DWC Water Temp Problems

Hey guys, since ive gotten so much great feedback from the other two threads i have posted, I thought i would ask you guys another question.

I'm runnin a DWC setup and have been having problems with root rot due to my water temps bein about 82 deg farenheit. My question to you gurus is what is a good way to keep the temps down? The space i have the ladies in is in the air conditioned house, but all the lights seem to be heatin up the water temp. The room temp is about 72-75 deg farenheit. I have good ventilation in the room thx to a 6 inch fan exhausting into the recirc vent of the house. So how the hell should i cool my water down?
Thx in advance dudes!:thumbsup::jointsmile::rastasmoke::stoned:

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Originally Posted by dhmessiah

Hey guys, since ive gotten so much great feedback from the other two threads i have posted, I thought i would ask you guys another question.

I'm runnin a DWC setup and have been having problems with root rot due to my water temps bein about 82 deg farenheit. My question to you gurus is what is a good way to keep the temps down? The space i have the ladies in is in the air conditioned house, but all the lights seem to be heatin up the water temp. The room temp is about 72-75 deg farenheit. I have good ventilation in the room thx to a 6 inch fan exhausting into the recirc vent of the house. So how the hell should i cool my water down?
Thx in advance dudes!:thumbsup::jointsmile::rastasmoke::stoned:

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I'll start with u, and try to help somebody every day, we need more growers! :thumbsup:

how the heck is you're room temp that low and you're water temp that high? What do you have in the water creating so much heat? 68-70 water temp is ideal, I've grown tree's with DWC before, and everything ive read is 71+ will create root rot, oxygen levels are a lot lower with the higher temps.

Buy a water cooler off craigslist, the $20-50 used ones, the kind you see in doctors offices. Rip the coil out and modify it to work with you're DWC. Theres how-to's if you search the net....just a cheap alternative to buying a $300-500 chiller, or using water bottles which will do the trick until you forget once and loose it all.

Next, if you're using non air cooled HID's those temps may be fine, leaf temp is going to be higher than room temp, 78-80 is perfect leaf temp as I call it. The stomata's will start to close and stay somewhat closed under 78 deg's, and that will slow growth down. Keep humidity at least at 50% veg and 40-50 for flower. Drain the water from the DWC if you need to adjust ph, don't adjust it with the plants in there...and let it drift a little to. That should get you started. :rastasmoke:

ok first off root rot begins 80+ not 71+. How big is the container you are doing grow in?? Depending on container size you could take empty soda bottles (16oz, 20oz, 2l) fill with water then freeze. Place frozen bottle in rez and temps go down. Have about 4-6 bottles made up and in freezer that way when one is thawed just pop it back into freezer and grab another. If container that plants are in is a dark color then paint white to reflect some heat off container. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by tinytoon

ok first off root rot begins 80+ not 71+. How big is the container you are doing grow in?? Depending on container size you could take empty soda bottles (16oz, 20oz, 2l) fill with water then freeze. Place frozen bottle in rez and temps go down. Have about 4-6 bottles made up and in freezer that way when one is thawed just pop it back into freezer and grab another. If container that plants are in is a dark color then paint white to reflect some heat off container. :thumbsup:

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Hey tinytoon, thats exactly what I was trying to tell him not to do, its da hillbilly way, as soon as you need to do something in you're boring life, such as leave da house, da plants die. I've seen root rot at 74deg's with a 70lpm air pump, 68-70 is where ya want it, trust me. Don't make me site sources dammit. :rastasmoke:


Another thing about da hillbilly way, frozen ice bottles get all kindsa cozy with the roots, the roots might be in a cool good solution now, but any roots touching the bottles will most likely eat shit from getting too cold thanks to a 32deg ice bottle. :stoned:

ive had three grows all exclusively with DWC and im just gonna throw in my two cents. A lot of people opt for black buckets so that no light can penetrate but they are more likely heating their water unintentionally by doing so.

get a COMPLETELY opaque bucket. try to go with lighter colors with the most white as it will reflect heat BETTER. a bucket with a white top and black sides you will still be raising temps. also a tiny hole for gas exhaustion so that youre not throwing a lid on a boiling pot.

