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I need good airstones...

Pedro_De_Pacas

Pedro_De_Pacas

Member
Hey all....im going for my second DWC run and i need some good links to places with durable and outstanding perfomace airstones....The last ones i got were the 12" ones..they worked fine for awhile but after 6-7 weeks the stone itself started clogging up, even though i cleaned it with a tooth brush it still didnt work like it did when it was new...I really like the output of the 5'' bubble disks. I personally think they work very well...I was just wondering if anyone has any good advice of where and what kind of air diffuseres i should get that will last loner than the last ones...And I already know that I have to Clean them to keep them working......Any good links or advice that i should take into consideration before i start...I really hope all you here at ICMAG can help me out..Id really appreciate it if everyone can give alittle advice from experiance what and what not to use...Keep it simple..and stay safe...PEACE...
............................pedro_de_pacas.......................................................
 
kingspade

kingspade

Member
hey pedro,

i know where your coming from, my first couple grows, i was like what the FU*K!!! THESE THINGS SUCK!!! STOP CLOGGING!!! i've learned just to accept it, i just buy the cheap little blue ones from wal-mart, two for $1, change 'em after three weeks or so, ounce i see them start to not give as much air, i take 'em out, run 'em under the sink, rub my thumb on 'em for a bit, and throw 'em back in there for another week or so...
 
mtnjohn

mtnjohn

Active member
Veteran
check out aquaticeco.com they have diffusers that are supposed to be the best
theyre called "sweetwater diffusers"...kinda pricey but they can be cleaned

i have wanted to get a few to try out but havnt as of yet
 
Pedro_De_Pacas

Pedro_De_Pacas

Member
Thanks you guys...I really appreciate you guys helping me out....

kingspade....I know..it is a total pain in the ass. I did the exact same thing...But I wasnt sure if there was anything better that I could use...

Hey mtnjohn...i will deffinately check that site out...It sounds really good to me...Anything that i can clean off, and have it work the same as it did when it was new is a deffinate plus for me....

PEACE....
 
guineapig

guineapig

Active member
Veteran
now that's an airstone!!!!

now that's an airstone!!!!

Ceramic air-stones, industrial strength....






:ying: yer pal guineapig :ying:
 
mtnjohn

mtnjohn

Active member
Veteran
mtnjohn said:
check out aquaticeco.com they have diffusers that are supposed to be the best
theyre called "sweetwater diffusers"...kinda pricey but they can be cleaned

i have wanted to get a few to try out but havnt as of yet
Click to expand...

i think that they said to clean them with a muratic acid bath.
 
Pedro_De_Pacas

Pedro_De_Pacas

Member
hey thanks for the link Redux...I appreciate it bro...I will check them out...

Ceramic air-stones, industrial strength....
Click to expand...

guineapig...lol...yea that is industrial airstone..I like the pics....

mtnjohn...would you happen to know what is muratic acid..lol...cuzz i have honestly never heard of it....PEACE
 
mtnjohn

mtnjohn

Active member
Veteran
^^^^ one use is to clean brick and masonry
and i'm sure a concrete suppy house or brick/stone yard would have it
 
Pedro_De_Pacas

Pedro_De_Pacas

Member
ohh...now that you metioned it...i recall hearing that before...My cousin worked masondry...and he had said that to me a couple times.....Thanks for the help..PEACE
 
clowntown

clowntown

Active member
Veteran
Try using no stone, just an open line. There's been a lot of discussion as to whether small bubbles are actually beneficial in aerating a solution, or more surface agitation, and even with all the reading I was still a bit skeptical. That is, until the preliminary results posted by morgancola with his DO meter. Granted it wasn't very thorough or completely conclusive, but it did certainly show that it was plausible that running an open air line with no stone produced better aeration / higher DO than with an airstone. No more clogging to worry about, and quite possibly higher DO levels.
 
Pedro_De_Pacas

Pedro_De_Pacas

Member
whats up clowntown...I have never even thought of not using any air stones....That is a pretty good idea..but i thought that you had to have fine bubbles to have good areation?..Im not saying that wouldnt work..but the bubbles being put by just a straight line would be big and bubbly..lol...you know what i mean. I always thought that the finer the bubbles the better...Ummm..Im not sure now...Im pretty confused wether to use an air stone or none...That is a really good suggestion....I might have to give that a try to see what happens....I going to be runnig two 10 gal rubbermaid tubs..and i have 4 dual outlet pumps..which means i will have two pumps per tub...what im really looking for is to get the most use out of each pump per tub....I hope everyone can understand what I mean...If not please ask me to give a more detailed description of what im going to be running..
 
T

Trichome Toker

Member
Just get a quality ceramic air stone from your hydro shop, or use a disposable air stone and keep an eye on it for clogs.

Either way.

Smaller bubbles are better.
 
clowntown

clowntown

Active member
Veteran
Pedro, I hear ya. It's quite counter-intuitive, but after a lot of off-site reading (about water's surface tension, etc) and information from people like inflorescence, Suby, and many others, I'm pretty convinced. I believe Haps runs his buckets with an open end airline, no stone.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=47837

That's the thread I was referring to in my previous post. Another thread I found useful (my apologies for the mess at the beginning) is this one:

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=41622

On my upcoming DWC grow, I will be running open ended airlines with no stone. If I had two separate air pumps, I would run half the buckets with airstones and half without, but since I have one airpump I have a feeling the results might be misleading since there will be unequal air output on the lines with the airstone vs. the lines without (due to less backpressure from the open lines).
 
Pedro_De_Pacas

Pedro_De_Pacas

Member
clown town..
my apologies for the mess at the beginning
Click to expand...
..no need to worry my friend..all is good....I think this round, since i have two 10 gal tubs...and 4 dual air pumps i will try one air pump with air stone and one air pump without air stone..(open line), per tub, to see what happens...you brought up a great point that id like to experiment with...But first ld like to get ahold of some good air stones that i could mix and mactch...while im doing it...any good thoughts..?
 
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