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Weighted Tubing, Air Hose & Tubing
Buy Weighted Airline and Hose

The tubing, or airline, that runs between your air pump, compressor or blower can be of many types and sizes. Tubing can be buried, trenched or set directly on the surface. Airline comes in both weighted and non-weighted. Often the weighted airline will be used only in the pond and any distance between the compressor and the edge of the lake or pond will be covered by the cheap airhose.

Always use an airhpose that can handle the rated pressure output of your compressors. We've seen people using piston pumps delivering 50 PSI that has melted and split cheap airline because the temp ratings and pressure rating were not high enough. All of our tubings can meet or exceed the general tubing, pressure and heating needs of any aeration compressor.

Most tubing or airline uses standard plumbing parts and adaptors. Often, your compressor will come supplied with a barbed outlet that connects to a rubber collar or sleeve from the compressor. The bared outlet may be made of PVC or metal, brass or stainless-steel and this is what will connect to your airline tubing. Adaptors are readily avail;able from ,local hardware or plumbing supply stores if ever you need an adaptor to adjust from the compressor outlet to the diffuser inlet.

Of course if ever you have a questions as to the tubing you require you can send us an email and we can assist in recommendations. Email ThePondReport.com here.

More About Weighted Tubing
Using a weighted-airline, without any metals, is great because it cuts the work load by about 95%. Weighted airline is not cheap but the alternative is using regular polu-pipe and attaching bricks or weights and than can take a full crew a day or more of messy knuckle-busting work. Using the weighted hose makes the installation go much faster and for any contractor getting paid by the job this means the distance betwwen quote and paycheck is shorter!

weighted-airline-pond-hoses.jpgAll the tubing, weighted or regular 100, 150, 200 or 300 PSI poly, is safe and metal free. Unless you are using the weighted diffuser bubbler tubing for de-icing or aeration which contains a metal bead of lead in the keel. All other tubing is extremely supple and long lsting usually with UV carbon mixed in the PVC or rubber mix to ensure protection from the sun.

In larger systems a single compressor, blower or pump will have a single outlet or multiple valve control units that lead to a single diffuser or multiple diffusers. When calculating the required lengths of weighted airline for aeration systems ensure you acknowledge the depth and slope and any obstacles that may be encountered between the final positioning of the compressor unit and the diffusers.

Another mysterious yet magical consideration to keep in mind is that the lengths of tubing involved will impact the overall operating pressure of the system which needs to be taken in to account when sizing your compressor pump or blower. In larger ID (Inner Diameter) piping and tubing the pressure or friction loss will be negligable but when lengths of 800 to 2500 feet are involed the pressure required to push 5 CFM to the end may be significant.

Generally with larger I.D. tubing there is less pressure loss and friction loss. In smaller ponds this is not really an issue especially if a linear air pump is used to push air in a 3 foot deep pond. In this case some 3/8" weighted airline will be fine...my point is to be very aware of the distances that are required of your tubing and the pressure cababilities of our pump. For example, a standard 100 foot length of weighted airline can add as much as 0.1 PSI to the overall needs of your system and this is before any consuideration is given to the diffusers!

Again, in most smaller systems this doesn't enter in to the equation but one interesting experiment that my grand-son got me involved in was to take a 10 foot length of air hose that had an inner diameter of 3/8 of an inch and a 10 foot length of 3/4" of an inch air hose and I literally couldn't believe the difference in the amount of force it took...the smaller bore tubing airline was really tought to push air through and the larger diameter tube was so easy...ok...so none of the compressors I have ever used have red puffed-out cheeks like I did but it sure set me straight!

Non-Weighted Tubing & Cheap Airhose
Weighted airline can cost an arm and a leg...let's face it...it makes the job much easier but it also costs three times as much as regular airhose. But before you start duct taping jumbo straws together to make an inexpensive DIY airhose think about the job of attaching weights, metal re-bar rods or bricks every 8 feet to a 300 foot length of floating PVC plastic pipe and you might soon change your tune!

I really only use the heavy-duty poly air pipe for tubing runs on shore and then switch to the weigfted tubing in the water. There are some cheap tubing available at the home building supply stores but it tends to be too weak for burial and may kink. We recommend using something that is suitable for burial so it should be a kink-resistant and high-density. This tubing CAN be used to run between the compressor and the diffusers in the water but it floats so you'll have to weight it down somehow by attaching bricks or tieing some sort of weight to make it stay at the bottom.

It's better to use this inexpensive tubing to run on ground. We usually bury our lines 6 inches deep. You can run it in a conduit if you'd like and you can bury it below the frost line if you insist on over engineering everything!

All the tubing, weighted or regular 100, 150, 200 or 300 PSI poly, is safe and metal free. Unless you are using the weighted diffuser bubbler tubing for de-icing or aeration which contains a metal bead of lead in the keel. All other tubing is extremely supple and long lsting usually with UV carbon mixed in the PVC or rubber mix to ensure protection from the sun.

