# The little bopper, micro brew “2”



## Alasgun (Sep 22, 2018)

Heres another version of a diy tea maker, anything important is shown in the 3 pictures.
The clear water picture was taken with only one gallon of water in the bucket because when its full itll throw most of it out on the floor, thats called “breaking the surface tension”. You cant do that with an air stone or most aquarium pumps.
The pumps an amazon thing, and my air delivery nozzle is a piece of 1/2 in pvc bent to a 90 with a heat gun, connected to the air pump with a short piece of garden hose.


In no way do i intend to take anything away from the sister thread which contains a lot of very good imformation. Its kind of a chevy, ford thing.

Lots of air is the key and for someone considering making tea for the first time i wanted to offer this.

As i set here writing this the only sound i hear is the gurgling water, the pump is absolutely silent!
This is a linear piston pump, 1.8 cfm, 4.8 psi


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## Alasgun (Sep 22, 2018)

If your going to do this you owe it to your self to see and understand what youve really made. A decent microscope whether purchased or borrowed will help you imensly. I read where the purest will monitor the tea on the hour as it gets close to get the desired ratio of the critters they want. Im no purest! Where the scope helped me was in understanding the timing and i was surprised at how quick i could grow fungal hypea and how slowly some bacteria were to come alone, which is somewhat backwards. You'll develope a pattern, a way you prefer to build the tea, a recipe you like etc. and once your comfortable with the process, the microscope becomes something you pull out to show the grandkids! Anytime i make a significant ingredient change ill look to see what may have changed.

The cool thing is that unless you completely blow it your plants will benifit due to the nutrient value of the tea imgredients!


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## sopappy (Sep 23, 2018)

Alasgun said:


> View attachment 250324
> View attachment 250325
> View attachment 250326
> Heres another version of a diy tea maker, anything important is shown in the 3 pictures.
> ...



nice pumps, never heard of them, on my wish list, mine is NOISY as *
but what's this? it looks like the same kind as mine... is that a wrong picture perhaps?
I hang mine with bungie cords and it's still annoyingly loud
http://www.rdaquafarms.com/AirPump.html


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## Alasgun (Sep 23, 2018)

I wonder the same thing, the picture and the price seem to match but those intermediate size Medo's start over $200.


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## Polo (Sep 24, 2018)

Simple vortex


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## Alasgun (Sep 24, 2018)

Welcome Polo, how easy is the simple vortex to clean?


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## Polo (Sep 24, 2018)

All above water level fitting are NOT glued. Fenco fitting connects water jug to piping.
Water hose can be pasted thru all pipes. 5 minutes and its all clean.


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## sopappy (Sep 25, 2018)

[QUOTE="Alasgun
and my air delivery nozzle is a piece of 1/2 in pvc bent to a 90 with a heat gun, connected to the air pump with a short piece of garden hose.
snipped---
As i set here writing this the only sound i hear is the gurgling water, the pump is absolutely silent!
This is a linear piston pump, 1.8 cfm, 4.8 psi[/QUOTE]

Why the 90 bend?
I can't do the venturi thing, water won't go up the column, pump 70L/min must be too wimpy 
but I can make the surface boilm, it'll have to do...
making first batch with blood & bone meal, worm castings, mol, that's all folks


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## Polo (Sep 25, 2018)

That small a pump a single pipe air lift is about the onlu thing that will give you lift of water.


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## Polo (Sep 25, 2018)

Simple air lift stand pipe


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## Alasgun (Sep 25, 2018)

The 90 keeps the water moving across the bottom which keeps things aerobic. Dead spots MIGHT allow the dissolved o2 to dimminish to the point it COULD become annerobic in a corner.

The more you read the more "tea camps" you find. Basically they go one way or the other. Some want fine bubbles like those generated by an emitter. Lots of 02 with these but not much activity in the water. (Harder to wash the microbes from the compost) then theres the blast em camp, the breaking the surface tension guys and this is where i reside. Were the Large bubble guys, who want the most movement in the water.

Then there the scientist and out of respect for their education and proven knowledge people should read a technical paper or two just to help them u derstsnd whats going on.
It might be interesting to have a chili cook off (compost tea brewing) to de bunk some of whats out there. As previously mentioned, unless your using a microscope to grade the final product your just guessing.

