about suspending it with the powercord. Too heavy. Which is a great point, it seems durable and built to last. I would recommend!

I've used this exact pump for close to two years. You'll have to pick it up occasionally and clean any dust from your floor off of the intake on the bottom. I keep mine about 6 inches off the floor because of this. Other than that it's worked well for me.
 
Back
Top Bottom