hi all
just a quick question

ive just added air stones under all my pots in a flood and drain system
how often do u think i should bubble them 24/7 or just when it floods

cheers

24/7 mate.

Personally I'd be bubbling when the airstones are under water, are you saying they only get wet when the system floods? Have you thought about putting them in the res and bubbling it at the source.

hi
the air stones are in water all the time
its a flood and drain with a bucket in a bucket so there is allways water in the bottom bucket
was just bubbling when it flooded so it took air into the pots
but thought it might be better bubbling 24/7 so more air gets into the roots but not sure if it was too much

anyone using this type of system???

no point bubbling in the res tank as air rises and wont go down the flooding pipes

guess not then ???

I think I know which system you mean - basically, a bucket within a bucket, floods from the bottom with overflow pipe at the top of the bucket, the inlet pipe about an inch up from the bottom of the bucket so there is always some water left in the bottom bucket after flood/drain?

If so, your bubbler should go in the nute tank, switched on 24/7, not between the two buckets. The idea is the bubber puts more oxygen into the water in the nute tank (some of the oxygen in the bubbles get absorbed by the water in the tank, most just reach the surface though, but thats OK.), and then use that oxygen rich water to flood with. So, the "air" does go down the flooding pipes (or at least the oxygen that was abosrbed by the water in the nute tank does anyway).

If you just put the bubbler between the two buckets, you will get some more air going past the roots, and the water that stays in the bucket will be nice and rich with oxyegn, but its really better to us the oxygenated wated from the nute tank, as oxygenated water next to the roots gives better results that just air next to them.


Hope this helps

Dbar

ive put air stones under each bucket and im bubbling 24/7 now

Hi I use the same system and I would advise as previously mentioned to have the air stone in the tank as having it in the bottom of each bucket oxygenating that small ammount of water will do little I doubt as when the system floods it will be mixed with the higher concentration of less oxyegenated water in your tank, the flood and drain system has a "piston" effect on the root zone as it pumps the old stale air out of the root zone as it floods and then sucks clean air and oxygen in as it drains which is all you need. By adding an airstone to your tank it will give you a higher oxygen concentration when you flood and drain and will also keep the water and nutrients more "alive" this is where I have mine