MVortex's Perpetual Thread For A 4x4 Tent & RDWC

[multiVortex]

Well alrighty then.

New nutes are in the mixing barrel, and after the initial mashup with my drill paddle, are being circulated via a 400gph submersible pump.

I took the pump and put enough PVC on top of it (on the output) to get about 2/3 of the way up to the top of the water. Then I added a tee and an elbow on each side to give it a swirl and mix it up.

Of course 400gph isn't going to rock the boat, but it will stir it up nicely I think.

So that is mixing, and the pump cord is just thin enough to still fit the sealing part of the lid to the top, so that's good. I promptly turned out the light, and got out. That was just before the top of the past hour (30ish min ago), and I will let that mix around for another hour.

In an hour I'm going to check on the mix and see if the little MC nuggets have dissolved. If all is well, I will then add in the Z7 and hydroguard, and drill paddle that in, then run the pump another 30 minutes.

I will then give the pH a whack and see how that goes, and while it mixes I'll start the drain of the system. Or maybe I'll drain it while the Z7 and hydroguard mix in since it takes maybe 20 minutes to get it drained, and then another 15 minutes to get the rest from the buckets sucked out with the shop vac (emptying twice.)

Either way, barring some catastrophe, we'll be putting plants into the water in a few hours.

 

[multiVortex]

Z7 and hydroguard are mixed in. Draining system now, in the shop vac stage.

Will pH in a bit, then start the fill.

 

[multiVortex]

The little swirl I kicked onto the output...

And now... this.

The million dollar question:

A: WTF is this garble?
B: Why?


Now back to our regularly scheduled



System drained, a new piece of couture, and about to be filled after this commercial break.

 

[multiVortex]

My oh my....

Took a whopping 30ml (aka 3/4 of an oz, 3/4 of one of my little 1oz plastic shot glasses, etc) to get it from a 6.6 after all nutes, and down to 5.7 where it's steady and been for a good bit.

"Combat Control" looks a little empty at the moment.

"Hello girls!" - Virgil Earp



Top Left: Blue Dream
Top Right: Durban Poison
Bottom Right: Strawberry Lemonade
Bottom Left: Grandaddy Purple (as soon as she's a tick taller to fit in her big girl shoes. lol)


If for some reason GDP doesn't go, I will put in the other Strawberry Lemonade. At least I think so, but maybe the other Blue Dream. I dunno 100% yet, but trying to think ahead. I do have a Blue Dream in the Lab tent, hence the nod to Strawberry Lemonade.

I do like Blue Dream though. LOL


Ready or not, off we finally fucking gooooooo!

 

[multiVortex]

RO water before nutes was 16ppm, and 7.3pH for notes.

After 2g/gal of Mega Crop, 50ml of calmag, 50 ml of part 1&2 of Z7, and 100ml of Hydroguard.

Did NOT add the Protekt this go around. I wanted to see how the pH reacted without it. Next round it will be back into the mix.

With the plants being small, this first res should last a few days longer before the change out. At least I hope. Planning to do the first change a week from this Saturday. Gives the girls a few days to get their feet wet, and then about a week of drinking this mix.

 

[multiVortex]

Took a whopping 30ml to get it from a 6.6 after all nutes, and down to 5.7 where it's steady and been for a good bit.

Just for reference, 30ml works out to 0.6ml/gallon. Compare that to the ~5.25ml/gal with the tap water.


@Stltoed, I paid close attention with this round of pH down, and it was not clouding up. I grabbed about 100ml of the mix, and added 20ml of pH down to that. Then mixed it in, and repeated but only added 10ml the second time. No cloud in the cup, or when mixing it into the main solution.

 

[Jack420]

Dam fam looking awesome here once roots hyt water they will blow up

 

[multiVortex]

The million dollar question:

A: WTF is this garble?
B: Why?


Now back to our regularly scheduled

And if it wasn't blatantly obvious, I (may have) found the source of light.