In larger systems a single compressor, blower or pump will have a single outlet or multiple valve control units that lead to a single diffuser or multiple diffusers. When calculating the required lengths of weighted airline for aeration systems ensure you acknowledge the depth and slope and any obstacles that may be encountered between the final positioning of the compressor unit and the diffusers.

Compare & Pricing
Buy Weighted Airline and Hose

When comparing tubing it is a good idea to look for forums and reviews that discuss the pros and cons of various tubing or weighted airline. Since the principals of aeration air hose and such feeder tubes are scientific and many companies offer products that do basically the same thing to various degrees of efficiency then it is up to us as consumers to use our due-diligence before buying any sort of pond tubing. To compare prices with our recommended systems we have grouped some of the more popular airiation tubing airline hose brands together for comparision with our best aerator systems. Our price includes free shipping...most companies charge extra shipping!

Torpedo Tubing
$2.25 Per Foot - Available From Canadan Ponds.com

Use this self-weighted, submersible tubing for connections from shoreline to diffuser stations. The tubing sinks to the bottom on it's own so you don't need to tie bricks or weights to make the tubing sink out of sight like standard PVC tubing which floats when filled with air. Torpedo Tubing is constructed of a high-density flexible PVC composite which allows it to be handled and installed easily and the rapid sinking properties make Torpedo Tubing an excellant choice for make aeration installations quick and easy. Connect this tubing with standard 1/2" inserts. Easily join large sections of Torpedo Tubing together or connect to standard PVC tubing for above surface usage (ie: between compressor and shoreline) Tubing has an inner diameter of 0.575" I.D. and a 0.313" wall thickness for durability and protection against punctures. Remains flexible in cold temperatures. Available in rolls of 100 feet or custom lengths of 25', 50' or 75'.

Available at:
www.canadanponds.ca
BottomLine Tubing $1.08 Per Foot - Available From Clean Ponds.com

**Note From ThePondReport.com - Bottomline is a great tubing but it is a more rigid than flexible tubing and has asmaller bore making even the 1/2" connectors fit rather tight**

BottomLine Weighted Tubing - sold in 100' and 500' rolls - $1.08 per foot 15 year warranty The unique tubing remains on the bottom even when filled with air. No additional weights are needed (contains no metal) It is designed for lake and pond aeration, making installation fast clean and neat. Quality assurance guaranteed for maintenance free connections between compressor and diffuser discs and assemblies. Use this self-weighted, direct burial submersible tubing for connection from compressor to diffuser stations. Tubing shall be of flexible PVC composite construction for use with standard PVC solvent weld cement and 0.5" insert fittings. Tubing shall have 0.58" I.D. and 0.24" wall thickness for long term durability and protection against punctures. Remains flexible in cold temperatures.

Available at:
www.cleanponds.com


Forever Sink Self-Sinking Tubing $1.25 Per Foot - Available From Clean Ponds.com

ForeverSink Self Weighted Tubing - “Forever” lifetime warranty sold in 100’ rolls and custom cut 25-50-75 ft lengths 1.25 per foot This rugged and durable high density PVC composite self weighted tubing is less labor intensive than non-weighted black poly and less expensive than the lead keeled poly tubing. Its thick walled (.25”) construction resists fish hook damage and kinking, common problems with black poly tubing. Use this self-weighted, direct burial submersible tubing (no bricks needed) for connection from compressor to diffuser stations. Tubing is .625 5/8 inch I.D. and 0.25" wall thickness for long term durability and protection against punctures. Remains flexible in cold temperatures and does not coil back to the shore. ForeverSink uses common PVC insert fillings joined with PVC solvent eliminating the need for expensive hose clamps saving time and labor during installation. Due to our tubing's heavy construction (approx. 60 lb. per 100’ section) it is available in easy to handle 100’ sections. Compared to most companies five year or less guarantees, our lifetime warranty assSures you that ForeverSink is the most durable self-weighted tubing available.

Available at:
www.worldofwater.com


Self-Sinking Weighted Airline Tubing $1.35 Per Foot - Available From Environmental Technology.com

Aeration Tubing & Feeder Tubing The Environmental Technology system is a fine bubble, low maintenance, economical system that introduces air at the bottom of the watershed which increases the oxygen content of the water and keeps organic matter under control rather than floating or decaying on the bottom. Lakes or ponds normally circulate oxygen naturally. In the summer, the top layers grow warmer and rich in the oxygen while bottom layers stay cold and use up oxygen. During the fall and spring, temperature-density relationships cause the strata to exchange places. These exchanges mix water throughout the entire depth of the watershed. Aeration diffusers, placed on the bottom of the lake or pond, release thousands of small air bubbles per minute. These bubbles rise to the surface pushing bottom water ahead of them. This displaced water is replaced by water which has moved down from above. Pumping action of rising column creates a circular flow pattern which is constantly causing bottom water to move to the surface, absorb oxygen from the atmosphere above and return to the bottom. The Environmental Technology ice melting tubing uses the same principles of pushing the warm bottom water to the surface in the winter time, to prevent ice from forming.


Available at:
www.airaqua.com