by shekel
Will this airlift configuration work?
1:16 pm in Uncategorized by shekel
I’m planning on using 1/2 inch ID tubing for an airlift and an aquarium pump providing 2.3 PSI through a T joint. Is this going to be enough to lift water to about ceiling height? Are there any equations or rules of thumb for this? I couldn’t find a required PSI anywhere.
pump
http://www.hydroponics.net/i/133875
1/2 inch ID tubing
1/2inch is a little larger then the instructions call for. You might run into some problems with that.
Parts list:
http://our.windowfarms.org/instructions/parts_list.pdf
3/8s clear tube:
http://www.hydroponics.net/i/134105
This is probably closest for the other required tube:
http://www.hydroponics.net/i/131749
But I have about 5-6 different sizes that I experiment with.
Thanks for the tip re tubing! I was hoping to be able to use the black tubing to keep algae out of the airlift, but I can just clean it the old fashioned way.
I can’t find any of the recommended pumps on petco (product # 9901, 9902, 9904 – is this the pump you used? I’m mainly worried about insufficient PSI.
I think that using wider tubing than specified will cause problems. (It will get so wide that few air bubbles will actually fill the tube completely, and then it won’t lift at all)
The 9904 is a ‘known working model’, but in practice, any pump that has enough ports for your use, and an output of 2L/minute for each port should be powerful enough. It is helpful if it’s variable, though, as the airlift doesn’t always work best at full power.
Also, pumps with 2 or 4 ports often use pairs of small bellows connected to the same ‘motor’. If you use only one of a pair, the other port of that pair should be blocked off somehow. (I used a short piece of tubing that I bent double and tied off).
http://our.windowfarms.org/2011/02/09/air-pump-strength-recommendations/
Above post has a few models listed with PSI and height tests. I really wish air pumps listed that kind of data but they aren’t really intended for what we’re using them for.