Jeff Lowenfells (teaming with microbes) and Elaine Ingham (soil food web) are great resources. As is Tim Wilson and a host of others who cater to the small scale brewers like us.

Never heard about using blood meal in a tea, let me know how that works out. Typically my teas contain some fish bone meal, alfafa, kelp, Mollasses, fungal inoculated oat flour and a big scoop of worm castings and worms, as i dont seperate them. When the grounds not hard i sometimes add undisturbed forrest soil.


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## sopappy (Sep 25, 2018)

Polo said:


> That small a pump a single pipe air lift is about the onlu thing that will give you lift of water.



I got all excited with your drawering there but nope, no joy
appreciate the effort though!


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## sopappy (Sep 25, 2018)

Alasgun said:


> The 90 keeps the water moving across the bottom which keeps things aerobic. Dead spots MIGHT allow the dissolved o2 to dimminish to the point it COULD become annerobic in a corner.
> 
> The more you read the more "tea camps" you find. Basically they go one way or the other. Some want fine bubbles like those generated by an emitter. Lots of 02 with these but not much activity in the water. (Harder to wash the microbes from the compost) then theres the blast em camp, the breaking the surface tension guys and this is where i reside. Were the Large bubble guys, who want the most movement in the water.
> 
> ...



I was sifting through all the recipes and this was one of the simple ones.
You have worms in your tea? There's another reason not to use a pump,
I bet they machinate (or whatever that word was) real good.


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## Polo (Sep 25, 2018)

Are you using a air stone inside the lift pipe? I've used $10 fish tank pumps and they have worked.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Sep 25, 2018)

Sopappy, throw some molasses in so the microbes have food.


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## sopappy (Sep 25, 2018)

The Hemp Goddess said:


> Sopappy, throw some molasses in so the microbes have food.



Nope, it's there, I abbreviated it to mol
but I forgot the myco hahahahaha small wonder I can't grow


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## sopappy (Sep 25, 2018)

Polo said:


> Are you using a air stone inside the lift pipe? I've used $10 fish tank pumps and they have worked.



I'm doing something wrong (surprise, surprise). Pictures to follow.


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## umbra (Sep 25, 2018)

there is a debate about aerobic and anaerobic microbes. I didn't start it, but I'm good at research. Since doing aerated composted teas (ACT) I went to the darkside with EM1. A bit easier to brew and works with salt based nutes not just organics


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## umbra (Sep 25, 2018)

EM® is an acronym for Effective Microorganisms®. EM® is a brand name referring to a family of microbial-based products using a technology developed by Japanese scientist Dr. Teruo Higa. The main product, EM·1®, is a liquid bacterial product comprising three groups of microbes: Yeast, Photosynthetic Bacteria, and Lactic Acid Bacteria. EM·1® works together with local and native beneficial microbes, creating a synergy among microorganisms and larger forms of life including insects and worms, pets and livestock, and people. All products using EM Technology®contain EM·1® in some part of their manufacturing process: EM•1®, PRO EM·1®, Dr. Don's®, EM®Ceramics, Bokashi and Bokashi Food Recycling with Bokashi, EM-X Gold®, etc.


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## umbra (Sep 25, 2018)

Try using bokashi rice hulls in your soil instead of perlite for aeration


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## Alasgun (Sep 25, 2018)

this is getting worse instead of better, im out.


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## sopappy (Sep 25, 2018)

Polo said:


> Are you using a air stone inside the lift pipe? I've used $10 fish tank pumps and they have worked.



Sorry Alasgun, I didn't mean to screw up your thread, 
but I'd like to leave this in case there's something obvious
no stones, just the air from the 70L/min pump.
I couldn't get duck's to work, it did pretty much the same as this one. The pipe spits up some water but that's it. I drilled holes for intake at the bottom,
That last blurry pic shows water draining from those holes.


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## Polo (Sep 25, 2018)

You want your water level about a inch lower than the air lift pipe. The more diffused the air is the better. Air lifts work better with smaller air bubbles.


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## sopappy (Sep 26, 2018)

Polo said:


> You want your water level about a inch lower than the air lift pipe. The more diffused the air is the better. Air lifts work better with smaller air bubbles.



Story of my life, I did cut the pipe shorter but it's never good enough. I'll take another shot at it, thanks, Polo


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