Nutrient floating in a ten gallon fish tank no fish?

Stickyvicky

New Member
eep water culture?
Well hello forum . I need to ask some questions pick some brains if you will .what i would like to do is take part of a closet and grow . What i would like to do is grow in a ten gallon fish tank with floating Styrofoam .. Does this work for cannabis ? Will this just be prone to root rot? Ive seen the five gallon bucket grows not really what i want to do .I dont want to have to rip things apart to add nutrient . This is my first grow inside and with hydro .I only plan to put one maybe two plants in at a time .how about lighting i would prefer leds is this feasible? How do you add co2 to such a small grow ? Im trying to keep a very small budget .....i just have a passion for growing plants in general and especially cannabis m
 
Hello Sticky just keep in mind with your first grow you want a easy setup to get the A-B-C of growing down but man your fish tank setup sounds cool :love: Don't worry about Co2 right now you need a 100% close system for Co2 or it will leak out figure out what light and what fertilizer you want to use this is a big factor. The floating styrofoam is super tricky just do a nice DWC setup with a nice fish bubbler and your rocking try CFL lights you need 8+ for one to two plants and keep them super close :thedoubletake: and you need to pick a plant that will grow in the space i would pick a Auto growing plant to make it super easy,

:blunt:
 
Yea, honestly it would be easier just to do a dwc in my opinion. Water temps have to be kept under 68 degree f, or you run the risk of getting root rot. A glass fish tank is no insulation, so the water would quickly absorb the heat. Go to target or wherever and buy your self around a 13 gallon beach cooler and cut holes on the lid to fit net pots. The cooler is very well insulated, so the water will stay alot colder longer. I use a beach cooler and my water temps stay at about 65-66. Once a day I put two frozen water bottles in my cooler for an hour and that's all I do to keep my water temps down. I have two plants in one cooler. As far as lights are concerned, go on ebay and buy your self 1 or 2 Mars hydro 300 led for about 65$ each. They are really about 150 true watts. I would run at least 250 true watts of lights, you want around 50 watts per square foot of grow space( the more the better). If you want to figure out how much more your light bill will be multiply the number of watt x the amount of hours the light will be one for. Then you multiply by the number of days in the month and divide every thing by 1000. Finally you multiply by how much you light company charges you per kilowatt he. For me it is about 12 cents. So if you ran 150 watts for 18 hours a day the formula would be as follows. 150watt x18 hours = 2700 x 30 days = 81000 / 1000 = 81 x 0.12 dollars = 9.72$. Also remember you got to also account for the wattage of any fans or air pump that you will also need for you grow. Hope this helped a little.
 
So one important thing is you have to seal the res you want to grow in from any light leaks. A fish tank is glass so you will have to paint it or wrap it in something real tight. Any light leaks in there will allow algae to grow and then you are done.

I would say the effort to convert a fish tank properly is way more than cutting some holes in a Rubbermaid tub.


I am not sure what you mean by ripping apart. Many people add drains with a ball valve to the bottom and fill holes at the top. In a big res I just use my shop vac to empty it.

DWC is an experience though. It aint easy to do without a little sweat involved.


:goodluck:
 
Man i just wrote for 20 minutes to reply and poof it was gone when i pressed post... any way ... ohh alright the fish tank idea is scrapped for now no reason to reinvent the wheel .8 cfl bulbs holy moly . These are just your standard twisty bulbs? I do like the idea of led panels .i was on mars website before i made this thread i diddnt see any in the $65 range just $250 and up guess the sticker shock sacred me away before i really had the chance to look around lol.. no co2 whatsoever? What will my little babies breathe ? My plan is too take part of a closet about 30"x30"x5' tall roughly cover it in some sort of reflective material sealed off from the harshness of the outside world . About seeds i live in central N.Y. where the nanny state is unfortunately in full effect so i dont know if shipping is a option. A plant with a name like auto sounds easy to grow lol .... my first attempt at this reply was so much wittyer ... thank you for all the help ....Sticky
 
