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Product review - Never Clog Weighted Airstones

Started by P4Angels, August 05, 2013, 09:13:04 PM

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P4Angels2

Hide them inside the filter and nobody will see them..

Jan we have some for you

Mugwump

Josh, any review on how these are working for you
Jon

?Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ?Wow! What a Ride!? ~ Hunter S. Thompson

Jdmcfast

Quote from: Mugwump on September 07, 2013, 08:11:45 AM
Josh, any review on how these are working for you
They work pretty good a little bigger bubbles than I was hoping for but so far so good:))

Josh

Josh

Mugwump

Jon

?Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ?Wow! What a Ride!? ~ Hunter S. Thompson

P4Angels

"'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' ." - unknown

No tanks or fish just good friends and allot of fun...

P4Angels

"'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' ." - unknown

No tanks or fish just good friends and allot of fun...

BallAquatics

What are these things like after 6 or 8 months in service Aron?  I've been dumping my used stones in bleach, but even with that sometimes they just don't work properly after a bit of time.

Dennis

P4Angels

Give me a couple more months and I will be able to give you better advise..
"'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' ." - unknown

No tanks or fish just good friends and allot of fun...

Mugwump

Quote from: BallAquatics on October 09, 2013, 04:25:31 PM
What are these things like after 6 or 8 months in service Aron?  I've been dumping my used stones in bleach, but even with that sometimes they just don't work properly after a bit of time.

Dennis

After cleaning, blow em out with a good air hose..then brush lightly.
Jon

?Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ?Wow! What a Ride!? ~ Hunter S. Thompson

BillT

QuoteI've been dumping my used stones in bleach, but even with that sometimes they just don't work properly after a bit of time.

Bleach will kill everything and if left long enough (a few days) breakdown many organic (carbon containing) compounds.

One problem with airstones is often mineral deposits concentrated out of the water. However there may also be organic biofilms (a mess of bacteria, fungi, ciliates, and the fibers and goo they make) holding the deposits together. The bleach may work by breaking down the organic biofilms and freeing many of the deposits.

These deposits often contain carbonates, they should dissolve in acid. Vinegar (weak acetic acid) and muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) are two commonly available acids. You could probably get phosphoric acid from a brew shop since it is used for sterilizing things for brewing.

These would have to soak for a while to dissolve things. Often bubbles are formed which will slow the reaction because the air will form a barrier between the two reactants, the acid in the water and the deposits.
With things like airstones with deposits in small holes, the problem is greater, however it came be overcome by forcing the acudic water through the airstone. This could be done by: a) siphoning the acid solution, via an airline, out of a container down to the airstone in a sink, or b) submerging the airstone in the acidic water while attached to a water-free airline with its other end out of the water. This way you won't chance sucking acid into your mouth.

If bleach and acid don't work, you could make a basic solution with baking soda. That may dissolve something if an acid won't.

Some airstones will fall apart in a long acid soak. They are probably a sandy material held together will something like a carbonate glue.
Some airstones are sintered glass. This is little sand sized pieces of glass, melted together into a single mass of glass with a lot of holes in it.
Wood airstones and acid????
The new airstones look like they will make medium size bubbles but, like Mug, said easy to clean.
Mostly now I just use stiff airline tubing (clear vinyl). Cheap, big bubbles, easy to clean.

Mugwump

If it's just mostly for sponges, David carries sponge filters that don't need an air stone. They have a built in middle that breaks up the air flow....I got a case a while back and am very pleased....takes the flerp noise away. ;D
Jon

?Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ?Wow! What a Ride!? ~ Hunter S. Thompson

BallAquatics

The bleach method is working very well for me so no complaints.  I buy cheap air stones, with shipping they come out to about .20 cents a piece.  Before I converted everything over to HMF, I used mostly DIY foam, (sponge), filters without air stones, but I can't get the flow I want through 3/4 PVC without air stones.....



The video is one of my $1 per gallon Petco 40 gallon breeder tanks from last year.  The corner HMF is only about 1/2 the size of a standard HMF but at 12 months in service it's not showing any signs of needing a cleaning and just keeps the water crystal clear.  Nothing fancy about the air lift, standard 3/4 PVC with a single air stone near the bottom of the lift tube.  About every 10 to 12 weeks the stones need to be cleaned/replaced.  Lots of bio-film build up in the super oxygen rich environment.

I've got a peanut butter jar with bleach and I just drop the dirty stone in and get a clean stone out.  Blow out the bleach and let it run for a few minutes in an empty tank and then put the clean stone into service..... repeat in 10 to 12 weeks.  Every once in a while I get a stone that still doesn't work well and they get pitched.

Dennis

Ron Sower

Dennis, Do you not have any problems with the plant leaves, etc., clogging the face of the filter, requiring their removal for the continued steady flow?
Happy Aquariuming,
Ron

BallAquatics

Ron, there is so much surface area with the HMF that leaves do not become stuck to the filter foam.  That being said, I'm sure if I was to put a big enough mechanical water pump behind the foam and started increasing the flow rate, at some point it would indeed start causing things to become attached.



Without water in the tank you get a better idea of the filter size.  The foam is 10 inches wide by 16 inches tall.  The braces are 6 inches from the corner of the tank which gives the foam a gentle arc.

Dennis

wiggs

Dennis, This looks interesting, what are the braces made of ? I might want to try this out.    Jan
Jan