Centralized Oxygenation Instead of Pump per Bucket

kings120

New Member
Hi,

I have used a few bubble pots each with their own air pump and stone. Now I am putting together a larger system with 9 20l pots.

I was wondering would it be just as good to have a lot of air being pumped into a central reservoir and that oxygen rich water is then pumped through the buckets with a powerful water pump. This would be instead of having 9 air pumps.

The reason I am wondering this is because water becomes oxygenated from the bubbles when they burst on the surface (?), and so it shouldn't make much difference if the water is moved through every bucket so the plants get the oxygen rich water. Or, do the plants benefit from having their roots in the bubble stream?
 
The bubbles bursting a couple inches below the net basket does produce a fine mist like spray... You'll find baskets always wet on the bottoms, even though they don't touch the water... It probably helps the roots transition to the water without drying out... There must be an optimum basket size, but since i don't use that type of system, i have no idea what that size would be... Air stones in the reservoir is mostly standard practice.... They do produce a lot more heat in the system than you would think they would..... You may need a chiller to remove the heat a water and air pump will add..
 
Your system would have to be run like air lines from same pump, equal. If you have your water running in a cycle, like thru bucket A, then B, then C, then D, then by the time the water got to bucket d, the o2 "DO"( Dissolved Oxygen)would be less then at bucket A. So youd have to have a return and a input to each bucket separately. Sounds like it would be a ton of work and cost.

Also, The O2 doesnt rise in the water from the bubbles bursting on the surface. Of course it would add O2 because of the O2 from the pump to make the bubbles, but the bubbles passing thru the water after coming out the airstone, is what raises the -DO- in the water. Another reason why, the smaller the bubbles the better, because of the surface area the bubbles carries, gets stripped as they pass thru the water. Makes sense?

The higher the -DO-, the better your plants grow.
The biggest problem with DWC, and this is what Im currently going to fix, is the water needs to be moving at all times, or at least every so often to mix the Water/Solution/-DO- ratio static in the ENTIRE bucket.

WIth a single air stone sitting in your bucket, its very unlikely water is being moved around the entire volume of the bucket, so water that just sits on the sides and bottom, because depleted and stagnet -DO-, and the ratio drops.

Ultimate solution is a tiny water jet system, whether from air or water force, in a simple circular motion like a whirlpool. Doesnt have to be strong, just enough to keep things moving around. Found if I mixed my buckets and lifted my plants for a few seconds every hour, things grew faster. So got to thinking, I have to get this water moving around constantly, and its simple science.

Duh, lol..

Hope that helped,
 
I had this idea, after seeing these bucket bottoms for cleaning your car buckets. The dirt is supposed to fall thru this contraption so dirt doesnt stay "In the Water" but falls and gets trapped under the bucket strainer. Cool idea. But got me thinking, to kinda use the same thing, with Stones in bottom then would rises thru the bucket strainer, which also would create bubbles and pass thru the Entire bottom at one time, while also saturating the entire area of the root zone, while keeping the water moving constantly.

Its designed with several tiny funnels, so you would flip it upside down, and each funnel, now becomes like a smoke stack but with air.

Going to try this this week. Let ya know how it goes. They are pricey for sure tho. invent a bucket insert out of another bucket lid or something, heck a frisbee might even work. The reason i like this bucket strainer thing, is because the funnels it has, giving less change of solution sediment falling in them with air constantly coming out of them, if that makes sense.

bucketstrainer.png
 
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