Originally Posted by TestPilot
xcrispi,
I'm used to small pH drifts, but the bacteria is causing these large swings from low 5's to high 6's in 8 hours. It seems to buffer it around 6.3-6.5. I'm debating on whether to go back to hydroguard and hygrozyme, or trying H2O2.
Earthy Dank,
Were you able to fix it? I've already bleached everything once, but I put the LK back in the mix not thinking about it being organic bacteria food. I did use LK in an ez-cloner with no problems, maybe the water temp has something to do with it. The cloner is stable at 79F, the NFT res is 69F.
I'm going to bleach it all again today and try to clean the roots off. Luckily, I think I caught it early since there is hardly any "slime" on the roots since the last bleach. The old roots still have a tan color, but new growth is bright white. One thing I didn't do was wash the roots and hydroton...only wiped the visible slime off. I will try dipping in chlorinated tap water with some H2O2 for a few seconds to clean them before putting them back in the trays.
Supposedly, Physan 20 will solve this problem but it's harsh. It's also not supposed to be run through any type of irrigation system...not really sure why.
pH was 5.9 this morning, was 5.5 when I left it last night after a change. Adjusted down to 5.6.