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Air pumps for bubbler systems

I just bought an air pump that puts out 400 L/hr, which would put me at around 7 LPM which by the sounds of things I need to take back to the store ASAP because it's not going to run bugger all! Or am I wrong?? What would this thing actually be capable of?

My aim is to have one pump running around 8-10, 10-20 liter buckets for a DWC network.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jas
 
I bought my pump with the idea of supporting about 50 five-gallon buckets (250 gallons). Converting it to liters, it should be about 950. You plan on having, max, 200 liters, less than 1/4 than I tried. Your pump puts out have the air of mine so (again, if I did the liter to gallons and gallons to liters thing correctly!) you should get plenty of air.

Mike
 
I Googled until I found out how much air I needed per gallon of water, then found a pump that would meet my needs!

Mike
 
Well i found out that 1Kg of water can only hold 8 mg of air no matter how much assistance you give it! But I shelled out and bout a pump that puts out 60 liters per minute! it's fully adjustable and has 4 outlets. I think this will be more than enough for my needs and to expand later on if I so wish.
Thanks Mike.

Aeroponics
Main article: Aeroponics
Aeroponics is a system where roots are continuously or discontinuously kept in an environment saturated with fine drops (a mist or aerosol) of nutrient solution. The method requires no substrate and entails growing plants with their roots suspended in a deep air or growth chamber with the roots periodically wetted with a fine mist of atomized nutrients. Excellent aeration is the main advantage of aeroponics.

Aeroponic techniques have proved to be commercially successful for propagation, seed germination, seed potato production, tomato production, leaf crops and micro-greens.[8] Since inventor Richard Stoner commercialized aeroponic technology in 1983, aeroponics has been implemented as an alternative to water intensive hydroponic systems worldwide.[9] The limitation of hydroponics is the fact that 1 kg of water can only hold 8 mg of air, no matter if aerators are utilized or not.

Another distinct advantage of aeroponics over hydroponics is that any species of plants can be grown in a true aeroponic system because the micro environment of an aeroponic can be finely controlled. The limitation of hydroponics is that only certain species of plants can survive for so long in water before they become water logged. The advantage of aeroponics is due to the fact that suspended aeroponic plants receive 100% of the available oxygen and carbon dioxide to the roots zone, stems and leaves,[10] thus accelerating biomass growth and reducing rooting times. NASA research has shown that aeroponically grown plants have an 80% increase in dry weight biomass (essential minerals) compared to hydroponically grown plants. Aeroponics used 65% less water than hydroponics. NASA also concluded that aeroponically grown plants requires ¼ the nutrient input compared to hydroponics. Unlike hydroponically grown plants, aeroponically plants will not suffer transplant shock when transplanted to soil. Unlike hydroponics, aeroponics also offers growers the ability to reduce the spread of disease and pathogens.[11] Aeroponics is also widely used in laboratory studies of plant physiology and plant pathology. Aeroponic techniques have been given special attention from NASA since a mist is easier to handle than a liquid in a zero gravity environment.
 
1 kg of water can only hold 8 mg of air, no matter if aerators are utilized or not.

Ok, so what is the conversion formula for mg of air to liters or mL? for your conversion which did you consider the mass of air as a gas or as a liquid?
 
Didn't really do a conversion, 8mg to 1 kg is stuff all in my book so I left it at that. I think the pump I bought will more than cover that. But having thought about it after you put it like that you have me worried :think: , 8 mg of air would actually be a substantial amount considering air is as light as.... well... air :D . I would have to say I'd think of it in a liquid form, because a gas would be to hard to measure (for me anyway). Anyone got any maths skills they can help out with here?
 
If I remember right 1kg of water is the same as 1 liter. It has a density of 1g/cm^3. 1cm^3 is 1mL.

I am guessing that the O2 is disolved but what is it? Is it considered liquid or gas. The actual density is dependant on which it is. If we have to have 8mg of O2 per liter of water then we need to determine what the actual volume of 8mg is, then I think we can make an accurate stab at a flow rate per liter/gallon of water.

I will give a call to a professor friend and see if he can give me some advice.
 
If I remember right 1kg of water is the same as 1 liter. It has a density of 1g/cm^3. 1cm^3 is 1mL.

I am guessing that the O2 is disolved but what is it? Is it considered liquid or gas. The actual density is dependant on which it is. If we have to have 8mg of O2 per liter of water then we need to determine what the actual volume of 8mg is, then I think we can make an accurate stab at a flow rate per liter/gallon of water.

I will give a call to a professor friend and see if he can give me some advice.
That would be great cheers DP!
 
I'm not a mathematician, but I have a 90 gallon reservoir serving double the demand of your system with a cheap Whisper 100 air pump and the water churns like a jacuzzi.
 
Hey thanks treeman, I'm planning on expanding my system as the need arises that's why I was wondering what sort of air support I'd need. But I'm quietly confident that 60 liters per minute will more than suffice for some time to come.
 
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