Man i just wrote for 20 minutes to reply and poof it was gone when i pressed post... any way ... ohh alright the fish tank idea is scrapped for now no reason to reinvent the wheel .8 cfl bulbs holy moly . These are just your standard twisty bulbs? I do like the idea of led panels .i was on mars website before i made this thread i diddnt see any in the $65 range just $250 and up guess the sticker shock sacred me away before i really had the chance to look around lol.. no co2 whatsoever? What will my little babies breathe ? My plan is too take part of a closet about 30"x30"x5' tall roughly cover it in some sort of reflective material sealed off from the harshness of the outside world . About seeds i live in central N.Y. where the nanny state is unfortunately in full effect so i dont know if shipping is a option. A plant with a name like auto sounds easy to grow lol .... my first attempt at this reply was so much wittyer ... thank you for all the help ....Sticky

Hey Sticky don't get me wrong LED to grow is sweet even HPS but to get things going try CFL for now save some money then get something nice :rollit: Cfl are good for small space and give off little to no heat reflective material is good you can find that stuff anywhere first aid kit hardware store (don't use tinfoil) Auto seeds are easy you just leave the light 18/6 and they veg and flower under the same photosynthesis have a look at the seeds from the 420 mag sponsors some good deals from Haze io and i like Nirvana seed lots to pick and come with 10 free back up seed trust me they come in handy lol check out some small journal on the forms at 420 Mag to get a ideal of some good pros over there with small grows making it look killer. Don't worry about air the plants breath like you and me don't worry you'll figure out something keep us posted
 
The $65 Mars are original not new ones that are going for sale on Ebay. They are not nearly as good as the latest and greatest tech but they work well and are a fantastic start.

Most of the air in your house is CO2. They don't need extra. For extra CO2 to actually be beneficial you have to d a bunch of complicated things and it is only cost effective in the 10 or larger plant range. At less then 10 plants it is much better to just add another plant to your grow unless you have maxed it out. In that case you are just wasting money on CO2 trying to enhance 4 of them. If done correctly you will spend a lot more on the process then you get back from those 4 plants. Running CO2 enhancement is no joke and is not a beginner thing and you have way too much to learn before going down that path. It is easy to stunt the growth. At night the plant need O2 as it is not doing photosynthesis. It is doing a different process without light. So you have to evacuate all the excess CO2 at night unless you are doing it wrong. The concentration of CO2 to be effective is so high that if you have it work during the day then you have to evacuate it at night. For it to be effective the temps and humidity have to be seriously raised. There is a lot more to it but you don't want to start there. You need a sealed off space that can be environmentally controlled without fresh air meaning an AC unit in the space and bla bla...it aint easy.


Autos are very advanced. They are much more difficult to grow as the needs are stricter. They will flip uncontrollably into bloom at which point you need to be johnny on the spot with the nutrient concentration change. Anything you mess up is irreversible and will negatively impact final yield. They are strictly meant for people who understand the life cycle and plant physiology. Not recommended during your first 2 years of growing.


The seed banks from Europe ship discreetly and are fine.
 
wow Villageidiot thanks for the Co2 read i know a little about Co2 but you made it clear now :thumb: as for Auto my bad i always though they where super easy to grow but guess your right auto may be hard to time in a small grow :hmmmm:I'm trying to think whats a good seed to grow in 30x30x5 :nomo:
 
Yeah I try not to over think it but I have a bit of knowledge. Like I can grow anything in that space so I would look for traits I want or a strain I want.

Most people will say in a small space like that go Indica. but I say whatever you want can be grown you just need to know how to train and when to bloom.

I would not grow more than 2 plants in there and probably a single one that is SCROGed would do better. in that case maybe you want to do a Feminized seed.

I stick to standard seeds. I have old school patience and hunt for good plants and clone them once I find them.

I recommend for that some sort of Kush. If you can get Blueberry Kush or OG kush you will be very happy. I also luvs me some White Widow and some Sour Diesel.

F1 crosses grow faster and more vigorous. So if you find a good one of those that is nice but never breed and F1.



