Would a solution, besides buy better stones, perhaps be to drill small holes in the vinyl tubing and let the air pass through them? Or would a different solution - place a T in the line and let one end uncapped, be viable?

I'm going to have about 50 buckets by the time I'm completely up and running, and this is a hobby as much as anything, so I would rather not spend dozens and dozens of dollars on diffusers if I don't need to.

Mike

Yes, you can drill tiny holes in tubes but the holes must be really tiny, though. You can also use a hot needle (sticked into a handy piece of cork at one end) and pinch even tinier holes.

But I found a rather cheap alternative product, it's a rubber (quarter inch sized) tube with a metal kernel (to make it sink) that has a few hundred tiny holes. The tube is from a flexible "stretchy" rubber and as soon as it gets clogged (because it gets clogged as well eventually), you can simply stretch it out, rinse and stretch again a few times under water, to unclog it in no time.

This product is made in China and easily available at aquarium supply shops here in Thailand. I can't tell for other parts of the world, though- but search engines may tell you quite quickly where to get them ;-)

The pumps are about $5 and last about a year each. You have to be certain the pump is ABOVE the water level though, or it'll suck water back into the reed valves and ruin itself.

I ended up buy a 950 GPH pump that should be more than enough. Also ordered 50 barbed T's (for $9.00 - delivered). My plan is to run four lines from the pump and then run the air in-line from one bucket to another. I plan on mounting the pump on a shelf on a wall, well above the buckets. One thing I don't need is a 7.4 pound paperweight!

Mike