What the hell is going on here?

[Serpentz]

So, to make a long story short, the new apartment I bought is going through some maintenance issues (brand-new building). Tomorrow they will turn off my power for two hours. I'm growing. I think two hours is not enough to kill my plant going without the air pump, but I wanted to look online and see what people are saying about losing power for DWC. I ran into a really interesting thread of some guy on another forum who stopped using airstones altogether. Now, I've been growing very successfully for a couple of years now using the same setup. I was under the impression that plants in a DMC will drown without some kind of oxygenation going on in the water. But, I was surprised to run into this thread of some guy saying he's not using air stones at all! I shortened the link because I don't want to link one forum to another. But can someone please take a look at this and tell me what you think? Are air stones useless after all?

Could Air Stones Be Doing More Harm Than Good?

I decided to make this thread since I see a lot of people over think hydro. A lot of times "adding more" or "going bigger" is a solution to hopes of achieving those big tree dreams. In reality , could everything they are doing be setting them further back? Halfway thru my last run I was doing...

bit.ly

I'd like to get a discussion going here and see what the pro's here think about this and if anyone has any experience. My plant isn't going to die in two hours, but it's really interesting to see if this guy is on to something or not.

 

[TrippleDip]

So, to make a long story short, the new apartment I bought is going through some maintenance issues (brand-new building). Tomorrow they will turn off my power for two hours. I'm growing. I think two hours is not enough to kill my plant going without the air pump, but I wanted to look online and see what people are saying about losing power for DWC. I ran into a really interesting thread of some guy on another forum who stopped using airstones altogether. Now, I've been growing very successfully for a couple of years now using the same setup. I was under the impression that plants in a DMC will drown without some kind of oxygenation going on in the water. But, I was surprised to run into this thread of some guy saying he's not using air stones at all! I shortened the link because I don't want to link one forum to another. But can someone please take a look at this and tell me what you think? Are air stones useless after all?

Could Air Stones Be Doing More Harm Than Good?

I decided to make this thread since I see a lot of people over think hydro. A lot of times "adding more" or "going bigger" is a solution to hopes of achieving those big tree dreams. In reality , could everything they are doing be setting them further back? Halfway thru my last run I was doing...

bit.ly

I'd like to get a discussion going here and see what the pro's here think about this and if anyone has any experience. My plant isn't going to die in two hours, but it's really interesting to see if this guy is on to something or not.

Now I don't do deep water culture but I know a bit about water chemistry and what the guy says is pretty much correct.

We know air bubbles don't oxygenate water unlike what most of us believed when we first got into hydro . Water takes in air from its surface area. The bubbles simply break up the waters surface exposing more of it to the air allowing more oxygen to be absorbed. So a standing calm glass of water will still take in oxygen just fine, and if you stir the water up it'll increase the surface area and take in more. You don't need roaring bubbles.

However you still need circulation otherwise oxygen absorption will be limited by diffusion. If there is circulation and at least some surface exposed to air then the oxygen content is most likely determined by the water temperature, with cooler water having more o2.

 

[70's natureboy]

They can handle a few hours easy enough.

 

[MustGro]

I grow in Gen Hydroponics Aeroflo systems and their water farms and power growers. Bought some nice air pumps and decent stones. Ran them for a few years. Had a summertime grow without A/C and I didn't want to pump the hot air into the reservoirs so I ran without them. In all honesty I couldn't tell the difference in the growth or the final result. I'm running without them now and I'm not sure if I'll go back to them.
I've lost power for 5-6 hours before with no noticeable problems, but in winter the temps can drop a bit. As long as you have roots in the solution I think you'll be fine.

 

[rkymtnman]

buy a battery air pump. what if 2 hours turns into 6 because they let the new guy do the work?

 

[macsnax]

You can lose the air stones but you have to introduce o2 through other means. A recirculating system with waterfalls does a really good job.

 

[Serpentz]

buy a battery air pump. what if 2 hours turns into 6 because they let the new guy do the work?

I'm thinking about buying a computer UPS. I think one for about $100 bucks should keep a small pump running for some time...lights no, pump yes.

 

[Serpentz]

You can lose the air stones but you have to introduce o2 through other means. A recirculating system with waterfalls does a really good job.

Well, I got a small water pump that is inside the 20 liter bucket for the water chiller I am building. I think that would create enough circulation... but I am guessing. Then again, if you got no power, it doesn't matter which one you use)) I sure would like to try this type of setup. I've tested a few air pumps and even the smallest ones increase the water temps. It's really interesting to me that it's possible you don't need an air stone at all. I got an Auto Durban seed I didn't know what to do with....I think I will buy another bucket and run a test and see what happens.

 

[TrippleDip]

I'm thinking about buying a computer UPS. I think one for about $100 bucks should keep a small pump running for some time...lights no, pump yes.

When I need to keep stuff like that running I use a 12V SLA (car battery or smaller lead battery) because you can float charge it all the time and it's very simple - power supply, battery, and load all connected in parallel no regulation needed.