do these air infusers make a difference?

http://www.shop.modularhydro.com/AIT-9-SPIDER-For-Hydroponics-9InchAITSPIDER.htm



seems like a good idea but it well above air stone prices,



JP

I'm pretty sure the oxygen is going to be homogenous through the fluid. I bet if you buy a dissolved oxygen meter, and tried it with normal air stones vs this thing, surface area equal to surface area it would be the same. Sounds like a gimic to me.

If an air stone will do the job, why spend 6 X as much to do the same thing?

with any airstone/diffuser I've placed my mouth over the airline and blew to test the back pressure .... I'm pretty sure with 1/2 of them they are diaphram killers...
I'm gonna keep sayin this as a help to my fellow hobbyist, but why not just use a water pump with a airline venturi? naturally you gotta keep roots out, but IME they are far more fail proof, cheaper and last a helluva lot longer

i highly doubt it puts more o2 into the water, i just thought the loads of bubbles would be helpful in keeping the plant moist while roots are forming. whats a tried and true stone?


JP

Im wanting as much bubbles as i can get. i bought a dual output pump rated for 7.8 liters per min. my time in aquariums taught me the air stones do nothing for getting o2 into the water. the breaking of the bubbles and surface agitation is what does gas exchange. so with that said, what produces the most bubbles?


JP

If you want more DO then lower the water temp.

DIY Chiller would be the most efficient way to add DO in a dwc system. I use a sweet spraybar return and high quality disc airstones ($7 each). If you really care about max DO go aeroponics. I like the redundancy of a magdrive pump driving the spray bar and a big air pump pushing all the airstones. My system can still thrive if either component fails.

where do you get your air stones from? i need a couple good ones.

The best stones are the aluminum silicate stones(grey) available at petsmart

Alita sintered ceramic is the best.

http://www.alita.com/diffuser/sintered.php

Produces many fine bubbles instead of a few larger bubble streams.

In my mind i see it as i need lots of bubbles for surface movement. I have dual output pump so i need two of whatever. I think ill just get 4 of the 6 inch blue ones from walmart. i need to save money wheere i can. saving up for a ozone unit.