to change or not to change...my reservoir

[macnasty]

Hello and welcome back. I've been dying to ask this question and finally here is my chance! i want to get some opinions about whether or not i should change my reservoir every week to 2 weeks as many people prescribe, topping off with water, or whether i can get away with topping off with nutes, and not worrying about changing the res. i have quite a few tubs running, and changing the reservoirs is heavy duty labour, and i would MUCH prefer to just top off with full strength nutes and change only in between veg and flower. i read that most ppl top off with water, but is there any harm in topping off with nutes? for example, do plants produce wastes that they dispose in the solution, that is toxic to their health? everyone seems to rave about changing the res every week, but very little is said about why this is so adamantly adhered to. this would save me a lot of back breaking work. appreciate it. thanks.

p.s. the reservoirs are usually levelled off at 5 gallons, but can support up to about 10 gallons.

[Greenthing]

You should always clean your reservoir throughly every two weeks,in case you have bacteria breeding in there.:jointsmile:

[MJACTIVIST]

You need a PPM meter. Check your Res. every other day and see how much and what your plants are sucking up.
Mix up your normal nutrient feeding and check its PPM. (lets say its 850 PPM)
Come back after a day and check the PPM again. It will have changed. If your plants are sucking up more nutrients than water your PPM show it. If your PPM has lowered plants are taking in the nutes if the PPM risen then the plants r taking up all water.
Hope it helps
MJ

[cannakeeper]

Waste=salts build up in the solution as nutes are used in addition to bacteria and various pathogens as greenthing stated. In a few simple terms...Just as important as a sterile surgery for us, a hydro plant needs the same because her guts are hanging out. You get what you give and it's very important to give in this respect because in a sense hydro girls live all of their life in an open heart surgery. Would you want irrigated with saline or "duck pond" water? Now....That's not to say it won't work, I know a guy who never changed his solution and basicly did EVERTHING wrong including never flushing and keeping 1400 ppm til harvest day and still got some really good yields. He stuck with what worked for him not even knowing the diff. He refused to educate himself on the basics and follow them and was fine with it....until I showed him what the propper process yielded, looked like, smelled like, burned like, tasted like and potency. My run was totally diff in every aspect. Hydro is ALOT of work but shortcuts show up clearest in the bud, besides, It's more work dealing with issues that arise as a result of short cuts than it is to just follow a widely recomended process. Try adding top-offs until they equal the solution volume and see what the time span is. Change solution when you do. Follow that and you will not regret the results.

[Greenthing]

I would also that you put in the reservoir a good size air stone or two the type that are used in aquarium (fish tanks we call them in little old england) your plants will love that oxygenated nute solution running all over their roots.
You only get out of it what you put into it and like Cannakeeper said its not easy but worth the hard work,don't be lazy and cut corners or you may regret it. :smokin:

[TheHappyCamper]

just wanted to throw in, that your plants take in different elements from your nutrient solution at different times. by changing out your solution regularly, you are making sure there is a enough of whatever they want, whenever they want.
greenthing- i like to run a small fountain pump with fountain attachments inside my reservoirs along with 2 airstones. the pump shoots nutrients against the lid and it splashes all over the roots.:thumbsup: just my thoughts on the subject.:S5:

PS- welcome back cannacom and all us members!!

[LOC NAR on probation]

General rule is to top off rez with R/O water untill you match the amount in the rez. 5 gallon rez topped with 5 gallon fresh water , time to change rez no matter how long that time is.
Think of it as your plants taking a piss in your rez. The work is worth it. I think that's why peeps like bigger rez to maybe go longer between change.

[Greenthing]

greenthing- i like to run a small fountain pump with fountain attachments inside my reservoirs along with 2 airstones. the pump shoots nutrients against the lid and it splashes all over the roots.:thumbsup: just my thoughts on the subject.:S5:
Thats good too, when i used the NFT i had a two pumps and two airstones running one to pump the nute solution back to the top of the table the other kept the solution moving in the reservoir along with the airstones, worked brilliant. :thumbsup:

PS- welcome back cannacom and all us members!!
And to you too, thank you.:jointsmile:

[Greenthing]

Oh i forgot to mention i added Canna Zym to the tank it keeps the roots in tip top condition because it breaks down any dead root material.
IMHO its great stuff.:D

[tokerking]

Hello and welcome back. I've been dying to ask this question and finally here is my chance! i want to get some opinions about whether or not i should change my reservoir every week to 2 weeks as many people prescribe, topping off with water, or whether i can get away with topping off with nutes, and not worrying about changing the res. i have quite a few tubs running, and changing the reservoirs is heavy duty labour, and i would MUCH prefer to just top off with full strength nutes and change only in between veg and flower. i read that most ppl top off with water, but is there any harm in topping off with nutes? for example, do plants produce wastes that they dispose in the solution, that is toxic to their health? everyone seems to rave about changing the res every week, but very little is said about why this is so adamantly adhered to. this would save me a lot of back breaking work. appreciate it. thanks.

p.s. the reservoirs are usually levelled off at 5 gallons, but can support up to about 10 gallons.

you should definately change your reservoir atleast every two weeks, it is a lot of work that's why i use those garden armor liners for the tray and reservoir
HydroGarden Armor : Hydroponic maintenance made easy. (http://www.gardenarmor.com)

[WeedTree's]

Change your rez. every 1.5 to 2 weeks or so. This helps as said from keeping bacteria from forming. Use the 50/50 rule for topping off your rez. If you have topped off with water already 50% of the amount in your rez, it's time to do a full change/new mix of nutrients. Remember, plants require 99% water and 1% nutrients.

[macnasty]

well, i guess the verdict is in and there seems to be unanimous agreement. i am still not 100 % convinced though; it's just not enough for me to know that salts, bacteria levels are raising and this can be harmful. i would like to know for myself how much is harmful, and so i will conduct a side by side experiment, changing the rez in one tub every 2 weeks, and topping off with nutes in another tub without ever changing. i'll let you all know what my findings are. thanks for the tips. ciao

[Revanche21]

don't have time right now so I didnt read other ppls responses but I would install a valve near the bottom so you can drain the whole thing out

I drain my 4 gal res and add 1 gal tap water and drain again and fill up to 2 gals

I do this every 10-14 days

[LOC NAR on probation]

well, i guess the verdict is in and there seems to be unanimous agreement. i am still not 100 % convinced though; it's just not enough for me to know that salts, bacteria levels are raising and this can be harmful. i would like to know for myself how much is harmful, and so i will conduct a side by side experiment, changing the rez in one tub every 2 weeks, and topping off with nutes in another tub without ever changing. i'll let you all know what my findings are. thanks for the tips. ciao

That's what it is all about. please do a side by side and show us pic's if you can. it's all about learning and most of us have had bad times trying. that's how we learn. I'm interested to see how it turns out.

[Revanche21]

I have a bottle of hydroguard but I use it every once in a while but not religiously