Air Stone

Hi, i've searched and could not find the answer to this.

With an ebb&flo system, should I put an air stone in res. to pump oxegyn into the water/nutes?

If I do, how often does the air stone need to run? Can I run it on a timer????

...if i wanted to add oxygen to an ebb and flow system i would...

1...add pebbles to the bottom of my table...it gives oxy bubbles a place to cling

2...put a 'tee' in line with my water pump, just above the water line, so that while my table fills water is splashing into the res...assuming you have a submersible pump...if you have an in-line pump, install a .75 grommet between the pump and the res so as the table fills oxy gets sucked into the line as well...
EIP

^^^

thanks!

E&F by design allows maximum aeration of the roots and does not require an airstone BUT on the other hand the health of your reservoir will benefit from one. In other words airstones are a good thing always and to answer your other question airstones should be run 24/7 of course. GL

...did you know that air stones actually release oxygen from water?..if you take an o2 sample from water befor adding air stones then take a sample after you turn the air stones off, the ppm of o2 is lower...breaking surface tension with o2 causes an increase...

...and yes, dcyans, airstones on constantly create a healthy res environment but we must ask why...
EIP

hmmm so is there is right or wrong answer for this? Currently, I have an airstone in my res. and one up top where the plants are. It goes on when my pumps go on, so they run together. On every 2 hours for 15 minutes while lights are on.

I have two airstones running 24/7 in the rez of my aero system.

Vi

Yeah, Man, for the health of the stuff in the nute soup. I never agitated until I used organic nutes, and found out it was recommended for the critters. I don't use those nutes anymore, but do use organic supplements, so I still aerate each res.

I don't know about changes in the O2 levels, but I do know that the air is mixed at the surface, and all an airstone does is roil the surface. So I just run a water pump in the res that moves the surface.

potroast said:

Yeah, Man, for the health of the stuff in the nute soup. I never agitated until I used organic nutes, and found out it was recommended for the critters. I don't use those nutes anymore, but do use organic supplements, so I still aerate each res.

I don't know about changes in the O2 levels, but I do know that the air is mixed at the surface, and all an airstone does is roil the surface. So I just run a water pump in the res that moves the surface.

Click to expand...

understanding that, is an airstone at the plant level ok? we have one at plant level and one in the res.

Wow, sorry, I just don't know what you mean by airstone at plant level.

^^^^

What I mean is, we have an airstone in the res. and one on the deck where the plants are. when the pump goes on for the ebb&flo the air stones go on.

Ohhh, in the bed with the plants that fills up! I gotcha, but it's not necessary. What you want to do is have the airstone in the rez, and running 24/7. That will keep the soup oxygenated, and any critters living in it will be happy. When you flood the bed, it will be with well-oxygenated soup.

potroast said:

Ohhh, in the bed with the plants that fills up! I gotcha, but it's not necessary. What you want to do is have the airstone in the rez, and running 24/7. That will keep the soup oxygenated, and any critters living in it will be happy. When you flood the bed, it will be with well-oxygenated soup.

Click to expand...

cool... thanks.. right now the airstone runs when the pump goes on. but it's a easy change to a 24 hr plug.

thanks

Airstones increase the DO content of water not lower it and there is plenty of studies to back this up! Also it has also been proven that water droplets sprayed through the air pick up much more O2 than bubbles rising up through water.

I don't know where you get you're info but oxygenating water in a closed reservoir
does not decrease or release O2 from the water. Dissolved oxygen via aeration is
an O2 enrichment and unless you already had artificially high O2 levels aeration is
going to raise PPM of O2. I've worked in both hydroponics and aquaponics for years
and have never seen an O2 test indicate what you're saying. Using air stones is a
must for effective maintenance of reservoir quality.