You may notice the uniseal being used to hold the pipe going into the bucket. When I had the water out yesterday, I decided I'd ramp up the light and stick my face in the hole for the net pot and put a towel over my head.

Now I'll admit that had someone seen this, I'd have been laughed at for a good while. However, this worked like a charm. I found that 2 of the 4 uniseals were not completely seated and were leaking some light. Not a lot, but then it doesn't take much light, does it? The two that leaked the most were the two buckets that were a little more frothy when cleaning up, so maybe this was the underlying cause.

Now didn't I say I didn't have the light on? Well, yeah, the light for the system most of the time wasn't on. If I was working in the tent, I'd turn it on at like 15%. However I did have the tent open a lot while working in and around it, and it did sit open quite a lot. Just the lights in the room being on, well, that may have caused it. I say "may" simply because it's not definitive, but I'd venture to guess with how much the tent was open and I have been down there working... well, there ya go.


So obviously, "if you can't duck it, fuck it" was the rule of the day yesterday. Checked after taping up, and them buckets are dark AF.


I will say that one nice feature of the Current Culture net pots is that the top couple inches are solid and have no holes. Definitely a positive feature to help guard against light leaking in through the pot. You may have noticed in the pics that I still used covers. I figured better safe than sorry.

 

[Jamers]

And if it wasn't blatantly obvious, I (may have) found the source of light.

You may notice the uniseal being used to hold the pipe going into the bucket. When I had the water out yesterday, I decided I'd ramp up the light and stick my face in the hole for the net pot and put a towel over my head.

Now I'll admit that had someone seen this, I'd have been laughed at for a good while. However, this worked like a charm. I found that 2 of the 4 uniseals were not completely seated and were leaking some light. Not a lot, but then it doesn't take much light, does it? The two that leaked the most were the two buckets that were a little more frothy when cleaning up, so maybe this was the underlying cause.

Now didn't I say I didn't have the light on? Well, yeah, the light for the system most of the time wasn't on. If I was working in the tent, I'd turn it on at like 15%. However I did have the tent open a lot while working in and around it, and it did sit open quite a lot. Just the lights in the room being on, well, that may have caused it. I say "may" simply because it's not definitive, but I'd venture to guess with how much the tent was open and I have been down there working... well, there ya go.


So obviously, "if you can't duck it, fuck it" was the rule of the day yesterday. Checked after taping up, and them buckets are dark AF.


I will say that one nice feature of the Current Culture net pots is that the top couple inches are solid and have no holes. Definitely a positive feature to help guard against light leaking in through the pot. You may have noticed in the pics that I still used covers. I figured better safe than sorry.

Man those CC lids are super nice looking. Do they leak light where the air hose goes in ?

 

[multiVortex]

Man those CC lids are super nice looking. Do they leak light where the air hose goes in ?

I do love these lids. They are heavy duty, and way better than the normal black lids for the EZ Stor buckets. Much easier to work with, too. Well worth the money for them, and they'll last a lot longer than the black ones too.

They do need taped up though. The holes you mention are great for convenience, but are exactly that: a hole.

You can see in the pic that I taped up the holes. The channel around the rest of the access port is ok though. But yeah, you gotta cover/plug/tape/seal/whatever those ports.

When I bought the lids, I thought surely they were channeled so light wouldn't leak. Wrong. They're straight down. It's not a huge issue, and while it would be better with a different design, the lids are still well worth it. They are maybe $6-$7 more than the normal black lid for the EZ Stor, but they're are going to last a lot longer for sure. I think I paid $23/lid, plus shipping.

Thinking about it, I'm not sure they could really make the ports without still needing tape. Even if they channeled it, I bet light would still get in a little bit. So maybe this way it's easier to run your cables/tubes/whatever and then tape over it. Making some kind of S pattern would take up space, and probably not worth it in the long run. I can't imagine a company with their experience would overlook something like that, so I'm going to assume (for now, I plan to email them to ask about it) that it was intentional.

Nothing a little strip of white gorilla tape can fix though.

