Why do we pump air into the water of a DWC grow set up?

[FritztheCat]

I went to a Hydroponics store yesterday and was talking about the set up I am building.  When I suggested that I wanted an air pump to really rumbled the water the guy said the ONLY purpose for adding the air is to break the surface tension of the water to stop slime and bacteria from growing on top.  He said it doesn't add any oxygen to the water.  Is that true?  I'm not an experienced grower, but I'm a reader and that isn't consistent with what I have read or seen on YouTube.

[SukonmiSkunk]

hes so full of shit.. ofc it adds oxygen to the water.. they do the same thing with fish tanks.. in DWC its very important to ad air. Plants use water, the roots use oxygen, they get the oxygen from the water. In perlite, or similar mediums its less important. This is because when you water your plant in a pot of , say perlite.. or even clayballs, when the water stops and drains it draw air into the rootzone. Also in the resi it helps the water from going stagnant.

makes sense right?

so in DWC you dont get this capillary action happening when you stop watering so as the plant uses up oxygen in the water you need to replace it with air stones.. unless you know of another way?

from what i can gather.. and im in no way a DWC expert, but you have a stone in the main resi, and one in your bucket.

some one else who does DWC might be able to chime in and give you better reasons.. but for me.. water needs to be aerated..

surprising really.. cuz usually shops try sell you shit you dont need.. so i dont know why he wouldnt want to sell you an air system..

any way.. id aerate both the resi and the pot

[FritztheCat]

He was trying to sell me LED's with a little overkill, but when I said I wanted a bubbler that rumbled the water that's when he lost his mind.  Maybe they didn't have any other than little ones?

[Vertox]

Well he is wrong but kind of semi Wron.

Because sure the Bubbler does increase the oxygenlevel in the Water but for DWC thats not really what matters cause it would need way more oxygen in the water for the Roots not to Rot.

The thing about the Bubbler is it creates Bubbles which are filled with Air which are needed arout the Roots so they dont Rot.

So u could say a Bubbler is needed to ensure a consistent oxygenlevel in the Water and keeping ur Roots from Rotting

cheerz

[cable]

water that sit will become stagnant and bad  bacteria  will grow and cause root rot , in hydroponic is a no no