Bubble bucket...air pump question

Setting up 4-5gallon bubble buckets. Will 1- 20 gallon air pump be enough. From what I'm seeing online, I will have to 'T' the air tubes to feed each bucket as there appears to be only one outlet on the pump. Need to know if I should get smaller air pumps for each individual bucket, or if splitting the air pump outlet to feed the buckets will work. Im not skimping....I want what will work best. Thanks in advance.

that would work

if its 20 gallons per hour i think you will need more pumps for 4 buckets. i had a dual outlet pump on 2- 5 gal and it just didnt cut it. just bought a 70liter per minute pump and now i have lots of bubbles and room for expansion. its alot louder than smaller pumps so if sound is an issue just get another small pump. hope this helps.

Questions about adequate bubbles should be prefaced with whether you want to just oxygenate the water or have enough bubble action to water seedlings. if the latter I don't think you have enough and in that case you might want to consider growing them outside the buckets until they have good roots.

Illegal Smile said:

Questions about adequate bubbles should be prefaced with whether you want to just oxygenate the water or have enough bubble action to water seedlings. if the latter I don't think you have enough and in that case you might want to consider growing them outside the buckets until they have good roots.

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In the past I had seedlings and cuttings in a tray w/ a very mild nute solution until I had good root formation, and then transplanted them in to a dwc. The last time I did this was at least 10 years ago, and I'm trying to relearn and learn correctly. So, my thought was to keep them in the tray until I get good roots and then put them in the buckets. Is this the right way to do it? Also, should my water/nute solution be just below my net pots? Or should it be touching the net pot? Thanks everyone for your help.

What size are the net pots? I use the ones that are as big as the 5 gal bucket and they are about 5" deep. I kept my water about 1" below the bottom of the rockwool until i saw roots coming out of the netpot and touch the water. now my water level is 2" below the bottom of the netpot and they love it. with my pump and the water level 2" below i have bubble mist almost all the way to the top of the netpot. you said you want what will work best, if you do not use feeder tubes your pump is everything. hope this helps, good luck

uncalm said:

In the past I had seedlings and cuttings in a tray w/ a very mild nute solution until I had good root formation, and then transplanted them in to a dwc. The last time I did this was at least 10 years ago, and I'm trying to relearn and learn correctly. So, my thought was to keep them in the tray until I get good roots and then put them in the buckets. Is this the right way to do it? Also, should my water/nute solution be just below my net pots? Or should it be touching the net pot? Thanks everyone for your help.

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Neither way is more right than the other. DWC can germ seeds in the system or take them later. I germ mine outside to ensure they are viable seeds, then put them in the dwc. Read the link below for ideas on bubbles and water level.