New DWC Setup Questions

[killakalimist]

Whats up everyone, this is my 2nd attempt at growing, my first failed attempt was a soil grow, and now i decided i want to go with a DWC Hydro setup. I'm going with a 10 gallon res, and I have 2 6" long air stones, and currently an air pump thats good for a 30-50 gallon fish tank, i think i'm getting another but.........I've looked at some pics of other peoples systems and i see WAYYY more bubbles than what i've got (even if i had 2 pumps i wouldn't have that many bubbles), so my question is what kind of pumps and stones does everyone use??

[The White Snoop]

Your pump is fine. It never hurts to have more air but I can tell you that your pump is fine. How can you tell from a picture? Go take a picture of your bubbles and I bet that it looks like theres more than there are.

Instead of stressing out about your bubbles..you need to focus on your res. temps. Keep them at 68F for the optimal growth temp. The thing w/ Dissolved O2 is that the lower the temp..the higher it gets. The range you wanna stay at is 65-72 IMO(people argue w/ me on this but thats from my experience). If you go below 65 the growth will slow, the DO is higher the lower you go but who wants to wait forever for your plants to grow? If they go above 72 then you get into things like overwaterin,root rot(every DWCrs worst nightmare)...just all together bad things.


When you get everything started..start a thread and well help you through it
:thumbsup:

Later

[Racerx]

Snoop is good guy to listen to, he obviously knows his stuff! Ive been running 2 DWCs for the last few weeks and definitely Snoop is not joking when he says temp is the most important factor. On my 2 site DWC I run a 4 output pump that really bubbles the crap out of it. On my 4 site I use a dual outlet pump and 2 singles (just cause I had them). Both have about 8 airstones but I run 18 gallon Rubbermaid res. I figure you can never have enough bubbles. To keep my temps in check, I have to drop bottles of frozen ice into the res about every 4-5 hours depending on how hot it is. Sometimes even after 8 hours of cool night time I find my res at 73 F.

I expect specifically with tap water, but when my res tempatures get above 72F around here, you get major outbreaks of red algae. Long as it stays below that, they THRIVE!!!

[killakalimist]

Thanks snoop and racer. Snoop after reading your kick ass grow log I will definately be seeking your advice once i'm up and running. I'm still getting a different air pump and another stone but I will definately put some thought into keeping my res cool. I noticed the 2 ways you had mentioned that you keep yours cool and with racers........any other ways? this is gonna be a cab grow w/a 250w in a cool tube so i think i'm gonna have a few heat problems. Thanks again

[The White Snoop]

:D Thanks for the kind words kkm.


Honestly the best way to cool the res (if you have the dough) is this:


http://www.aquastealth.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=93&HS=1

That is the cheapest chiller I have ever came across(for the quality).

The frozen 2 liter bottle is great also. The only down side is that if you have a single bucket bubbler..the sudden change in temp stuns the roots/plant. If you build your cab around the system, you can change that by connecting the buckets and having a seperate res. for your control bucket.

I built a small dwc cab to get some seeds vegging and to sex. You could do the same thing, but use like 2-3 5 gallon buckets w/ the res. OUTSIDE of the cab. This, in itself, cools the res. and you can put your frozen 2 liters in the outside res every day(it sucks!) to keep the perfect temp. The upside is beautiful white roots and thriving growth. Its worth it.

BTW about your room temps..get a large inline fan(300+ CFM). It will be overkill for your cab but you'll never have to worry about temps(as long as the room the cab is in stays cool). And once you have that fan you can use it for later bigger cabs or rooms.

You sound motivated..keep that up, its what you need!

Later

[Weed4Life]

Mybe you can help me later when I start to hydro Snoop. I have a few months before I build a room. I have lights, but do you know where to get a hydro system for 4 plants minus the light? Does anyone know how to build one? I want to learn. Soil grow is messy.

[killakalimist]

Damn that cooler is NICE.......unfortunately i'm a broke ass :( . Oh well life rolls on.......good thing thats not the ONLY way to cool. I'm not so sure about a separate res feeding a couple buckets i was tryin to go kinda stealth but i guess if thats what i gots to do I just might do it, i'm going to do some more research.

