Need DWC air stone recommendation

You could probably find bags of smooth river rock somewhere like a garden store. Or, and this may be crazy talk. Bring a bucket down to a river and gather some. Then wash in h2o2 and use.

Is aquarium gravel cool to use in place of hydroton? I'm worried that I might not have enough hydroton to top off my net pots.. was thinking about a layer of smooth aquarium gravel on top.. to look cool and just add stability. I know they aren't going to be looking for food there.

Yeah that's totally fine. Might I suggest top dressing the gravel with a fine layer of diatomaceous earth. It will prevent fungus knats from breeding in your pots. Plus it's a dirt cheap source of silica if you ever water it in.

For 5 gal DWC buckets? I've had no bug issues with soil, not expecting any now!

Gnats can live in hydroton they live in the upper layer that still gets moist. I guess they wouldn't be much if an issue if any in dwc. But I had a tough time getting rid of them out of my hydroton. I think it's because we compost allot and have lots or houseplants. I'm always seeing those fuckers upstairs

Yea we have no houseplants. I kill them.

Ironic, I know. I just can't be arsed to water something that isn't full of thc I guess...

Well, the bug problem got a lot less when I put DE on top of all of them. Interesting enough, I read a thread on another forum where a guys 40 pot RDWC grow got completely devastated by fungus knats. The knats got out of control, which led to stress and lots of tissue damage, then he got a wilting virus. Game over.

It's a whole different game when your growing large scale. Not that I'm commercial scale or anything but if I lost a crop in the last couple weeks I would eat about $1500 in electricity and nutrients. A $10 bag of DE will prevent ANY bugs in your containers...pretty cheap investment

AQUA O2 Air Stones are the best for DWC because they have suction cups to keep them from over turning.
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http://www.hugeharvest.com/Product.aspx?ProdID=439

Ummm. Don't succumb to the marketing. Those stones clog! Suction cups or not.

If you want one of the best airstones out there, grab some Alita airstones