can you use a bubbler for the entire grow - inside a cabinet

so I've been reading up on bubblers and plan to use that method for my clones, but I was wondering if anyone has had success with a bubbler in a small cabinet grow. There's tons of information about how well bubblers work, but I haven't come across any threads about using the bubbler method in an enclosed box.

I picked up one of those sterilite cabinets from Target today (on sale for $39.99!) and been jotting down ideas on what to do with it. I've got the majority of my rubbermaid tub built for my first grow, and was going to wait until after my first harvest (wishful thinking) to start working on my cabinet. Since I've got the cab now, I've been measuring and scheming.

External dimensions are:
H 35 5/8
W 25 5/8
D 18 7/8

Internal dimensions are:
H 35
W 22
D 15

I had some 3gal and 10 gal rubbermaid tubs lying around so I checked to see how those would fit. I can fit in 2 of the 3gal tubs side-by-side which could either house 1 or 2 plants each. Yeah, I know they're small tubs, but if people can actually grow multiple plants in a 1gal aero garden resevoir, then these 3gal tubs are practically overkill :D

The 10gal tub fits in there with a decent amount of space all around it and could probably fit 2-4 plants, but the tub is 6" taller than the 3gal tubs.

Basically if this idea is possible, I'd have either 24" available room between the top of the resevoir and the top of the cab for the plants and lights (6-8 CFL's or a 250 HPS). using the 3gal or 18" with the 10gal.

I think my main concern is going to be algae or mold. The cab would be set up for stealth, meaning it would need to be airtight, light-tight, and odor-tight. I'm hoping someone has tried this already and can chime in with whether or not it worked.

The Bubbler will need to have airpump's for good aeration (oxygen) in the water.

Also Your Cabinet can be Air-tight & Light-Leak-Free. But You still have to have some way to get Fresh Air in the Cabinet, & Hot stale Air out of the Cabinet.:thumbsup:

Keep thinking about it,You'll figure it out!!:thumbsup:


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thanks for the response hatch!

Ok, I've got the air for the bubbles covered. Having 3 fishtanks running and 2 spare tanks sitting around at my place, I already have the materials. I've got 2 spare air pumps, one of them has dual outputs. I plan on setting up a 10 gal fishtank up right next to my cab. The pump will feed both the fishtank and the bubbler in the cab. This along with running the fishtank a tad bit low will help mask the bubbler noise. I'll drill a hole into the bottom-rear of the cab to run the airline which will be caulked to seal it.

For the air intake on the cab, I'm going to use a 90 degree black PVC elbow that will be installed about 3 inches from the bottom side of the cab. The ouside end of the elbow will be fairly flush against the cab and the inside will be angled downward towards a corner. I'll use a 2nd elbow that will attach to the outside which will allow me to rotate the elbow in whatever direction.

Exhaust fan will be installed on the top of the cab using either 2 120mm PC fans or a single inline duct fan. But wait, thats not all folks. A 18gal tub will be permanently attached to the top of the cab to conceal my scrubber. I got the parts for a cylinder shaped scrubber, but I've decided to go a different route using those activated carbon filter pads. maybe about halfway up inside the tub I'll glue a plastic frame with chicken wire that will support one of those carbon pads. Then another frame on top of that to sandwich the pad down and put screws through the 2 frames to hold the pad in place as well as allow replacement later. Then I'll drill a bunch of holes on the backside of the tub to allow the odor free air to escape.

The bottom of the tub will be cut out, then I'll drill the holes for the fans in the top of the cab. The cab will be caulked in every crack on the inside and the tub will be caulked to the cab later after I line the inside with panda plastic, install my lighting, drill the holes for the intake and air line, mount my power strip, and a bracket for the hygrometer/thermometer.

Hopefully it will all look like I have a plastic cabinet with a rubbermaid tub sitting on it in the corner of my room with a fishtank next to it. I'll probably grow underwater plants in that tank :D

Say Bro, That Plastic Cabinet is going to Glo like A Jack'o'lantern, When You Hit the light's. You might want to think about lineing the inside with mylar????:thumbsup:

Keep working on it, & it will come to gether!!:jointsmile:

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