Dwc air pump

Forgive my noobness on this subject. You're saying an air pump won't be putting out as many lph towards the end of the grow, as it did in the beginning? Surely then the same would apply for the water pump?
If I do use a water pump, I assume I recycle the water from my res, through the water pump, and then back through the top net pot? Will this really provide enough aeration throughout the entire res? Doesn't seem like the air will be able to reach the bottom?

Whereas using an air pump will provide air from bottom to top. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

hotrodharley said:

Good luck with that in a 5-gallon DWC which is what he is doing. Damned nice plants, ttystikk.

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NOT true. He could use a small water pump for one bucket, it just has to pump above the water's surface and then break surface tension on the way back down. An inch out of the water is enough if left running constantly.

Fun fact; waterfalls and flooming (Google it) actually aerate water more effectively than airstones do!

monkz said:

Forgive my noobness on this subject. You're saying an air pump won't be putting out as many lph towards the end of the grow, as it did in the beginning? Surely then the same would apply for the water pump?
If I do use a water pump, I assume I recycle the water from my res, through the water pump, and then back through the top net pot? Will this really provide enough aeration throughout the entire res? Doesn't seem like the air will be able to reach the bottom?

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No it wouldn't apply to your waterpump because it doesn't get clogged the same way.

monkz said:

Whereas using an air pump will provide air from bottom to top. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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Go back and look at my pic on the last page, then decide for yourself.

ttystikk said:

NOT true. He could use a small water pump for one bucket, it just has to pump above the water's surface and then break surface tension on the way back down. An inch out of the water is enough if left running constantly.

Fun fact; waterfalls and flooming (Google it) actually aerate water more effectively than airstones do!

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Waterfalls is what we were explaining. Better temp control too, especially in warmer weather.

Ttystick I'm not debating the outcome of your grow, looks immense dude. It just doesn't make sense to me, because it seems as if water falling down through the net pot and breaking the surface water in my res won't provide aeration throughout the res, as in, all the way down to the bottom, whereas a pump will provide aeration from top to bottom.
Sorry to be so stubborn, I just struggle to accept things sometimes which are counter-intuitive to me. Again, please correct me if I'm wrong.

monkz said:

Ttystick I'm not debating the outcome of your grow, looks immense dude. It just doesn't make sense to me, because it seems as if water falling down through the net pot and breaking the surface water in my res won't provide aeration throughout the res, as in, all the way down to the bottom, whereas a pump will provide aeration from top to bottom.
Sorry to be so stubborn, I just struggle to accept things sometimes which are counter-intuitive to me. Again, please correct me if I'm wrong.

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You're not grasping the concept of chemical diffusion. Ever notice how fast you can smell it when someone takes the cap off a gasoline container? That is because it has a high partial pressure and will thus diffuse through the atmosphere quickly, and we can smell it right away.

Oxygen is pretty similar in water; it doesn't need active mixing quite like mixing nutes does, it will diffuse itself through the entire tub.

Besides, most people put their water pump in the bottom of the tub or bucket and pump water to the top anyway, so what's the difference?

monkz said:

Ttystick I'm not debating the outcome of your grow, looks immense dude. It just doesn't make sense to me, because it seems as if water falling down through the net pot and breaking the surface water in my res won't provide aeration throughout the res, as in, all the way down to the bottom, whereas a pump will provide aeration from top to bottom.
Sorry to be so stubborn, I just struggle to accept things sometimes which are counter-intuitive to me. Again, please correct me if I'm wrong.

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Dude - keep it as fucking simple as you can this time. Your 5-gallon plan is perfect for you. You will learn as did I. My 5-gallon grows were spectacular compared to soil. Peace, love and light. Go for it.

Sorry mate, I'm not really an expert on chemical diffusion, and wasn't aware that oxygen acted that way in water.
I probably will keep it simple this time anyway, and use an air pump, but I'm curious as to what you said about some people putting their water pumps at the bottom - how will the water get aerated? I understand that if you pump water out of the res and back through the net pot, it gets oxygenated on its way from there to when it breaks the surface water, but how would water be oxygenated in the other instance? Again, sorry for my lack of knowledge/sense.