i stuck a 2$ film thermometer for a fish tank on the outside of my bubbbler to watch the water temps and i never got over room temp by more than 2 degrees F( 72.)

well sometimes the "hillbilly way" is the only affordable way to try and accomplish something and with the way money is these days not to many peeps have a roll of extra cash in their sock. As for the roots being toast if they touch the bottle, use a lil time and create a screen or something that will keep roots off bottle but not restrict water flow. Light colored buckets is the first and easiest step which I mentioned in my first post. If these thoughts dont sound like they will work then the sure fired way to fix the problem is to completely seal room and install an A/C unit just for that room but hell I dont carry an extra $200 around but if you do go for it :thumbsup:
I also have DWC running here and my temps in buckets runs right about 76 and never have had a problem with root rot.

Just my thoughts have a nice day :)

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I too am puzzled why the water temp is so much higher than room temp. My buckets are white, and unfortunately too small to fit any kind of frozen bottle. I wish i did have the dough for an ac unit, but im unemployed at the moment and have very little cash to throw around. Im gonna try drilling a small hole in the side of the buckets and see if that helps.

Hey OG, you mind postin that link to the site that shows how to modify a water cooler, i cant find sh!t on it.

Thanks Again!!!:jointsmile:

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Originally Posted by tinytoon

well sometimes the "hillbilly way" is the only affordable way to try and accomplish something and with the way money is these days not to many peeps have a roll of extra cash in their sock. As for the roots being toast if they touch the bottle, use a lil time and create a screen or something that will keep roots off bottle but not restrict water flow. Light colored buckets is the first and easiest step which I mentioned in my first post. If these thoughts dont sound like they will work then the sure fired way to fix the problem is to completely seal room and install an A/C unit just for that room but hell I dont carry an extra $200 around but if you do go for it :thumbsup:
I also have DWC running here and my temps in buckets runs right about 76 and never have had a problem with root rot.

Just my thoughts have a nice day :)

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Lawl. $200? Try a thousand or more. A split unit a/c is $450+ for the cheapos and a good window unit cost about the same. Not to mention that wouldn't fix the problem at all. The whole point of sealing the room is to create a co2 enriched, HIGH temperature grow room. It would be hell on you're dwc as the room temps would most likely be 83deg's+, and a good co2 controller is $500, plus the co2 tank and regulator. I'm probably forgetting a bunch of other things, oh well, you get the point. And by the way, mid 70's on rez temps is just asking for problems.

http://www.guarriello.net/chiller.htm
DIY Water Cooled light Chiller/rez > $300.00 - 420 Magazine


Dopest's "Cooler" DIY Chiller - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums
And heres a thread on the cheap 5 gallon 1/12 hp chiller drops 100gal's 10 deg's and 30 gallons 30 deg's.

I would suggest putting the coil in a seperate resovior, $30-$40 10' titanium tubing, and pump the nutes through it, this way the coil won't corode and you can place the compressor and everything else outside the grow. I'm in the process of making a 11,000btu chiller from a old floor unit a/c. :rastasmoke:

P.s. The real hillbilly water chiller involves a regular cooler with two holes in it, for a hose to come in and out. Ice bottles in the cooler along with 20-30ft of tubing inside. Input and output plumbs into the controller bucket/rez/buckets. pump size not that important, if you end up with too much cooling power just poke some holes in the input hose near the pump. Once you get the temps under 70deg's you're girls will be a lot happier. ;)

Well it looks like to make any of those options work, i'm gonna have to recirculate my water. I did drill some exhaust holes in the side of the buckets and cranked my a/c down to 69 deg. My temps are now down to 72-73 deg. I treated the roots with h202 and all is lookin good for now. Thx again guys!:smokin: Here's a couple of pics of the ladies.

Stop using H202. It is NOT a good oxidizer (unless at pH of 2.0 which is not advisable for good plant health) and is NOT killing the pathogen organisms that are alive and thriving in your DWC system(s) and thus killing your root systems (and your plants). H202 also strips nutrients out of solution (forming unusable precipitates).

Pulled this from a blog by a big west coast hydro shop. I've never liked using h202 on plants. You're girls are lookin good though. :jointsmile: Keep it up!

edit: that room temp is too low and you're res temps still just a bit too high. :stoned: