filter and or UV sterilizer in aero system?

[payn4school]

How is everyone? I am fucking fabulous right now, for Im building a sick aero system simular to this this one: http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/1668.htm.
Anyways one of my last concearns is that of filtration in these types of systems.
Is anyone one running biological, carbon or uv filtration? I want this system right the first time so im just covering all the possibilities. Will this affect my organics, I run botanicare and some other organics. I have had some root rot issues in the past because of my res temp. But this system will allow my res to be outside the plant area. So it should be cake to keep res below 70. I am going to run a particle filter so the damm misters dont clog, hopefully, but I want to be sure, you know what mean. This was always a problem with in res pumps in an aeroponics setup.

One last question for you truely expirienced growers out there, not that I wont experiment for myself, but what have you found to be the most efficient on/off time to run the pump. Running it constant would seem logical but that A) heats up the res, B) uses electricity and C) possibly keeps the roots too wet? I know some systems tell you to run it like 1 on/ 15off for instance. This would be very hard to determin the optimal amount unless someone had two identicle systems. But Im sure Im worrying about minor minor details that wont amount to a bag of bud in the end, after all its only a weed.

Thanks guys hope everyone in prospering!

payn4school Reviewed by payn4school on 07-12-2006. filter and or UV sterilizer in aero system? How is everyone? I am fucking fabulous right now, for Im building a sick aero system simular to this this one: http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/1668.htm. Anyways one of my last concearns is that of filtration in these types of systems. Is anyone one running biological, carbon or uv filtration? I want this system right the first time so im just covering all the possibilities. Will this affect my organics, I run botanicare and some other organics. I have had some root rot issues in the past Rating: 5

[u.g.u]

personaly to keep my res clean I use hydroguard works great its a good bacteria that eats bad bacteria basicaly botanicare make it. $25-$30 a gal

[payn4school]

yea I know what hydrogaurd is and i have been using it for a while, but it will not prevent root rot if there is a problem, nor will it fix anything by adding it later. It falls under a peace of mind supplement in my book.

[Aaron385]

I thought about the UV sterilizer idea too since they are used in fish tanks but if you are going organic and you want to use any kind of beneficial backteria.. forget about it.. that light will kill everything like adding h2o2 or florashield to the res.

Best solution IMHO is an aquarium cooler.. pull those res temps down to 68 and no more bacteria problems.

also i have heard about some golden rule of never having aeroponics as your first hydro rig.. i used dwc, drip, bubble, and ebb and flow.. each of which will provide you many challenges to overcome.. Im glad i didnt start with aero now i know.. my 2c tho

[payn4school]

I started started with an aero machine and 2 years later I still am working out all the details. I have tried nearly every other type of cultivation and have to say that aero is the most efficient. I do use soil for moms though because of the ease and reliability. Thats all I was wondering about the UV sterilizer. If it will kill the good stuff and bad stuff all the same. I think I will stick with my benificials and not use the sterilizer. But some day I might run a comparison bucause that would cut down on operating costs and wasted time of adding the various bennificials, a UV sterilizer uses a nominal amount of power.
Thanks for the info!

[Aaron385]

you are correct!

and i am lookin forward to aero.. except all the extra effort

[Bachelorpads]

I ran an aero system that was pretty much as complex as it gets. I like beneficial bacteria and would not recommend a UV Sterilizer. I also would not use any hydrogen peroxide for the same reason. If you have a chiller and keep the temp at around 66-69 degrees, I think all of the problems of root rot will be kept in check. I had so much "flow" in my res that i didn't use beneficials or anything and the water temp ran about 73. Pretty amazing i didn't have problems but if you keep that water moving like a river, it will stay pretty healthy.

As for the cycle times: I used 1 minute on, 6 minutes off. The best reason for the off time is pump life. Most pumps will heat up under a load (pressure from the system) and heat shortens the life of them. Depending on how well the system sprays, it can be anywhere from 4 minutes off, to 15 minutes off without much trouble.

[payn4school]

outstanding thanks for all the help. I will let this thread rest in peace now. I will be posting up my pictures and what nots in a couple of weeks when I begin build this beast. Still collecting all the parts and such, money and time are the limiting factor right now.

The weekend is upon us once again!

Payn