Glue down airstones to stay in place?

This might be a noob question, but do you use waterproof glue/silicon to glue your airstones to the bottom of your DWC bucket? It seems like they would be flying around in there tearing up the root system if they are just left free to move/float all over the place.

Well i just set mine up and i havent had a problem with them floating around...i was gonna silicone them down next time i change the solution

Don't bother. As long as there're bubbles breaking on the surface, you're fine.

You need to occasionally clean everything, if it's glued in place...

My air-stones, and air-curtains sink, no problems, no damaging the roots.

I always silicone my air stones to the bottom of my buckets. If I don't they end up getting caught up in root mass which pulls them closer to the surface making them less efficient. The longer the air bubbles have to travel to the surface the more oxygen they can deliver to your nutrient solution. Be sure to use 100% silicone that is made for plumbing so it doesn't break down in your rez

SogFarmer: I don't necessarily agree with Hugo Phurst as the ascending bubbles in the water column are where your roots get their oxygen. And you want lots of tiny bubbles, not big ones. When it's on the top of the water the bubbles pop and the air goes back into the atmosphere where it came from. If you're using the cheapie fish tank air stones, they do have a tendency to float but the big round fat ones from the hydro store weigh like an anchor and they sit nicely on the bottom where they can aeriate then entire water column with a fine screen of bubbles.
I wouldn't glue them down either. God only knows what could leach out into the water from the glue, go through the roots, into your plants and eventually your lungs. I hope that helps. HSA

Good info an thanks. I do have some that are much heavier than the others that seem like they would not move very much, but I also have some round, thin air disks that are very light and seem as if they would be floating around in there. I think that I will just use the heavy onesand then throw the light ones in there with no plants and see how much that they float around. I have some 100% water proof plumbing type silicon that seals the drainage pvc tubes coming out of the bins at it works wonders. Guess Ill try both ideas out, thanks.

I just got tired of the blue ones breaking on me all the time...guess im too rough...anyway...went and bought the big ol round ones from the local hydro store....love em! No gluing for.me

jokerindustries187 said:

I just got tired of the blue ones breaking on me all the time...guess im too rough...anyway...went and bought the big ol round ones from the local hydro store....love em! No gluing for.me

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Nope not you, the blue ones are crap, but really cheap, for some reason they're the only stones I can get here at the moment. But at $1.75 for 4 stones, I really don't give a fuck.

Lolz - Anyone seen the Nano-bubbler?
[video=youtube;bX48qxRtfFM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bX48qxRtfFM#t=0s[/video]

I use cylinder airstones that pretty much stay in place and far superior then the blue "walmart" stones only about 1 buck for 1" and 2 for the 2".

That nano bubbler is nearly! I'd like to get one just so I could watch it over and over!

Best to get heavy stones that stay in place, but if you must glue them, and small spot of hot glue works great, and is completely non toxic. Sets in just a few seconds, keeps them in place yet easily comes off when you pull.

SOGfarmer said:

This might be a noob question, but do you use waterproof glue/silicon to glue your airstones to the bottom of your DWC bucket? It seems like they would be flying around in there tearing up the root system if they are just left free to move/float all over the place.

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Gorilla Glue. The original. READ the directions but it is totally waterproof and food-safe. Be sure to have it where you really want it when you apply it and set the piece.

I use the cylindrical ones or the heavy round ones, both which stay on the bottom.
When I used the cheap blue ones, I would silicone them to a ceramic tile.
That would keep them on the bottom of the reservoir while being easy to remove.

air line suction cups, they clip onto your air line and suck on the bottom of the res, 2.99$ petsmart for 6