Multiplying bacteria air stone issue...

icetech

icetech

Well-Known Member
So.. i use Soutern AG for my roots which is Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. (i think it's organic thus posting in this forum) As per another user here i multiply it in a bucket basically using an air stone an sugar or karo syrup.. The problem i am having is my air stone gets coated in a slime that i have to clean off every 2-3 days. I have had a hard time finding info on doing this so i figured i would ask.. Does anyone know how much you should feed for like 2-3 gallons of bacteria? or how often? i think i may be over feeding..

The reason i do this is for my DWC i basically give my plants a ridiculous amount of the bacteria without costing hardly anything which makes me happy :) and my roots look amazing. Just would like to make sure i'm multiplying it properly.
 
I had similar issues brewing aacts. I was using cheap ass Walmart airstones because they clog up after awhile. Kept tossing them out when they got nasty; kind of a waste. So then I got a red frog air diffuser. It’s basically just a piece of an old tire with holes drilled in it. They supply these washers to weight it down. Comes disassembled but takes 3 mins to put together. You probably could even DIY one out of rubber tubing but for $15 it works great. Much better than a stone; delivers way more bubbles and impossible to clog.

redfrogcompostteas.com

1 Red Frog 9.5" Aerator/Air Stone/Air Diffuser

Red Frog Compost Teas 9.5" air diffuser was designed to leave no air dead spots in standard 3.5 to 5 gallon buckets. Red Frog's design insures that your compost tea brewer or deep water culture hydroponic system receives the most air possible and continues to work year after year. Our 6 Pk Red...
redfrogcompostteas.com
 
Richard Drysift said:
I had similar issues brewing aacts. I was using cheap ass Walmart airstones because they clog up after awhile. Kept tossing them out when they got nasty; kind of a waste. So then I got a red frog air diffuser. It’s basically just a piece of an old tire with holes drilled in it. They supply these washers to weight it down. Comes disassembled but takes 3 mins to put together. You probably could even DIY one out of rubber tubing but for $15 it works great. Much better than a stone; delivers way more bubbles and impossible to clog.

redfrogcompostteas.com

1 Red Frog 9.5" Aerator/Air Stone/Air Diffuser

Red Frog Compost Teas 9.5" air diffuser was designed to leave no air dead spots in standard 3.5 to 5 gallon buckets. Red Frog's design insures that your compost tea brewer or deep water culture hydroponic system receives the most air possible and continues to work year after year. Our 6 Pk Red...
redfrogcompostteas.com
Click to expand...

The thing is. the stone isn't getting clogged, it's getting coated in slime which i have to wash off then the stone is fine.. I have 2 of those diffuser rings and i must have gotten bad ones.. they barely put out any bubbles and the pump sounds like it's going to die trying to push air through them.. I might try opening the holes up a bit. I am just wondering if i am over-feeding the bacteria or how long between changing the whole bucket out?

I cleaned and re-did the bucket last night and it had like 1" of gel/slime covering the bottom..
 
icetech said:
So.. i use Soutern AG for my roots which is Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. (i think it's organic thus posting in this forum) As per another user here i multiply it in a bucket basically using an air stone an sugar or karo syrup.. The problem i am having is my air stone gets coated in a slime that i have to clean off every 2-3 days. I have had a hard time finding info on doing this so i figured i would ask.. Does anyone know how much you should feed for like 2-3 gallons of bacteria? or how often? i think i may be over feeding..
Click to expand...
Man it's just the beneficial bacteria growing on your air stone so I know it sounds sloppy but I just leave it be if air is flowing, it's a culture. You could empty the bucket, pop that in with fresh juice (sugar and perhaps weak nutes) and the stone itself would start things again, or course just leaving a little of the previous batch will do that.

As to how much to feed, as the bacteria grow exponentially, they will consume sugars exponentially. I found that heavier feed resulted in "richer sauce" meaning more bacteria. I typically added 100 mL of carboload and about a quart of my brew to 30 gallons of nutes and that resulted in fast growth and you had very visible amounts after brewing for about 12-16 hours in the 30 gallons of nutes thats not too cold, temperature is key, cold water really slows them down, use a aquarium heater if doing 30 or 50 gallons and it's @ 62F lol. I used it all up in a a day or two and repeat. The other factor is the waste from the bacteria, so if you let it brew too long, even with enough food, they will die in their own waste. This is "bad sauce" lol. So use it down and top off with fresh juice on a regular basis, don't just let a 5 gal bucket of 1 gallon actual, brew for a week only pulling off about a quart or two a day. So it was always getting fresh nutes added back to dilute the waste and I would add a little carboload, about 3 - 6 mL ish, nothing exact.

This is at least what worked good for me. You just get a feel for it. In the small brew the airstone should keep them warm, make sure it's not too hot though. In a big tank with a fresh load of cold water you want an aquarium heater to warm it up some.