I'm on a limited budged right now and still have a lot to take care of like building my cool tube, carbon scrubber, nutes, ph/tds tester, and buying fans/blowers.............It seemed SOOOO simple to start up, buy a light and grow weed......yea right..........the cost just keeps rising and rising on me........lol

yea i'm motivated all right I wish i could start RIGHT NOW!!! I move out and into a new house in a month so i'm waiting on that and trying to get everything ready to go..........

well.......its 4:20 somewhere :rasta:

[killakalimist]

Snoop, when you put your air pumps in the freezer did that really help out enough to where u think I could do that?? What would my grow area temp have to be for that to work?? because i think me having to put a bottle of water in a separate res everyday would work for me i'm a burnout and would forget it sometimes cuz i'm always on the fly. sorry man i got a lot of questions.....I've been researching for a long while now and have a lot of what ifs and why's.......tryin to soak in all the knowledge i can, especially if its comin from a guy who can grow a bud big enough to go out and tee off with at the golf course.

[The White Snoop]

weed4life- If you wanna buy a system go for the gh waterfarm. Its the easiest to maintain and great to get your feet wet with.
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/Itemdesc.asp?ic=HGSBSWFM&eq=&Tp=
BUT if you wanna DIY (witch will still cost a bit after you have to buy a 30$ 3/8" drill bit) I can tell you how..its very easy..just let me know

kkm-The airpumps in the freezer worked great..BUT I ended up needing that breaker for my dehumidifier. What I ended up doing is connecting some ducting to my window A/C unit and getting the same results (w/o the wasted power). I couldnt check my pumps and grab a beer at the same time anymore , but I liked it much better. You have to have a somewhat cool room (but not too cool) for this to stay in the right range The room temps where 72-82F and the res temps were 63-70F. So yeah it works but you cant have a hot room or it makes no differnce( room 90 res 77)

[Weed4Life]

That'll work The Whitesnoop. I thought about those buckets, but it didnt come with everything. I figure there are alot of hydro people here and sum1 knows how to build one. It doesnt look really hard to build, plus I am sure my work has a 3/8 bit. I will probably need help with my room setup as well. I am eager to learn, just teach me how. Thanks!! I will post in hydro when I need your help.

[bongerstonerd00d]

Damn son, what kind of drill bits you buying that cost 30 bucks for a 3/8" ? If just drilling buckets, tubs, and such a 2-3 dollar one from a surplus place does just fine. Or you going really super high tech on us and makin all your rez's and the likes outa titanium? :dance: :dance:


b0nger

[latewood]

Your pump is fine. It never hurts to have more air but I can tell you that your pump is fine. How can you tell from a picture? Go take a picture of your bubbles and I bet that it looks like theres more than there are.

Instead of stressing out about your bubbles..you need to focus on your res. temps. Keep them at 68F for the optimal growth temp. The thing w/ Dissolved O2 is that the lower the temp..the higher it gets. The range you wanna stay at is 65-72 IMO(people argue w/ me on this but thats from my experience). If you go below 65 the growth will slow, the DO is higher the lower you go but who wants to wait forever for your plants to grow? If they go above 72 then you get into things like overwaterin,root rot(every DWCrs worst nightmare)...just all together bad things.


When you get everything started..start a thread and well help you through it
:thumbsup:

Later

The #1 priority in DWC is the oxygen...Do worry about your bubbles, then take snoop's advice. I have never had much of a big rez temp problem either, but I have AC in all my rooms.

[latewood]

when I use 10 gallon buckets. generally use what you have with the exception that I try to use the 12-14" airstones similar to what you have,,,and believe it or not...those little .88cent 1" stones bubble like crazy. some people complain that they clog or wear out...Well, geeez. they only cost 2 for .88cents...peace

[killakalimist]

Right on, thanks again snoop, i'm going to look into maybe making something so i can have my res outside of my cab/closet whatever i end up going with, but my question is how would i set that up?? do i just set it up like one of those recirculating systems?? thats one thing thats got me confused. If not i have one of those little beer fridges with a freezer in it that gets cooold so not a big waste in power.......keep my corona's cold and my res cool.

latewood, glad to see you, you gave me a few pointers the first time i tried growin in my closet a couple months ago.......sadly while all my friends insisted that i was underwatering telling me to water more, after i decided to kill off my plants it seemed to be that i was OVER watering, my soil was not draining for shit, even w/a 50/50 soil/perlite mix. I think i had a case of root rot. decided to hold off and save some money and do it the right way after reading some of your threads actually...........so thanks.

