These things are sooo tiny! I don't know why, but I was expecting something on the bulbous side of one inch, but these are quite tiny and of course make a ton of bubbles.For fresh water applications, this product deserves 4 stars. This assumes that you attach the airstone once (don't constantly connect and disconnect the airline tubing from the stone).
When you receive a box of these airstones and first connect them, your impression might be an automatic 5 stars. The water will be bubble-rich. If you run these airstones for a couple weeks and need to disconnect them from their airline, you'll realize they have a 50/50 chance of completely breaking apart in your hand. As far as disconnecting these airstones, I always feel there is a 50/50 chance of them breaking on disconnect (completely crumbling into nothing). IMO they lose a star there.
This is where I take another star: I am running a hydroponics deep-water culture which requires a nutrient solution. After running a brand new air stone in a deep-water culture, bubbles will be rich for a few days, and plants will be happy. After two or three weeks, I notice almost no bubbles reaching the surface of the water, and after I inspect the plant's root zone, the airstone is the problem.
You can unclog these airstones effectively by running them overnight in a water/peroxide mixture, or by soaking them in boiling water for 3-4 minutes, but when they have a 50/50 chance of breaking every time you switch them out ... they aren't worth cleaning or replacing.
I took these airstones out of my hydroponics application, and bought a stronger air pump. My plants seem happier with no airstone and more bubbles coming from the actual air pump. Assuming your check-valves are in place, there's nothing to clog. The next time I absolutely need an airstone, I will most likely drill tiny holes in some airline tubing and use a T connector to wrap a circle.
These 1-inch airstones were amazing until they gave me a headache.
The stones fit standard airline tubing. Once you open the pack, place any unused stones in a ziplock back to keep them from collecting dust.
All in all, a great value. Durable, reliable, low priced.
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Unlike the other reviewer, my product arrived in great condition and worked completely as expected. I'd order this again. Bubble bubble bubble :)Read Best Reviews of Elite 1-Inch Cylinder Air Stone Here
The air stones came opened, rolling around in the box. I didn't expect to get old worn out air stones that weren't even in their original packaging.Want Elite 1-Inch Cylinder Air Stone Discount?
Yeah, they are small and will float around. They will not stay below 1 foot or so by their weight alone in fresh water; do not expect to create bottom-up circulation in a deep tank (aquaponic IBC) without additional clamps or weights. Othet than that, air goes in, bubbles come out and that is hard to mess up even at the 4 for $6 level.