If it starts smelling wrong, it's wrong. Should smell like a dirty fishtank but not rotting stuff.
 
I'd get some good airstones. I love these ones. I just clean them good with water after I make a tea. And every once in awhile I will boil them to make them like new again.
IMG_3597.JPG
IMG_3598.JPG
IMG_3886.JPG

I'd also use blackstrap molasses instead of that other stuff.
 
Renfro said:
Man it's just the beneficial bacteria growing on your air stone so I know it sounds sloppy but I just leave it be if air is flowing, it's a culture. You could empty the bucket, pop that in with fresh juice (sugar and perhaps weak nutes) and the stone itself would start things again, or course just leaving a little of the previous batch will do that.

As to how much to feed, as the bacteria grow exponentially, they will consume sugars exponentially. I found that heavier feed resulted in "richer sauce" meaning more bacteria. I typically added 100 mL of carboload and about a quart of my brew to 30 gallons of nutes and that resulted in fast growth and you had very visible amounts after brewing for about 12-16 hours in the 30 gallons of nutes thats not too cold, temperature is key, cold water really slows them down, use a aquarium heater if doing 30 or 50 gallons and it's @ 62F lol. I used it all up in a a day or two and repeat. The other factor is the waste from the bacteria, so if you let it brew too long, even with enough food, they will die in their own waste. This is "bad sauce" lol. So use it down and top off with fresh juice on a regular basis, don't just let a 5 gal bucket of 1 gallon actual, brew for a week only pulling off about a quart or two a day. So it was always getting fresh nutes added back to dilute the waste and I would add a little carboload, about 3 - 6 mL ish, nothing exact.

This is at least what worked good for me. You just get a feel for it. In the small brew the airstone should keep them warm, make sure it's not too hot though. In a big tank with a fresh load of cold water you want an aquarium heater to warm it up some.

If it starts smelling wrong, it's wrong. Should smell like a dirty fishtank but not rotting stuff.
Click to expand...


Well i wouldn't have even posted except that slime completely coats as 4" long air stone in like 2-3 days to the point almost no air comes out :) It clogged one of those air difuser rings at the same rate but they are much harder to clean. Thanks for the help, just wanted to make sure i'm not doing something wrong.. I keep my bucket on top of a seedling heat pad.. seems to work decently :) thanks again.
 
icetech said:
lime completely coats as 4" long air stone in like 2-3 days to the point almost no air comes out
Click to expand...
Yeah I used the 4 inch long large cylinder style and they got coated just as you describe but I guess I had more pump because it didn't stop the bubbles. Can you use a wire brush and just knock the buildup off the stone into the bucket?
 
Renfro said:
Yeah I used the 4 inch long large cylinder style and they got coated just as you describe but I guess I had more pump because it didn't stop the bubbles. Can you use a wire brush and just knock the buildup off the stone into the bucket?
Click to expand...
Yeah.. not a big deal, just wanted to make sure i wasn't doing something wrong.. Loving SouthernAG.. the shit is amazing:) thanks again!
 
icetech said:
Yeah.. not a big deal, just wanted to make sure i wasn't doing something wrong.. Loving SouthernAG.. the shit is amazing:) thanks again!
Click to expand...
Yeah I stopped using the tribus, after they sent you a dead bottle I had a buddy order a couple gallons and they sent him dead shit too. He was pretty pissed and fought with them to get his money back. I think their QC went to shit.

Honestly since I am not in DWC I stopped using any bennies this round, and even went to tap water. So far the results are amazing and I am not using any calimagic just the Micro, Grow, Bloom and some Epsom and I use the Si as a pH up. Figured out that with the tap water I have to add the Si last, if I add it first then when I add the grow (after the si and micro) I get a lot of precipitate but adding the Si last it's ok.
 
Renfro said:
Yeah I stopped using the tribus, after they sent you a dead bottle I had a buddy order a couple gallons and they sent him dead shit too. He was pretty pissed and fought with them to get his money back. I think their QC went to shit.

Honestly since I am not in DWC I stopped using any bennies this round, and even went to tap water. So far the results are amazing and I am not using any calimagic just the Micro, Grow, Bloom and some Epsom and I use the Si as a pH up. Figured out that with the tap water I have to add the Si last, if I add it first then when I add the grow (after the si and micro) I get a lot of precipitate but adding the Si last it's ok.
Click to expand...

Wow that sucks bout your buddy... plus their customer service kinda blows... i just said fuck it.. Tell your buddy southern AG is everything tribus was supposed to be bit 1/5 the price:)

And yeah.. tap water here and just jacks.. send me your old dwc stuff... silly to take up space you could be using :)
 
search for air lifts, it is a way to lift water for flooming without the use of airstones/ water pumps. You use physics, tubes, and air to lift water and waterfall it back to the res
 
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