Size Of Air Pump Per Bucket ~DWC~

[Stealthy]

I've read quite a bit on how much oxygen is needed per one 5 gallon bucket / DWC but haven't been able to find exactly what I'm looking for. My old wal-mart aquarium pumps worked well for years and years but who knows how much o2 they really put out.
I've been reading about linear air pumps. Many of these are listed in watts used and I've some listed in gph and even cfm .
Can someone explain what the difference is here?
Here's an example...


LEADS @ 12 in. DEEP

MAP - 1.5 cfm, 6 psi 35 (approx)
MAPXL - 1.9 cfm, 6.4 psi 50 (approx)
MAP2X - 3.5 cfm, 6.4 psi 90 (approx)
MAPDC - 2.5 cfm, 18.0 psi 100 (approx)



If I were to go with model "MAP2X" would this air pump be large enough to power say, 40 to 50 (4 gal buckets)?

Can someone list a company / air pump large enough to power this many buckets? I really hate to have 40 separate wally world air pumps plugged into one power strip (kidding - I would never do that).
And let's keep this in the $100.00 to 200.00 range...I ain't a friggin rollin in the money if you know what I mean.

 

[Haps]

I run 15 through two 8 plug power sentrys, no worries, and if one dies, I just replace it for ten bucks and truck on. The single line ones are fine for single buckets.

Think of it like a server farm, if you have one big box, and it goes down, you are screwed. Now we have blade servers, a hardware problem can just be switched out, and ya keep on keepin on.
H

 

[SomeGuy]

Wormsway has some heavy duty air pumps and some really cool dividers. The 12 outlet divider is kinda whack as the inlet is like 3/4" and I couldn't figure out how to cleanly connect it to 1/4" airline so I sent it back and got 2 5 outlets and a 1/4" TEE.

Big air pumps are noisy as hell compared to the aquarium type but put out a lot of air.

Air Divider

Big Ass 600 gph Pump

Larger Alternative

I don't know what your noise situation is but you might consider a small pancake type air compressor if you need that much air. Again noisy as hell when its running but should produce enough air and the bigger the tank, the less it will have to run.

Harbor Freight

Hope this helps

 

[Wait...What?]

http://www.aquacave.com/HD Air Pumps Catalog.aspx

 

[ogenko]

i got the alita al40 in the mail yesterday
with the hoses hooked up its pretty dang quiet
the noisy part is the crazy bubbling going on in my buckets
definitely could've used a smaller pump but the bubbles sure are cool

 

[Stealthy]

I was reading about a x4 outlet General Hydroponic air pump that said the output was 394 gph/ 24,800 cc/minute capacity. That works out to about 63cc per minute.
Well I was also looking at some of the smaller units at wormsway (the one and two output Sunleaves brand). The one output unit is listed at 28gph and the two output unit is listed at 71gph. I have always used "aquaculture" (wal-mart) one single output unit per 5 gallon dwc bucket. I'm assuming that the single output aquaculture units puts out about as much as the Sunleaves unit.
If this is the case then should I assume that 30 to 40 gph per bucket is what I'm shooting for?
This would mean that my 50 bucket setup would require a minimum of a 1500 gph pump to supply all buckets with adequate oxygen...right?
Can someone chime in and help me figure this out?

 

[Stealthy]

Oh yeah...never refreshed this page since last night and didn't see the replies til now. Thanks for all the links!

ZENITH,
I'm trying to get a concrete answer on how much 02 is needed per bucket.
I always had great results with the single output walmart pumps. If those walmart single output pumps put out close to the same gph as the Sunleaves pump (listed at 28 gph for the single output) then I should assume 30 gph per bucket is sufficient.
Any thoughts? Anyone understand what I'm saying here?

 

[Rainman]

Stealthy - You got me worried as I run six buckets with a Walmart special that has outlets for 2 hoses. Supposed to be used for up 75 gallons but now im thinkin I should go alot bigger than this. Real quiet though!! Prolly cause it ain't doin tha job! No problems so far though im thinkin it would help with my growth over all.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Don't know if this qualifies as help, they're talking in terms of watts and not gph ... http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=21117

 

[Stealthy]

Rainman,
You can *almost* never have to much 02. You're cutting it close using one dual wally world pump for six buckets. I'd get a couple more....their cheap enough (unless you need to do 50 buckets at a time like me lol).

 

[Rainman]

Gonna grab something bigger later today!! Glad I dropped in on the post when I did!! Thanks for the info. Peace and respect!

 

[Stealthy]

Hey Freezerboy,

I went and checked that thread out. I know it was written by Lucas and he knows his shit but I just don't think calculating by watts is going to give us what we're all looking for.
What we need to understand is how much oxygen should be pumped into each bucket...it needs to be measured by the "actual volume" produced...not watts. Maybe watts can somehow be converted to gph or something but how consistent is this method. What if different pumps use higher or lower wattage to produce the same amount of oxygen as brand X?

 

[Rainman]

I am definitely gonna test the limits of O2 consumption with this current run. I purchased a few new air-pumps as I have no issues with noise in my setup. Hopefully I can get some of the girls to jump in growth. They are gonna realy increase the bubbles in each bucket and the res.!!

 

[phattybudz]

Blazeoneup recommends an eco-8 in his tutorial so that's what I'm using right now... I've also got 6 of those aquarium pumps... so I'm probably going to use those if I want more buckets.

Is there a point at which they're completely aerated, bubbling like a goddamn jacuzzi and anymore power is just a waste of watts?

 

[ogenko]

for anyone interested in alita
alita al40 is overkill for 8 buckets
dont get me wrong, its a nice pump
looooottttss of air and quiet
but for 8 buckets i should have gotten a much smaller size pump
the al 40 could push 20 + buckets

 

[Stealthy]

ogenko,

That looks like a sweet pump. It has an output of 48 lpm or about 760 gph. That pump could supply 25 buckets @ 30 gph per bucket.
I'm not sure if I'm doing the math right on this...Mr. Celcius, Ty-Stik or any of the other brains haven't stepped in to correct me yet so I assume that my calculations are correct.
How much you pay for that bad boy?

 

[ogenko]

$199 for the pump and 8 outlet manifold with shipping
once 1 plugged it in, the price became a non issue
my old eco 8 was the noisiest thing im my room
cant hear this one =)
i might get a smaller one and sell this one though,
cause it is way overkill

 

[Stealthy]

If I'm correct then your unit puts out 48 lpm (about 760 gph) @ a cost of 199.00. Check this unit out...

http://www.wormsway.com/detail.asp?sku=SDA530

it put's out 600 gph and is only $37.95!! I'll bet this unit is alot louder than the alita al40 though.

 

[ogenko]

wow that sure sounds like a good deal
wonder about the noise??

 

[Rainman]

I am looking at a heavy duty pump from General hydroponics that the guy told me could run up to 12 buckets no problem. Still looking around for alternatives though. I like the looks of the Alita for sure but it would def. be overkill in my setup.