Air pump and circulation pump for a water barrel
- Thread starter iamAK47
- Start date
Mr Hollywood
Member
Agreed. Pick up any submersible pump with 1/2" threads, a piece of 1/2" pvc pipe, a 1/2" threaded male pvc adapter fitting, and 2 1/2" pvc 90 degree elbows. Depending on the height of your reservoir cut the pvc into 2 pieces of unequal length. Slip the threaded adapter on one end of the longer piece and a 90 degree bend on the other. Screw this into your pump. Slip the other 90 degree bend onto one end of the smaller piece of pvc and slide the free end into the 90 degree bend on the vertical pipe rising from your pump. Obviously the exact lengths of your pvc pipe would depend on your water level and inside dimensions of your reservoir. If done correctly the pump will suck in the water, shoot it up the vertical pipe through a corner, across the short horizontal pipe into another corner, and exit the second corner being shot downward through the air and back into your reservoir accomplishing both circulation and aeration. Hope this helps!
RyanTheRhino
Well-Known Member
if you are planing to store a lot of water for a long time make sure it is as air tight as you can.
Or else the water will evaporate and your solution will become more concentrated over time.
But you can always adjust it by periodically adding fresh water to keep the right concentration.
Learned when i did hydro a while back.
Flash4211
Active Member
'Zackly. This is where a $20 TDS meter comes in. If evaporation is making the concentration too strong, the meter will tell you. Then you can just add distilled or RO water as needed.
@flash, can I use my EC meter for that instead? I never heard of a TDS meter until you just mentioned it and I been growing for 6 years.
Edit: Just googled it a little moreand its my understanding that TDS and EC are relative to eachother? So im ok with my EC meter instead for that purpose, or?
Edit: Just googled it a little moreand its my understanding that TDS and EC are relative to eachother? So im ok with my EC meter instead for that purpose, or?
Flash4211
Active Member
They're the same thing. Electrical Conductivity (EC) is just another way of measuring Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). What you want to know is the concentration of nutes measured in ppm (Parts Per Million). Optimum ppm at different stages of growth will vary...generally it's under 1000 during veg, and up to 1500 during bloom - but that's just my personal standard. You'll want to do a little reading. TDS is VERY important - too high and you can cause nute burn or even kill your plants. Too low and they'll be stunted. PH relates to TDS because if PH is off, your plants can't absorb nutrients. It sounds more complicated than it is. It's easy to adjust ph, and it's easy to control TDS - mostly you just read the directions on the bottles.
Read voraciously, and learn by doing. Good luck, and keep growing!
