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Tasmania Australia

Hi, I have read many comments and ideas on pump sizes.
I only want a pump larger enough to do a 5 gallon bucket.
I have read that just a 0.5 cubic cfm pump would be fine,
So a 5 gallon bucket, that works out to be 2.5 cfnm

I have found i can get either a 1.4 cfm pump or for $40 more a 3 cfnm pump.
Would the 3 cfm pump be way to much and the 1.5 cfm pump be too little?

Kind of stuck either side of the recommendations.

7/18/2020 4:09:39 AM

Tasmania Australia

Forgot to also ask, do you use air stones for this small amount, or don't really worry about them and just run the hose to the bottom of the bucket?
Or have a small plastic tube joined together to make a circle to fit in the bottom of the bucket, then drill about 8 small holes in it and use this as the air bubbler?

7/18/2020 4:25:26 AM

South Dakota

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=314803
Take a look at the brewer I built. It works very good. A couple posts after shows more. Don't remember how big the pump is, but bigger is usually better and you can't really get too big.

7/18/2020 8:47:00 AM

Tasmania Australia

Thanks for the reply, looks like a easy setup to do.
Never thought of the airlift version.
Are the airlift versions a lot better than using air stones?
How long did you let it run for?
Just 24 or 48 hours? or can you let them run for longer like 4 days or more?

7/18/2020 7:12:51 PM

South Dakota

24-36 hour brew time. Micros run out of supplied food and begin to eat each other. If something comes up, you could probably add more molasses and get another 8 hours or so. The air lift brewer keeps the tea moving constantly is the biggest advantage in my opinion.

7/18/2020 9:31:48 PM

Seattle, WA

.05-.08 cfm per gallon of water. And you want to make sure there's no dead zones. Air stones can be hard to clean. Air lifts are extremely efficient.

7/29/2020 12:08:02 PM

Tasmania Australia

Hi, Just interested to know what recipe that you are using for the 5 gallon bucket brew?
I have had a few goes and can't get anything like foaming to happen for some reason.
I have a slightly larger air pump than required.
The recipe that i am using is:
1 Tablespoon of fish emulsion,
1 Tablespoon of seaweed solution.
1 Tablespoon of Molasses, I am using the cattle feed Molasses
About 2 cups of fresh worm castings, straight out of the worm farm straight into the water mixture.
Letting it brew for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, it doesn't look any different from when i first started.
Tried it even with a lid on the bucket, no difference apart from not loosing any water from splashing out like it dose without the lid.

Any ideas or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

7/30/2020 10:25:07 PM

South Dakota

I would switch to unsulfered blackstrap molasses. The cow feed molasses most likely has other things in there, such as sulfer. You may be killing your micros instead of feeding them. I would also double to two tablespoons of molasses per 5 gallon bucket batch. I found that increasing the kelp seems to increase foaming. Just because it does not foam does not mean that it is dead.

7/30/2020 11:10:42 PM

Tasmania Australia

Ah, that could be the issue, yes it dose contain sulphur in it, quiet a bit by the looks of the ingredients.
So find some sulphured molasses, go up to 2 Tablespoons per 5 gallon bucket.
Also possibly increase the kelp also?

7/31/2020 12:08:28 AM

South Dakota

UNsulfered Blue, unsulfered blackstrap molasses. You can buy it at most grocery stores. There are alot of different kinds of molasses on the shelf, go for the blackstrap,

7/31/2020 8:55:07 AM

Tasmania Australia

Thanks, will try and chase some down.

Has anyone tries this airlift with a lid on the bucket, just with the few holes for the pipe to come up out and back in again?

Was thinking of putting a lid on it to limit the amount of liquid splashing out,
My air pump might be slightly larger, but with the amount of splashing water i was getting, after the 24 hours i was left with about only had a bucket of liquid, the rest had managed to splash out over the 24 hour period.

The other option i was thinking of doing, was to put another piece of pipe on the end of the elbow where the water comes out and extend that back down half way into the bucket so that it is submerged half way into the liquid, thinking this might limit the amount o f splashing also.

7/31/2020 7:48:24 PM

Tasmania Australia

Was also thinking of replacing the Molasses with brown sugar as the blackstrap molasses isn't that easy to find here.
Thinking that we are really only after the sugars and brown sugar should work just as well if not better.

7/31/2020 8:41:40 PM

Norfolk, UK

Check temps (73f Is good)

I would also check water supply - rain water is good, if tap water it likely has chlorine so needs time to off gas (24 to 48 hours)

I’d add some variety to just worm castings - worm castings + compost for a variety of micro organisms. I imagine worm castings on their own might be heavily bacterial.

Any pics of your set up?

9/6/2020 4:27:54 PM