 

[multiVortex]

While I'm discussing the Current Culture stuff, I'd like to again hit their net pots.

See how the top portion is solid and has no holes? Definitely helps with the light leaks.

I'm also a fan of their bump in the middle of the bottom. Gives you something to sit your rooter/rockwool on, other than straight media. It also is a quick access down to the water from the bottom of the rooter.

 

[Jamers]

While I'm discussing the Current Culture stuff, I'd like to again hit their net pots.

See how the top portion is solid and has no holes? Definitely helps with the light leaks.

I'm also a fan of their bump in the middle of the bottom. Gives you something to sit your rooter/rockwool on, other than straight media. It also is a quick access down to the water from the bottom of the rooter.

Very nice net pots, I am not sure on the brand I use but they also have the solid part at the top which I love, missing the pedestal in the middle .
I think you are right about the holes in the lids, much easier to just slap some tape on there then to mess around with making it light proof. Now I need to figure out where to order these in Canada.

 

[multiVortex]

Now I need to figure out where to order these in Canada.

That's a good question, and I'm not sure. Most places just list full systems. Maybe try amazon?

Guess you could email them and ask if you can't find a retailer. Although if you have a shop nearby that sells any CC products, they may be able to order them for you?

 

[Northern Hydro]

Z7 and hydroguard are mixed in. Draining system now, in the shop vac stage.

Will pH in a bit, then start the fill.

One or the other .. not both ?

 

[multiVortex]

After digging deep into it, Z7 and Hydroguard are compatible, and I'm using both.

And you can bet I've set up reminders on my calendar to alert me every 3 days to add more Z7.

Well, more like every 3.5 days.

Aside from this initial break-in period, once it's really rolling I will be doing res changes on Saturday afternoons. Every Wednesday morning, I will add more Z7. The directions say to add it every 3-4 days, so I'll hit it right in the middle of that recommendation.

First res change will be a week from this coming Saturday. I figure the roots won't hit the water until this weekend anyway, and being baby plants, no real need to change out the res this weekend when they are just getting to the water anyway. But between now and that first change, you can bet I'll be adding Z7 every 3 days like clockwork.

Hopefully between finding the tiny light leak around the supply pipe structure and fixing, nuking the system with bleach and scrubbing after the last load gunked, plus adding in Hydroguard will get it all on track and keep it there.

 

[Stltoed]

Just for reference, 30ml works out to 0.6ml/gallon. Compare that to the ~5.25ml/gal with the tap water.


@Stltoed, I paid close attention with this round of pH down, and it was not clouding up. I grabbed about 100ml of the mix, and added 20ml of pH down to that. Then mixed it in, and repeated but only added 10ml the second time. No cloud in the cup, or when mixing it into the main solution.

No clouds is nice.

 

[multiVortex]

No clouds is nice.

I was quite happy with that.

 

[multiVortex]

Added a little pH down this morning. Took two gentle hits of it, but better safe than sorry. The pH had creeped up to 6.4 this morning, and 6ml of pH down has it back to the 5.7 spot.

Added a third oscillating fan. One of the vivosun corner ones. Got 2 for $50, so putting one in each tent. Combined with the other two already there the circulation is doing really well.

 

[multiVortex]

Today is...

Z7 day, and it's done!


You're damn right this won't be forgotten/skipped intentionally again.


I ain't gonna lie. I'm nervous as hell to lift up a bucket lid to check if the roots have hit the water. I'm guessing not yet, as it's only been 2.5 days since placing the babies into the system. Doesn't make me any less curious though. Not just from that, but seeing if anything is creeping back, and that the Hydroguard and Z7 are doing their job. That's the real curiosity for me.

Which of course now I'm completely gunshy of looking at the res at all. Even a quick open/close to add the Z7 this morning had me quakin in my boots. Well, flip-flops, but whatever.

