Airstones... and DWC question

Alright guys got a small question or questions for you. I'm a first timer with this setup ordered:


Stealth Hydroponics DWC 4 plant system
400watt HPS and MH lights w/ballast & reflector
seeds.... Feminized Power Plant
Nutes...
Flower - Blood Bud, Big Bud, Overdrive
Veg- Carbo Load (not completely set on this I don't think)

Okay so the question is i'm growin in a closet and i'm wondering if I need a reflector for the lights that is cooled, and could I put 4 air stones in the DWC kit under each of the plants for maxxed out oxygenation?

Also i'm completely new to hydro but am doing my homework. Any info is appreciated.

LoosianaFarmerBoy said:

Alright guys got a small question or questions for you. I'm a first timer with this setup ordered:


Stealth Hydroponics DWC 4 plant system
400watt HPS and MH lights w/ballast & reflector
seeds.... Feminized Power Plant
Nutes...
Flower - Blood Bud, Big Bud, Overdrive
Veg- Carbo Load (not completely set on this I don't think)

Okay so the question is i'm growin in a closet and i'm wondering if I need a reflector for the lights that is cooled, and could I put 4 air stones in the DWC kit under each of the plants for maxxed out oxygenation?

Also i'm completely new to hydro but am doing my homework. Any info is appreciated.

Click to expand...

ok. yes yo can add more airstones and the more the better make sure you have a large enough air pump for the ones that you add.
no you dont need a reflector above the lights but its better to have one so all the light dosent go into the top of the closet.
dwc is pretty easy to do as far as hydro setups go, and results are amazing.

what size air pump would be needed to run 4 6" airstones?

paddy510 said:

what size air pump would be needed to run 4 6" airstones?

Click to expand...

Yeah what he said... and also how do I attach more airstones to the pump?

LoosianaFarmerBoy said:

Yeah what he said... and also how do I attach more airstones to the pump?

Click to expand...

if the airlines are just oxygen hose then go to walmart and buy some splitters and attach as many as the pump will pull easily. as long as a small amount of bubbles is coming out at a fairly decent rate then it wont be any problem.

well it depends on your reservoir. the key is oxygen saturation of the water. airstones don't really effect the output. the air pump is gonna put out X liters of air per hour, air stones just defuse the air. the amount of air each air stone puts out will be (# liters/hour)/(# airstones).

i would suggest a pump that puts out 250 - 400 liters/hour. any more would be wasteful.

good point i forgot to mention. like bro above me said the key is oxygen saturation. there is gonna be a point where the water wont hold any more air so adding any more bubbles past that point wont do you any good. the less amount of water in the reservoir the more effective the airstones in it are going to be

how big is the closet?and what is the ventalation in the closet.the heat from the light could get to hot in the closet.in a small closet you have to bring in freash air and exhaust it out of the closet.So to keep the air temps lower in the grow area.Two 4 or 6 inch air stones will give you all the air you need in a bucket.but get a big pump like kant said.PEACE

Okay the closet is not small it's like 8'x3'1/2". Also I've ordered everything so i'm just a waiting now. Also I got for my veg. nutes Advanced Nutrients Tarantula (read about it and thought it was worth the money). The pump that is coming with the kit has really no description lol.....oops. umm it is the pump that comes with the SH DWC Complete Kit with the 4" bubble disk and tubing.

Also how close (or how far) do I mount the light from the plants? The 400w MH and HPS lights have a full reflector and 400w ballast.

thanks again guys.

The pump SH sends with there units is a smaller pump, you can pick up a cheap pump from walmart for around 10-15 USD. It has two outputs and youd be able to only use two splitters or "gangways", so you could have your setup nice and spread. Oxygen saturation is the main goal, but the oxygen bubbles clinging to the roots help a whole hellofa lot too, the more spread your oxygen is the more root surface area is treated with oxygen, providing even more oxygen then the water could, there is no such thing as too much are in SH bubbleponic systems....unless of course your bubbling outta your bucket....(guilty). I tried to use a pump WAY too big, had to use 1/4 hose for it. Anyway, have fun and happy growing!

And the light question, if possible make the light movable, so you can move one light instead of 4-20 plants. Sunleaves sells yoyo's for hanging lights, there pretty cheap about 20-25 USD.

Already ahead of ya i'm using a yoyo fishing product..(I fish sorry haha) and some 220 pound test line that I can hang the lights from. Also the closet has massive head space upwards of 10 foot but not by much. What is the minimum distance I should have in mind when the plants start sprouting. Keep in mind the space at hand and does anyone have any input on the Nutrients i'm using?