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Old 02-18-15, 07:22 PM   #8
jeff5may
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Join Date: Jan 2010
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Through experience, I have learned it is better to go with a couple or three pumps of smaller capacity than one large pump. Without fail, on the worst day possible, at least one pump will decide to stall or clog up on you. Same thing with aeration. When possible, I try to make some pumping rigs do double duty. For example, I use air lifter columns to drip-irrigate the media beds. Rather than use a huge air pump and a manifold setup, I use multiple smaller air pumps. The little white diffusers work better than stones: less pressure drop, more airflow, finer bubbles, don't clog up over the long-term.

This approach works awesome with solar. When the sun comes up, the beds start getting watered. As it gets sunnier, they get more water. You would be amazed at how much surface area you can drip feed with a 20 dollar solar fountain pump.
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