About the bubbles.........yes, i originally thought I had 6" stones but I guess the ones that I bought are 10" and I have 2 of them..........i'm takin the old pump back to walmart and getting a bigger one and another 10" air stone..........so i should be good on bubbles.........i can't let some other guys bubbles be better than mine.

blaze on

[latewood]

Nice to see you again. Hey, if you want to build...read my sticky at top of page...there are about 4 systems that are easy to build. Yes you will need to recirculate and you can adapt what you have to build those units. I don't post much growing anymore, but I might show you a couple things if you are interested...
Tell you what...since You have no PM's here...the easiest thing to do...would be to meet me sometime at my website http://www.hygronomics.com and I can walk you thru it via PM's...Just click any of the text buttons at the top of homepage and it will take you to the forums. peace:smokin: I might even supply you with step by step piks, if necessary. shhhhhhh

[killakalimist]

Thanks for the offer latewood i'd be WAY more than happy to have you helping me.

Heres the skinny on my situation, I slept 0 hours last night and spent all of last night and most of today working on my grow cab. It is 15x28x48(all inside demensions) dresser which i took the drawers out of and then screwed them onto a piece of particle board to make a door. in the bottom left corner i put a high velocity fan with a custom shroud for an intake and i'm still needing to put something in the top, I really need a carbon filter but money is VERY tight right now i'll be lucky if i can get everything i need w/in the next 2-3 weeks to start, so for the time being i'm just going to put another high velocity fan in the top to keep the temps down.

I still need to get my fans for the cool tube i'm making for my 250W HPS, my pyrex bake-a-round should be here in 2 days so once that is in asside from the fans thats ready to go.

My bubbler is now complete, i spent the last few hours walking around like a zombie to complete it. I know latewood you said that you should NEVER have more than 2 plants going at a time in a system especially in a 10 gallon..........in my case i really don't have an option because of the limited space i ran into..........i'm still dumbstruck as to what i'm going to do if one of the 2 is a male, what sucks is that there is a damn good chance out of 2 that i don't get a female :( . I guess its not to late to add another small bucket or something. Anyways i made it a recirculating system with another 10 gallon tub and a water pump drain at the bottom........bottom line is it works great, especially since i got a new air pump for a 80 gallon tank.

Sorry I don't have any pics right now......i'm digital cameraless.........need one of my roommates for that. Sorry this is so long........i'm sure i was rambling a lot.........36 hours no sleep. So what do you think about my situation.............just think my name at hotmail.com.............thats how u can get ahold of me really easily. appreciate your feedback

[latewood]

COOL

[Harry Pot Head]

thanks for the link to the chillers :D :D :D :D

http://www.aquastealth.com/index.asp...ProdID=93&HS=1

Will be needing one soon. not a bad cost for what they are capable.

Also I'm new here and all info I can get the better. :cool:

Take care :stoned:

[testsubject421]

heres my CHEEP fairly low matinence dwc system
i have around 500$ invested in my growroom and it works nicely ;) i know numbers dont mean much....
1st off i got all my buckets for free from my local coffee shop that has ice cream (ice cream buckets)

what do you guys think of 3&1/2 gal buckets with 3 inch net pot in the center of the lid and a small hole drilled for a air line and a 4" air stone feed of the general hydroponics pump for the hydrofarms (the dual diaphram that can supply up to 16 or what ever watterfarms sorry if i made any errors in my information i dont know their products very well)

note:i have extra buckets for when i change out the resivor's (i only do that once a month or 2 months but it depends on IF i have slime buildup or neutrent buildup otherwise i just top off the buckets.....and to ramble on and on.......i have found that if you have about 1-4 inchs of air room inbetween the net pot and the water level.....maybe il just take somepics of my setup......hmm but the clutter of all my junk is imbarrising and my lack of cleanlyness...............


P.S. i know i cant spell so please dont punish my lack of interest in spelling and gramar.......english class sucks......no offence tho......to any teacher or fans....