Is an aquarium aerator strong enoough to oxygenate compost tea?

I recently attended a compost tea seminar and the session leader said that an aquarium aerator was not strong enough to produce decent compost tea. Is that anyone else's experience?

I recently attended a compost tea seminar and the session leader said that an aquarium aerator was not strong enough to produce decent compost tea. Is that anyone else's experience?

Hi Michael (W),

I am wondering what kind of criteria your session leader is applying because very effective compost teas can be made without any aeration. I  could only guess that he is judging what is decent  by % of oxygen,  rather than how well it works in the field. I think this would be a great topic for the Cider Press. If he was just thinking in terms of AACT I could understand, but there are other ways of doing it.

Michael Welber-
I agree with your seminar leader in a limited way.  An aquarium pump is certainly not big enough to cover a farm.  If you have a normal sized garden, it can be easily done with 5 gallon buckets. I use one for bacterial compost and one for fungal.  I agree that one aquarium pump isn't enough. However, for each 5 gallon bucket, 2 or 3 should be enough, as long as they are cylindrical, and you have a device that makes sure they pump from the bottom.  I have checked the disease ridding function and it works well.

John S
PDX OR