How can I connect a bunch of small poly tubes to a pump?

So here's my dilemma, I am building a modular low pressure aero system with home depot buckets that I can add or subtract. There will be a central rez and pump (maybe 1,500 gph or so). Then running to each bucket will be 2 water lines of 1/2" O.D. clear poly tubing that I got from home depot. At the end of each line is a mist head which will go down into the top of the lid to mist the roots. I'm thinking of two misters per bucket on opposite sides. The buckets are elevated and will then drain back to the central rez.

The part I am stuck on is that I need to construct some sort of adapter to be able to connect a bank of tubes (about 10 to start with) to the pump. I am really stumped on what parts to use for this or where to look for them. To give a better idea of what I'm talking about, you know the multi tube air pumps used for aerating DWC buckets with air stones that you connect a bunch of tubes to....something like that. Then I need a way of connecting that "tube bank" to the pump itself. Any recommendations would be great.

Now these are supposed to be for dividing air, but could I use them for pumping water? This is kind of what I'm envisioning http://monstergardens.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=208_511&product_id=2415

what you want is called a "manifold".
look at rainwater? rainbird? they make the lawn irrigation stuff.
Or for that matter for that matter go to your local lawn irrigation place.

There are adapter's for everything.Just have to go look, bring the pump so you know the adapter will work the first time.I have been building hydraulic systems my whole life.Really technical shit and if you can find an adapter for annnnyyyything..

Ii use octo bubblers. They fit 1/2"npt and have 8 tubes each. They make larger ones, I think up to 12 ports (1/4") seen a few on ebay. I would not use the chrome adapter for nutes, only stainless or a poly of some sort ( vinyl, nylon, pvc) nutes do not treat such materials with respect, it causes them to leach toxins that could have an effect on your crop.

I also noted, you are aero, so these will handle about 20 psi, but I would go no more than that. Try to find something plastic or stainless and avoid copper, brass (chrome plated), aluminum, any carbon steel and worst of all bronze.

Peace and Great Grows

Asmallvoice

Do not use clear tubing, ever. Always and only, black

ilikecheetoes said:

what you want is called a "manifold".
look at rainwater? rainbird? they make the lawn irrigation stuff.

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I bought one of those (free-flow) rainbird spider manifolds early this year, looks a bit like the octo bubbler mentioned above, hooked it up to a 400gph and bam! Blew the top off in a split second.

At OP: note that some manifolds are for drippers, no free flow.

And like ss said, never use clear tubing. They'll become green...

To keep modular and stuff look at John Guest fittings 1/4"-3/8" a good link for PVC in general and more flexpvc.com but with a little pressure, solution can go a long ways my ladies like a small hose! good luck! where are the HP Aero threads?

I agree with not using clear tubing, should be black so no algae will grow, the chrome manifold you show imo should not be used for water, chrome tends to rust eventually and would contaminate your nutrients.

You could also make one using 1/2 pvc tubing and 1/2 elbows, make sure you add a shutoff valve to control individual outlets, I realize the pic is small but if you upload it to your computer you could enlarge it to view it better, once built you can attach it to your pump using 1/2" tubing, you may have to heat the tubing to attach to 1/2" pvc.

@DeeTee: I see a lot of T-connectors in there, but no elbows. I won't pretend to know the lingo, heck I just learned what a 'manifold' is half a year ago, but to me (here in NL) an elbow is just a corner |_ and not a T _|_

I use a PE line (circle) instead of PVC, and connect the spaghetti lines using these:



The pump goes to a T-connector, to which the main PE line is looped. That loop helps spread the pressure amongst all exits evenly.

I have done what you are attempting going from low pressure heads misting the roots to high pressure aero. I found it just to difficult to maintain an ideal atmosphere in the root chamber, thus finding it more trouble than it was worth. Now using Hydro Halo Drip Rings but as shower heads.

My last grow featured my first HH attempt. Although there was a learning curve involved, it was a whole lot easier and forgiving than root misting, which BTW does nothing or the roots within 2" of the surface, which IMHO is very important to nurture

Super simple to set up. FYI I found the shut off valves to each plant unnecessary

PetFlora said:

I found it just to difficult to maintain an ideal atmosphere in the rot chamber, thus finding it more trouble than it was worth.

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Well said

Sativied said:

Well said

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A Freudian perhaps? Of course I meant root, but rot describes what happens when the RH is too warm (either by high lamp temps and/or ambient temps

You were asking for some kind of manifold to feed a number of units, or at least that was to my understanding, was just giving you an example on how to make one, the number of tees what just to show how to connect, numerous, outputs, sorry if I misunderstood you.

DeeTee said:

You were asking for some kind of manifold to feed a number of units, or at least that was to my understanding, was just giving you an example on how to make one, the number of tees what just to show how to connect, numerous, outputs, sorry if I misunderstood you.

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Yes this is absolutely correct DeeTee. I am trying to feed a number of units.

I believe the John Guest tees and quick connects and tubing are the way to go. Also if I decide to convert to high pressure aero down the road, I can use the same setup with the same fittings.

Thanks for the link dochickory! I will need a bunch of tubing. Not sure on the size yet.

PetFlora said:

I have done what you are attempting going from low pressure heads misting the roots to high pressure aero. I found it just to difficult to maintain an ideal atmosphere in the root chamber, thus finding it more trouble than it was worth. Now using Hydro Halo Drip Rings but as shower heads.

My last grow featured my first HH attempt. Although there was a learning curve involved, it was a whole lot easier and forgiving than root misting, which BTW does nothing or the roots within 2" of the surface, which IMHO is very important to nurture

Super simple to set up. FYI I found the shut off valves to each plant unnecessary

View attachment 2780508View attachment 2780509View attachment 2780510View attachment 2780511

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Interesting Flora, I've never seen those hydro halo drip rings before. How are you finding them now?

What was it about the atmosphere in your buckets that was giving you trouble? Were you getting root rot?

I've done lp aero in 6" pvc tubes for about 2 years now misting every 10 minutes for 30 seconds. Never had any root problems whatsoever. I don't even aerate my rez. The rez is small which I like and it can feed a lot of plants. That's why I like the lp aero method. I'd like to do the same thing now but with home depot buckets for plant sites instead of pvc tube.