New DWC Setup Questions

[killakalimist]

Whats up everyone, this is my 2nd attempt at growing, my first failed attempt was a soil grow, and now i decided i want to go with a DWC Hydro setup. I'm going with a 10 gallon res, and I have 2 6" long air stones, and currently an air pump thats good for a 30-50 gallon fish tank, i think i'm getting another but.........I've looked at some pics of other peoples systems and i see WAYYY more bubbles than what i've got (even if i had 2 pumps i wouldn't have that many bubbles), so my question is what kind of pumps and stones does everyone use??

killakalimist Reviewed by killakalimist on 08-21-2006. New DWC Setup Questions Whats up everyone, this is my 2nd attempt at growing, my first failed attempt was a soil grow, and now i decided i want to go with a DWC Hydro setup. I'm going with a 10 gallon res, and I have 2 6" long air stones, and currently an air pump thats good for a 30-50 gallon fish tank, i think i'm getting another but.........I've looked at some pics of other peoples systems and i see WAYYY more bubbles than what i've got (even if i had 2 pumps i wouldn't have that many bubbles), so my question is Rating: 5

[The White Snoop]

Your pump is fine. It never hurts to have more air but I can tell you that your pump is fine. How can you tell from a picture? Go take a picture of your bubbles and I bet that it looks like theres more than there are.

Instead of stressing out about your bubbles..you need to focus on your res. temps. Keep them at 68F for the optimal growth temp. The thing w/ Dissolved O2 is that the lower the temp..the higher it gets. The range you wanna stay at is 65-72 IMO(people argue w/ me on this but thats from my experience). If you go below 65 the growth will slow, the DO is higher the lower you go but who wants to wait forever for your plants to grow? If they go above 72 then you get into things like overwaterin,root rot(every DWCrs worst nightmare)...just all together bad things.


When you get everything started..start a thread and well help you through it
:thumbsup:

Later

[Racerx]

Snoop is good guy to listen to, he obviously knows his stuff! Ive been running 2 DWCs for the last few weeks and definitely Snoop is not joking when he says temp is the most important factor. On my 2 site DWC I run a 4 output pump that really bubbles the crap out of it. On my 4 site I use a dual outlet pump and 2 singles (just cause I had them). Both have about 8 airstones but I run 18 gallon Rubbermaid res. I figure you can never have enough bubbles. To keep my temps in check, I have to drop bottles of frozen ice into the res about every 4-5 hours depending on how hot it is. Sometimes even after 8 hours of cool night time I find my res at 73 F.

I expect specifically with tap water, but when my res tempatures get above 72F around here, you get major outbreaks of red algae. Long as it stays below that, they THRIVE!!!

[killakalimist]

Thanks snoop and racer. Snoop after reading your kick ass grow log I will definately be seeking your advice once i'm up and running. I'm still getting a different air pump and another stone but I will definately put some thought into keeping my res cool. I noticed the 2 ways you had mentioned that you keep yours cool and with racers........any other ways? this is gonna be a cab grow w/a 250w in a cool tube so i think i'm gonna have a few heat problems. Thanks again

[The White Snoop]

Thanks for the kind words kkm.


Honestly the best way to cool the res (if you have the dough) is this:


http://www.aquastealth.com/index.asp...ProdID=93&HS=1

That is the cheapest chiller I have ever came across(for the quality).

The frozen 2 liter bottle is great also. The only down side is that if you have a single bucket bubbler..the sudden change in temp stuns the roots/plant. If you build your cab around the system, you can change that by connecting the buckets and having a seperate res. for your control bucket.

I built a small dwc cab to get some seeds vegging and to sex. You could do the same thing, but use like 2-3 5 gallon buckets w/ the res. OUTSIDE of the cab. This, in itself, cools the res. and you can put your frozen 2 liters in the outside res every day(it sucks!) to keep the perfect temp. The upside is beautiful white roots and thriving growth. Its worth it.

BTW about your room temps..get a large inline fan(300+ CFM). It will be overkill for your cab but you'll never have to worry about temps(as long as the room the cab is in stays cool). And once you have that fan you can use it for later bigger cabs or rooms.

You sound motivated..keep that up, its what you need!

Later

[Weed4Life]

Mybe you can help me later when I start to hydro Snoop. I have a few months before I build a room. I have lights, but do you know where to get a hydro system for 4 plants minus the light? Does anyone know how to build one? I want to learn. Soil grow is messy.

[killakalimist]

Damn that cooler is NICE.......unfortunately i'm a broke ass . Oh well life rolls on.......good thing thats not the ONLY way to cool. I'm not so sure about a separate res feeding a couple buckets i was tryin to go kinda stealth but i guess if thats what i gots to do I just might do it, i'm going to do some more research.

I'm on a limited budged right now and still have a lot to take care of like building my cool tube, carbon scrubber, nutes, ph/tds tester, and buying fans/blowers.............It seemed SOOOO simple to start up, buy a light and grow weed......yea right..........the cost just keeps rising and rising on me........lol

yea i'm motivated all right I wish i could start RIGHT NOW!!! I move out and into a new house in a month so i'm waiting on that and trying to get everything ready to go..........

well.......its 4:20 somewhere :rasta:

[killakalimist]

Snoop, when you put your air pumps in the freezer did that really help out enough to where u think I could do that?? What would my grow area temp have to be for that to work?? because i think me having to put a bottle of water in a separate res everyday would work for me i'm a burnout and would forget it sometimes cuz i'm always on the fly. sorry man i got a lot of questions.....I've been researching for a long while now and have a lot of what ifs and why's.......tryin to soak in all the knowledge i can, especially if its comin from a guy who can grow a bud big enough to go out and tee off with at the golf course.

[The White Snoop]

weed4life- If you wanna buy a system go for the gh waterfarm. Its the easiest to maintain and great to get your feet wet with.
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/Itemdesc....SBSWFM&eq=&Tp=
BUT if you wanna DIY (witch will still cost a bit after you have to buy a 30$ 3/8" drill bit) I can tell you how..its very easy..just let me know

kkm-The airpumps in the freezer worked great..BUT I ended up needing that breaker for my dehumidifier. What I ended up doing is connecting some ducting to my window A/C unit and getting the same results (w/o the wasted power). I couldnt check my pumps and grab a beer at the same time anymore , but I liked it much better. You have to have a somewhat cool room (but not too cool) for this to stay in the right range The room temps where 72-82F and the res temps were 63-70F. So yeah it works but you cant have a hot room or it makes no differnce( room 90 res 77)

[Weed4Life]

That'll work The Whitesnoop. I thought about those buckets, but it didnt come with everything. I figure there are alot of hydro people here and sum1 knows how to build one. It doesnt look really hard to build, plus I am sure my work has a 3/8 bit. I will probably need help with my room setup as well. I am eager to learn, just teach me how. Thanks!! I will post in hydro when I need your help.