TheMadMonk
Active Member
I will try and keep this in order as much as possible, Unfortunately I got into the building zone and didn't take Pictures of each step but honestly its pretty straight forward. I will answer questions, so please feel free to ask anything.
SO onto the Build ill start off saying my setup is in a 4x4 tent From the Green Leaf Company (awesome guys imo and price is right), ok ok so RDWC So What did I use ?? Also all prices are Canadian.
- Black 5 gallon Buckets from Princess Auto $4.99 each x 5 (probably gonna up my res to something bigger but it works great i started with it in the tent so the 5 gal all fit i moved my res outside the tent so now i have much more room and can increase the res size also manage it better !)
- For the connections Between the buckets I got it all from Home Depot in the electrical PVC conduit section
Schedule 40 PVC Female Adapter 1-1/4 Inches - was used for inside the buckets
- I cant find the link for the other end but this is the same thing it comes with two complete ends you need that are the exact same but I bought the ends separate Connections for bucket ( they screw together as you will see later in my pictures and come with a rubber O ring to seal.
- then off to the hose section and match it up to the ends I used 3/4 inside dia. 1 inch outside dia. black vinyl hose. was about $20 give or take.
- the same isle as the hose i grabbed 7 x 90 degree 3/4" PVC elbows to connect to the hose and 4 x "T" 3/4" connectors.
- I matched up a hole saw with the threaded part of the connections to drill into the bucket (cant remember the size i used but its basic about an inch i think the holes were tight enough the threaded connections almost self tapped the bucket without the other side connected yet)
-Make sure you clean up the holes you drill with the hole saw or you might get a small leak I was lazy and didnt clean one up with sand paper quick and it had a super slow drip so i took it off and cleaned it up put it back on and it was perfect.
- Grab a big bag of 1 inch hose clamps
- The rest is pretty simple really I drilled I laid the buckets out as i wanted them in the tent marked where i wanted the holes to line up (which you can see in my pictures) and drilled and screwed the connections in then cut the hoses and clamped them down.
- I drilled small holes that the air lines for the air stones just fit through nice and snug at the top of the buckets on the side
- I have a summersible water pump in the res. that feeds a return line back to the baskets where i drilled and added a uniseal and pushed the T and 90 degree elbows into with the vinyl hose.
- For running the lines through the tent ! this is the big one for me the holes in my tent were to high for gravity return lines to go through. so i bought a female T connection and another connection like used on the buckets and cut an X into the side of the tent pushed the connecter through, put on some plumbers tape and it looked clean and like it was part of the tent ! super simple and im proud of this hahaha
- I have ran the system for a couple weeks and not a single drop of water or leak.
- I also added some water level gauges on the sides of the res and 2 of the end buckets to quickly see the water levels
- the only thing different from the pictures is i ended up adding 2 t connectors through the tent as water return lines back to the res which is what i had when i had the res inside the tent. but when i turned my water pump on max it didn't have good re circulation to keep up with the pump it worked but not optimal. i tried to cheat as i was really Leary of cutting holes in the tent as this was just an idea i had with nothing to go off for a guide or suggestions but after it turned out as it did i added a second T connection to have the 2 return lines go to the res and there is no issues what so ever. it runs great.
I hope I explained it as good as i could . i wish i did a step by step but i didn't. but i feel like the pictures say 1000 words and if anyone needs help or needs a better or different picture not posted i will get it for you .
Also i Added a similar connection for my dehumidifier to drain outside the tent. I was trying to make it so the more i can do outside the tent the better.
PLEASE let me know what you guys think !! Originally I made one with 1.5" uniseals and i hated it, leaked and looked messy. i was worried that the hose size was gonna be to small and it has no issues for me. I drop a 5 gallon paint strainer in the buckets and the roots can just grow into that and nothing floats around or back into the res.
SO onto the Build ill start off saying my setup is in a 4x4 tent From the Green Leaf Company (awesome guys imo and price is right), ok ok so RDWC So What did I use ?? Also all prices are Canadian.
- Black 5 gallon Buckets from Princess Auto $4.99 each x 5 (probably gonna up my res to something bigger but it works great i started with it in the tent so the 5 gal all fit i moved my res outside the tent so now i have much more room and can increase the res size also manage it better !)
- For the connections Between the buckets I got it all from Home Depot in the electrical PVC conduit section
Schedule 40 PVC Female Adapter 1-1/4 Inches - was used for inside the buckets
- I cant find the link for the other end but this is the same thing it comes with two complete ends you need that are the exact same but I bought the ends separate Connections for bucket ( they screw together as you will see later in my pictures and come with a rubber O ring to seal.
- then off to the hose section and match it up to the ends I used 3/4 inside dia. 1 inch outside dia. black vinyl hose. was about $20 give or take.
- the same isle as the hose i grabbed 7 x 90 degree 3/4" PVC elbows to connect to the hose and 4 x "T" 3/4" connectors.
- I matched up a hole saw with the threaded part of the connections to drill into the bucket (cant remember the size i used but its basic about an inch i think the holes were tight enough the threaded connections almost self tapped the bucket without the other side connected yet)
-Make sure you clean up the holes you drill with the hole saw or you might get a small leak I was lazy and didnt clean one up with sand paper quick and it had a super slow drip so i took it off and cleaned it up put it back on and it was perfect.
- Grab a big bag of 1 inch hose clamps
- The rest is pretty simple really I drilled I laid the buckets out as i wanted them in the tent marked where i wanted the holes to line up (which you can see in my pictures) and drilled and screwed the connections in then cut the hoses and clamped them down.
- I drilled small holes that the air lines for the air stones just fit through nice and snug at the top of the buckets on the side
- I have a summersible water pump in the res. that feeds a return line back to the baskets where i drilled and added a uniseal and pushed the T and 90 degree elbows into with the vinyl hose.
- For running the lines through the tent ! this is the big one for me the holes in my tent were to high for gravity return lines to go through. so i bought a female T connection and another connection like used on the buckets and cut an X into the side of the tent pushed the connecter through, put on some plumbers tape and it looked clean and like it was part of the tent ! super simple and im proud of this hahaha
- I have ran the system for a couple weeks and not a single drop of water or leak.
- I also added some water level gauges on the sides of the res and 2 of the end buckets to quickly see the water levels
- the only thing different from the pictures is i ended up adding 2 t connectors through the tent as water return lines back to the res which is what i had when i had the res inside the tent. but when i turned my water pump on max it didn't have good re circulation to keep up with the pump it worked but not optimal. i tried to cheat as i was really Leary of cutting holes in the tent as this was just an idea i had with nothing to go off for a guide or suggestions but after it turned out as it did i added a second T connection to have the 2 return lines go to the res and there is no issues what so ever. it runs great.
I hope I explained it as good as i could . i wish i did a step by step but i didn't. but i feel like the pictures say 1000 words and if anyone needs help or needs a better or different picture not posted i will get it for you .
Also i Added a similar connection for my dehumidifier to drain outside the tent. I was trying to make it so the more i can do outside the tent the better.
PLEASE let me know what you guys think !! Originally I made one with 1.5" uniseals and i hated it, leaked and looked messy. i was worried that the hose size was gonna be to small and it has no issues for me. I drop a 5 gallon paint strainer in the buckets and the roots can just grow into that and nothing floats around or back into the res.
