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STRRRREEEETCH!!! that 1/4" soaker hose!!!

thescissors

thescissors

Member
i was changing buckets today, and noticed that my 1/4" soaker hose bubbler line was CLOGGED TIGHT, aka very little if any bubbles! Thankfully hygrozyme and low temps saved me, but today before putting in the new line i STRETCHED it. In the water it makes MANY MANY MANY more bubbles than the old one did, even when new. i remembered this as an old landscaper's trick to get soaker to flow more water near thirstier plants/trees.... ;) hope this helps someone!! :)
 
T

Trichome Toker

Member
That is because you are making the holes bigger by stretching them out.

It is kind of a half assed solution to your problem, but it is better than clogged holes.

P.S.

Why are you irritated clown man?

Maybe I can help?
 
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The Dopest

The Dopest

[THC] True Hippie Coonass
Veteran
you just made my gravity fed mother system work alot better!!! this is a great post man i highly recomend it to anyone using soaker hose!
 
clowntown

clowntown

Active member
Veteran
Hmm... I still don't know what a soaker hose is. :badday: Is it the semi rigid tubing / hose, or the soft flexible air tubing, or ... ? Does it have holes in it?

Oh yeah I was irritated from some thread last week or something but I always forget to change my mood once I set it. :yoinks:
 
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thescissors

thescissors

Member
The Dopest said:
you just made my gravity fed mother system work alot better!!! this is a great post man i highly recomend it to anyone using soaker hose!
Click to expand...



excellent!!!! really lets the pump breathe... i might run a FEW coils of the stretched soaker.. :D It blows so many bubbles the surface of the water is churning like hell at the moment!!!!!!!!! With BUBBLES!!!!! :wave:
 
SomeGuy

SomeGuy

668, Neighbor of the Beast
the scissors

Good info on the 1/4" hose. I was thinking of using in a DWC and making a circle with a TEE connector. How did you transition to the dinky aquarium tubing?

I'm thinking the aquarium tubing would fit inside the soaker and wrap it with a zip tie??

Thanks

BlindDate
Can you elaborate? Seems the ceramics clog up and most of the others are muy expensive. I use an aquarium type tube in a clone bubbler and it cleans easy and makes bubble out the wazoo even after being submerged (no nutes added) going a month.
 
BlindDate

BlindDate

Active member
Veteran
Well, I suppose you could use stretched soaker hose if money is a problem. I've used many brands of soaker in the past and they have all clogged. The biggest problem is the high back pressure, but I guess stretching takes care of that by making the pores larger? I've never tried stretching so perhaps my comment is out of line. Let us know if it cloggs. My bad.
 
GirlWonderGrows

GirlWonderGrows

Member
Hey blinddate, what else would you suggest using besides soaker hose? I've stretched soaker hose and it works pretty well, but still clogs in the end. You can soak them in H2O2 and sometimes that will open them up a bit, but realy soaker hose has a very limited lifespan.
I've heard of other hoses that work better, can you recomend anything in particular?

Thanks for the info on stretching, thescissors.
 
SomeGuy

SomeGuy

668, Neighbor of the Beast
Well, I suppose you could use stretched soaker hose if money is a problem. I've used many brands of soaker in the past and they have all clogged. The biggest problem is the high back pressure, but I guess stretching takes care of that by making the pores larger? I've never tried stretching so perhaps my comment is out of line. Let us know if it cloggs. My bad.
Click to expand...

I was just curious as to what else you might have found. I'm open to any and all ideas. Problem for me is availability as I live in a rural area. The soaker hose sells for around $6 for 50' and a pack of tees around a buck and a half. Cheapest I've seen ceramics is about $.50 and are only an inch long. At Walfart they are even higher.

Seems to me that the soaker would produce more bubbles as you could use a longer piece and be cheaper to replace, but if you have to replace them more often then theres no gain.
 
BlindDate

BlindDate

Active member
Veteran
Here, this is from Alita. It NEVER can clog. There is a whole thread on the same subject somwhere around here.


 
SomeGuy

SomeGuy

668, Neighbor of the Beast
Cheap Air Stones

Was looking for a price on the Alita diffuser and found this. Way good deal for the "stoners."

I really like the looks of the Alita and is similar to what I was thinking but I can't find that model. Plenty of links to their pumps and different types of their diffusers. I'll look up that other thread and see if anyones posted a link to buy em.

Thanks!
 
G

Guest

Sappenin Blind Date.....website link on that tubing,Please?.....Also,You usin a regenerative pump now?.........As far as soaker hose goes,......way back when durin the krusty wars.......We figured out how to keep the "shit" from cloggin up by beatin the hell out of it with a hammer,drivin nail holes in it ,and yes in deedy doo stretchin the shit out of it........It`s the last resort but will always clog no matter what.......BD`s got the solution ........it just costs a lil more but well worth NEVER cloggin........PEAVCE.........DHF....... :sasmokin:
 
T

Trichome Toker

Member
Good air stones are an investment, but they are definitely worth it.

Especially if your growing DWC.

I would use the cheap $0.50 air stones though over stretched out soaker hose any day.

You can't compare soaker hose to a diffuser.

A diffuser makes super tiny ass bubbles that the plants love.

I can't find a micron rating for the hole size in the soaker hose, but just looking at the size of the holes on the website those holes are like 50,000 times bigger than the holes in diffusers.

If you are stretching the hose out on top of that, you might as well not even use anything, and just put the air line directly in the water with something to weigh it down.
 
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G

Guest

Hey, that alita link doesn't have an actual place to purchase it. Is it available online elsewhere?
 
thescissors

thescissors

Member
i just want to say that ive switched to the open-line approach. even the stretched soaker was getting clogged FAST with the GH FN nutes (goopy stuff!) so now i have a T-fitting on one line and a tri-fitting on the other (dual output pump) but with no hose, no bubbler stones, just wide open gurgle... ;)
 
G

Guest

Stoned2Death said:
Hey, that alita link doesn't have an actual place to purchase it. Is it available online elsewhere?
Click to expand...
You have to buy it directly from Alita.

As for the open line approach it's the best way to increase DO levels. It takes a tremendous amount of airflow to increase DO levels and your choice is go with open lines to eliminate resistance or get a way oversized air pump to drive a good ceramic diffuser or Alita tubing.

You need like .4 liters per minute of air per gallon of water to get DO levels up to the maximum of about 11-12 PPM. I used an Alita AL-15A at 20 lpm in my 100 gal res and was only able to get the DO up to about 9 PPM with open lines.

For increasing DO levels bubble size is not important but total air flow is. As for what bubble size roots like I've never run DWC so can't say.
 
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