Will be off to the garden in a few to give a look in on the GDP baby. Hopefully she's coming along, but I'm still a bit uneasy about her. Still keeping the 2nd's of Blue Dream and Strawberry Lemonade around, just to be sure I have a 4th plant available if something happens to the GDP.

On the lighter side of sports, the new seedling setup will be here Monday. It took a couple days longer to ship, and although the shipping speed should have had it here today, it drop shipped from Current Culture and they sent it out standard ground.

The hydro shop (BG Hydro) was nice enough to refund the shipping for the trouble though, so that was nice. Sure would have been nice to have it today though. Could have had it hooked up and a couple babies in it tonight or tomorrow. Not that I really have a place to put it right now, but whatev. I can make one if it needed to happen quickly. Wouldn't be all reflective and special, but it would be a start. Seedlings don't really need it anyway. Just enough light to keep em strong and growing is fine.


Got a new deal for the RO unit as well, which will be here later today. It's a faucet diverter with a specific RO hookup for it, but also a normal aerator. This is good, and will be better than the garden hose adapter I'm using now. Only thing I'll need the hose for is to run from the RO barrel into the system, so that's that.


The little 50gph pump to swirl around the reservoir is here, but I haven't hooked it up yet. I may do it today, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about the res being open for the minute or two to get it added in, turned on, and checked.

Yes, I know it's a bit of over worrying about the situation, and that something like that now and then isn't going to cause it to goop up again. Still scarred after the recent battle though, and the wounds are still fresh.


Well, got a call and then after that a peek in on the garden.

 

[Stltoed]

Today is...

Z7 day, and it's done!


You're damn right this won't be forgotten/skipped intentionally again.


I ain't gonna lie. I'm nervous as hell to lift up a bucket lid to check if the roots have hit the water. I'm guessing not yet, as it's only been 2.5 days since placing the babies into the system. Doesn't make me any less curious though. Not just from that, but seeing if anything is creeping back, and that the Hydroguard and Z7 are doing their job. That's the real curiosity for me.

Which of course now I'm completely gunshy of looking at the res at all. Even a quick open/close to add the Z7 this morning had me quakin in my boots. Well, flip-flops, but whatever.

Will be off to the garden in a few to give a look in on the GDP baby. Hopefully she's coming along, but I'm still a bit uneasy about her. Still keeping the 2nd's of Blue Dream and Strawberry Lemonade around, just to be sure I have a 4th plant available if something happens to the GDP.

On the lighter side of sports, the new seedling setup will be here Monday. It took a couple days longer to ship, and although the shipping speed should have had it here today, it drop shipped from Current Culture and they sent it out standard ground.

The hydro shop (BG Hydro) was nice enough to refund the shipping for the trouble though, so that was nice. Sure would have been nice to have it today though. Could have had it hooked up and a couple babies in it tonight or tomorrow. Not that I really have a place to put it right now, but whatev. I can make one if it needed to happen quickly. Wouldn't be all reflective and special, but it would be a start. Seedlings don't really need it anyway. Just enough light to keep em strong and growing is fine.


Got a new deal for the RO unit as well, which will be here later today. It's a faucet diverter with a specific RO hookup for it, but also a normal aerator. This is good, and will be better than the garden hose adapter I'm using now. Only thing I'll need the hose for is to run from the RO barrel into the system, so that's that.


The little 50gph pump to swirl around the reservoir is here, but I haven't hooked it up yet. I may do it today, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about the res being open for the minute or two to get it added in, turned on, and checked.

Yes, I know it's a bit of over worrying about the situation, and that something like that now and then isn't going to cause it to goop up again. Still scarred after the recent battle though, and the wounds are still fresh.


Well, got a call and then after that a peek in on the garden.

When I ran Z7 in my rig I had an air pump in my res. I found that the Z7 left a very heavy mineral deposits on the walls of the res. It also started to fowl my float valve. Granted I was using an Ecoplus 3 pump which was a lot more than I needed. I think it was @TurboBucket that had a similar issue. Just a FYI.

Your system is killer. Looking forward to seeing the finish