What is the best way to disinfect / clean airstones used in DWC

hi...i am wondering if it is necessary to clean or disinfect the air stones....and if so...how do i do it...i would reall appreciate youre advice.

thanks....

Wait a sec.

Are they new or used?

I chuck em out after every grow. 50 of the elite 6 inch stones. Every grow.

The one time I cleaned the used ones and reused them, BAD things happened.

If they are new, soak them in some filtered water from the fridge or Britta and soak em for a coupla hours.

Your Choice,,,,,,,,,,,,

bb57^

the reason i even thought o that is because my roots are turning brown!!!....UGGH!...ROOT ROT!!!...UGGH!!!....so if i am changing the water every coupe days and changing it with fresh water with H202 additive...if i dont clean or change to a new stone....will i keep the rot going like that???

BTW...do you have any advice for root rot??? ( this forum is hard to search...the search is poor on this site)...i went to the store...they talked me into trying H202.....any advice???

thanks for the response!!
leon

h202 may help a little. main cause for root rot is light in your res and high temps. where do you fall under? water should ideally be 68.

im waaaay hotter...more like 77 ......is that surviveable?

i was at 83 at one point...since then i have taken measures...i think thats when it went wrong...what is the max temp i can get away with??

in the end...i am going to have to turn my system into recirculating...

Drop some lobster in there and you'll have a meal.


Temps are way, way to hot.
The max for which stage? Clone?, Veg? Flower?
Help us out with a pic or two. Where are you in the grow cycle?



What is your, (christ I hate to ask this question) "container"? A Lowe's bucket?

Help us out here to help you.

bb57^

ftp

good guess.....yes...a lowes bucket....i am in vegetative stage...4-6 week old plants 6-14 inches tall....is the lowes bucket killin me??...like i mentioned in another post...i am thinkinf of going florescent t5 tubes instead of metal halide for my veg cycle for the purpose of heat reduction...

3 factors you should have under control before you expect root rot to improve, water temps, light leaks, dissolved oxygen.

You will want your air pump to have at least 1wt per gallon, with several air stones. Root rot doesn't like oxygenated water.

You want water temps to be no higher than 68f. Use frozen water bottles if you have to. Root rot breeds better at higher temps.

You want no light to penetrate the res. Algae and root rot have a hard time living in the dark.

In addition you can chose to use a sterilizing agent, such as SM-90 or Dutch Master Zone. These products help a great deal with most root disease problems. Just be sure which ever you chose is compatible with the rest of your nutes.

There are many other options you can research should none of these work, but most root problems respond well to the above treatments.

I personally throw out air stones if they ever get slimy or green. I get the 6inch ones for $1 a piece so it's no big deal. There is alot of surface area in an airstone, lots of places for microbes to hide. If I had to reuse the ones I have, I would give them a bath in a really strong h202 (food grade) solution and then soak them in some physan 20 overnight.

leonsroach said:

What is the best way to disinfect / clean airstones used in DWC

Click to expand...

by throwing out the old ones, and buying new ones....
trust me, its the easiest way..

leonsroach said:

good guess.....yes...a lowes bucket....i am in vegetative stage...4-6 week old plants 6-14 inches tall....is the lowes bucket killin me??...like i mentioned in another post...i am thinkinf of going florescent t5 tubes instead of metal halide for my veg cycle for the purpose of heat reduction...

Click to expand...

Guess my ass. Most of you peeps out there do not understand the importance of chilled roots.

Experiment.

Place a bucket of cold water in your room with lights on.
Come back and check it in 6 hours. What's the temp.?
Probably close to room temp.

Get It?

Water temps in DWC should be between 65-68f for Flower. Veg can go a little higher but no more than 73F.
I won't go over clone temps, yer not there yet.

Cool Waters,
No light.

Repeat that over and over.

Go out and get an Igloo cooler. Follow my thread on The Best Damn Reservoir you can make.

You will NEVER have root problems again.

bb57

ftp

ok...im really interested!.....what is the tabletop thing on top of your coolers,...where do you run the airstones in to it??...is it recirculating??...i would appreciate any advice!....i have already been planning on moving to recirculating system next grow, but with all the heat problems...i may not wait if i can figure it out....(without breaking my empty bank account!!!)

Now I'll send you to Loweskis,,,,,

Get a sheet of 8'x4' 1" or 2" Styrofoam Insulation
1 roll of reflective HVAC tape.
Razor Knife
Remove lid, save screw and hinges

Cut the foam to fit the top and leave a couple of inches overhang.
Tape the top, bottom and sides.
Place your net pots upside down and trace the outline.
Cut with razor knife slanted inwards so the net pot does not fall through.

Use a #2 pencil to poke holes into foam at an angle.
Connect air stones and air pumps.

Have fun with it. Don't be lazy, look up my thread,,

Best Damn reservoir you can make


bb57^

I've never had any problems cleaning and reusing airstones. I just toss all my stones with air lines in a 5 gallon bucket with warm water and 2 cap fulls of bleach, let em sit for about 15 minutes, them dump out the bleach water and let them air dry. Sometimes they will still have residue from the last grow, I don't worry about it and use them anyway, and haven't had any problems.

bleach and water will kill germs good but for the love of god man go to miejers and drop 5 or 6 bucks on new stones.