Not sure I follow the question but all that is needed in a DWC bucket is airstone (on 24/7), water and nutes. If your wondering if it will work without nutes I would say most likely not. When you grow in soil there is most generally stuff in the soil plants can use. Even the cheap ass dirt from Walmart has plant food added to soil. In Hydro you have water and depending where you get it from (tap, distilled, RO) how much "crap" is in it. When you first start getting a clone or seedling going the first thing that most people see is the plant starting to turn yellow. No Nitrogen. So some sort of nutes has to be added so plant can survive.