OK ILL BE THE ONE TO SAY IT....FLOOMING! The latest craze in aerating your water

Flooming. There I did it. If you dont know what that means then you were like me a few hours ago. I dont know if this is the new trend or something like that, but I searched and cant find a thread on RIU solely about flooming. So here ya go!

Flooming is a technique that pond enthusiasts and retailers as well as some people in the hydroponic community use to aerate their water. It is said to be much simpler and more effective than using airstones, while at the same time reducing the chance of destructive airborne pathogens making their way into the water.

The setup is simple, saves you energy and produces little heat and noise. You simply place a water pump sticking upwards at the bottom of your res and VOILA. You should see a small swell where the water is coming up, youre not looking for a fountain.



Ive seen some posts on other boards where the guy uses what is called an ORP controller to measure the dissolved oxygen in the water. The poster did an experiment where he compared airstones to the flooming method of aeration. Guess which one came out on top? Flooming.

I hope this will be a starting point for anyone on RIU who hasnt heard about flooming and think it might be what theyre looking for. Enjoy!

The principal your describing I believe mate...https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/149998-heaths-flooded-tube-vertical.html. I could be wrong the the principal seems the same regarding aeration.

C3Pgro said:

Ive seen some posts on other boards where the guy uses what is called an ORP controller to measure the dissolved oxygen in the water. The poster did an experiment where he compared airstones to the flooming method of aeration. Guess which one came out on top? Flooming.

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Nice post, good info. BUT youre leaving out the other side of the dissolved oxygen story. DO may be higher with flooming and waterfall methods, but you have NO atmospheric oxygen present. So even though more oxygen is dissolved in the water, less is actually present.

W Dragon said:

The principal your describing I believe mate...https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/149998-heaths-flooded-tube-vertical.html. I could be wrong the the principal seems the same regarding aeration.

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It seems I accidentally inserted the wrong picture. Thats interesting too though. I may read up on that.

Nice post, good info. BUT youre leaving out the other side of the dissolved oxygen story. DO may be higher with flooming and waterfall methods, but you have NO atmospheric oxygen present. So even though more oxygen is dissolved in the water, less is actually present.

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Awesome, I guess I have some more learning to do. So, in saying that do you believe airstones to be particularly better? I didnt even bother to explain the pathogen part since I honestly know very little about that.

I wouldnt say I consider it to be better, they just each have their strengths. Flooming/waterfalls do a better job of dissolving oxygen and circulating nutrients. The benefits can be seen by looking at undercurrent vs rdwc. Airstones do a better job of actually providing oxygen to the plant. So regardless of waterfalls and pumps, I think airstones are essential for optimal conditions. I see great success without them, but those setups would still benefit from more total air presence.

The way I view it is that airstones are the essential part, and flooming/waterfall/undercurrent/some type of circulation is the extra boost, not the other way around.


And honestly, Id say pathogens come up in 80% of discussions about flooming/waterfall/airstones. But its not like airborne pathogens cant get to the surface of any setup, airstone or not. So its an irrelevant point.

save the added temp from the pump and just waterfall. its worked perfect for me for years.

Been doing that for years in the 55 gallon drums. When full it just mixes the nutes none stop. But when system is flooded it works as a waterfall. Desided to do that one day after looking at my fish tank. But I also have 2 stones in the res as well. More air the better.

I've been flooming without even knowing it was called flooming.

lordjin said:

I've been flooming without even knowing it was called flooming.

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Lol me to..!

Everytime i put a pump in a dwc tub it gets mould growing on it due to the higher temps it creates

karmeron said:

Everytime i put a pump in a dwc tub it gets mould growing on it due to the higher temps it creates

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Then use them as inline pumps. Most of the ones 200 GPH or higher have treads once you pull the cover off. So you put another hole in the res and feed the pump that is outside. No need to have it in the tank. Threads are ether 3/8 pipe or 1/2 pipe.
This is my clean out pump. It has a 1/2" pipe going to the inlet. So no reason you need it in your tank. And that's a 220 GPH

Yeh the really cheap pumps cant be used externally, but il have to look into a few good ones i suppose

In DWC your pumps and air are your lifeline. Why would you go cheep? If they fail crop can die befor you even know something went bad.

Warlock1369 said:

In DWC your pumps and air are your lifeline. Why would you go cheep? If they fail crop can die befor you even know something went bad.

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Lol, i dont. I have very expensive air pumps (about 400-500 dollars). I just dont use water pumps(except when emptying the tubs) thats why i got a real cheap one. I tried flooming with it once just to see what would happen, and thats when i got growth on it.

Well your on the right track. I never new there was a name for it. I just wanted my res to stay moving. Now I can give it a name not just that it was a idea. And don't wanna change. Lol. I have mine on a upward counter clockwise rotation. Toilets flush with the earths rotation so I just made turbulence by making it go the other way. I'm still lost on the idea but it sounded good 2 years ago. Lol

karmeron said:

Yeh the really cheap pumps cant be used externally, but il have to look into a few good ones i suppose

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sure they can. ecoplus is one of the cheapest and they work great as inline pumps.

Warlock1369 said:

In DWC your pumps and air are your lifeline. Why would you go cheep? If they fail crop can die befor you even know something went bad.

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i have used ecoplus pumps for years, from 396gph to 950gph, and never had a single one go out. and after plants have an established root system they can go for a while before just dying. think about power outages, ive been through some that were 72hrs and didnt lose a single plant in aero.

superstoner1 said:

sure they can. ecoplus is one of the cheapest and they work great as inline pumps.

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cool i must look into them, the one i got was like $10 on ebay, it does work, but must produce some uneeded heat and doesnt work externally.

I used Flooming with my last hydro grow and it worked just fine.. No need for the air stones, plus the air stones help the airborne pathogens get a foot hold, so its nice to get rid of them. Air stones may still have a place in Hydro, but not enough to care as long as the flooming does its job.

grow done with flooming waterfall by my self the diy for its in my sig https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/491985-dwc-no-air-stones-you.html

mike91, if u place a vent on your res then or pc fan then this would create better DO exchange and be better than stones, which dont ad DO by the air thats pumped through them its only the bubble bursting on the surface that breaks the surface and gas exchange takes place i thought??

i defo am all for the waterfall flooming over stones. my Q is if theres no atmospheric o2 in the tubs we grow in were does it come from ive often wondered this i thought it just pulled through the clayballs or something