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Re: [compost_tea] Pumps and Aerob-a-jet



Hi Thomas - no comment <grin>  I noticed that some folk could not find Elaine's message so I was just passing it along.

Jason

Thomas Giannou wrote:
Hi Jason,
 
The equipment that generates the fine bubbles for fish tanks does not achieve 20 micron bubble sizes, so the application is not the same.  The track record of the Aerob-a-jet working with aerobic bacteria in the sewage treatment industry doesn't remotely suggest a problem with too much air in suspension in the water.  In fact, it shows that there is a significant benefit in the performance of the aerobic bacteria.  So, there seems to be a contradiction between what the Aerob-a-jet people are saying and what Elaine is saying.  I believe it is worth some investigation.  It seems to me that DO has a limit no matter how many bubbles are present.  I don't know where she came up with the idea of more air than water because the micro-bubbles are so small one can't easily see them.  That sounds and looks like a lot more water than air.  I remain skeptical.  It would be interesting to see Elaine's data on her experiments with fine bubbles, but then I'd still wonder about the micro-bubbles which are different than fine bubbles.  On the Aerob-a-jet web site, they cite quite a few people doing successful experiments with the Aerob-a-jet.  Perhaps some of those could shed a little more light on the use of micro bubbles?  The way I read what Elaine wrote, the aerobic bacteria don't like such an environment, but the Aerob-a-jet people claim the aerobic bacteria do well in such a setting. 
 
Thomas Giannou
http://www.tandjenterprises.com
 
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Jason Austin
To: compost_tea@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 12:15 PM
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Pumps and Aerob-a-jet

Thomas Giannou wrote:
Hi Peter,
 
I don't remember seeing anything from Elaine on this topic.  But who knows, she sometimes replies but doesn't copy text from the message. 
Sometimes ? <grin>

Here is Elaines's message from May 6th under the heading of Simple CT maker
Compost tea brewers are a bit different from fish tanks.  Fish don't get growing quite as fast as bacteria.  When you feed bacteria well, they can use up all the oxygen in any amount of water within minutes, and therefore the aeration rate needs to be high enough to offset bacterial and fungal growth. 

The fine bubbles are not the preferable condition.  The fine bubbles are really hard on the fungi and seem to break them up and shatter them. 

If you suspend fine bubbles in the water, by over-aerating, you end up with problems.  Too much air, and not enough water (supersaturation?), and the organisms will be killed because the environment become too oxidizing. 

Cute, huh?  Not too much, not too little..... Goldilocks strikes again.

We need some additional testing on the fine bubble versus coarse bubble situation.  The fine bubble work we've done suggests that fine bubbles are quite detrimental.  The bigger bubbles seem to do a better job of extracting hte organisms from the tea, and keeping things as aerated as possible. 

Always something more to know.  So, what is the optimal aeration rate?  Depends on how much food you add, the compost you use, the temperature of the water. 

Check the www.magicsoil.com web site.  Some interesting insights there about aeration. 

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
www.soilfoodweb.com
Jason


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