:goodluck:
 
Well i guess cfls it is any particular style, wattage ect you could suggest? Make a mount out of 1x6 that holds 4 each ? Wow i guess i never realized how much co2 air contained. Im having some trouble finding a seller that ships to ny and will accept my master debt card.. thanks . ..Sticky
 
Yeah sometimes it can be tricky to order online keep an eye out maybe for some golden bag seeds kicking around better than nothing I seen good grows with Mistry seeds. With CFL get 23W or bigger I use 8 45w day light you can find them anywhere Walmart target hardware store you can get the Y adapter from there so you can put two lights into one and build a combo with CFL lights. Did you figure out what kind of set up you're going to do and sometimes the easiest approach is the best when I did Hydro I just cut some holes in a Rubbermaid bin and got basket pods from HomeDepo I threw some of those clay pallets in there with a simple fish bubbler to aerate the water. But honestly I would do soil for your first grow it's a little more forgiving if you mess up you can easily just flush the system with Hydro you have to be spot on with everything and if you're not everything die really quick take that into mine
 
VilliageIdiot is right, DWC is an experience and does involve some sweat and a bit of cursing but i love it. When you get it dialed in the growth is explosive. That said, I'm glad i got some soil grows in before i tried and the years of "regular" gardening/understanding plants has proven invaluable.
I got 2 of the $64 old style mars 300s off the bay and they are great but i had some great results with cfls as well. Shove as many as you can in your space but be ready to deal with a bit of heat because while they run cooler than HIDs they still get plenty warm with a bunch in a small space. They make for amazingly tight node spacing tho, if done correctly and using the correct spectrums.
As far as seed banks, I've had success with one of our sponsors, Gorilla Seeds. Send cash and within about 12 to 14 days bobs your uncle. Their genetics seem solid and their stealth is really pretty good. Their white widow is proving very easy and very forgiving. My .02
 
Lol perhaps i sould rephrase part of my opening post. This isnt my first grow i just have never gone to completion inside with cannabis . I was part of a hydro grow (ebb and flow ) about ten years ago while in a two year program for cultivation of green house plants veggies potted perennials and such. Although during that project i was mainly a grunt carrying mixing nutrient ect . Also ive grown out doors with ok results with mersh bag seeds even grew a squishy white seed into a respectable plant one time just to prove a point. I stepped away for awhile due to safety issues . Now ive decided to come back i figured hydro was the way to go from what i saw in the green house thats the kind of results i would like . Faster bigger and more fun . Am i wrong ? Can the same results be achieved with soil in the same amount of time ? Pretty stoked to be growing a legit seed ...im sure that will make a difference......jeesh sorry about the long winded of topic post
 
Back to topic ..hmm splitters brilliant im sure i can create a fine light bar or whatever you would like to call it . I would prefer leds but i dont think there in the budget as of yet . Being a contractor by trade i can make whatever custom setup i would like. Yea i think im going to do the rubbermaid tote or the coleman cooler . Hydro supplies at home depot damn i diddnt even think to check there and here i am trying to find a good hydro shop in albany ..
 
Ive seen people do pretty impressive stuff with soil grows but from what im experiencing hydro blows my dirt grows out of the water. And you are 100% correct as far as im comcerned, nothing is more fun than hydro! We did some for a class waaaay back when i was in high school and ive always wanted to get back to it and im glad i finally did. I like the control and the satisfaction of getting things running smoothly and it just feels more mad sciency! Lol
I used a big igloo 16 gallon cooler for a while then switched to 5 gallon buckets for space reasons but i just saw at HD the other day the big cylindrical igloo coolers like used on work sites that i am drooling over. Think they were like $27 a piece. Thats on my next budget tho.
 
What concerns me is that there was this stuff "back in the day " everyone called dro it looked kinda pretty.It all smelled the same no matter where you got it from . The buds where so dense you could stand on them and after two sessions it diddnt really change your head anymore. I dont want to grow that thats for sure
 
I submit most people do soil wrong. Most people put plants in soil from a bag and don't mix it. No bag of soil is optimal for cannabis.

I do both. Back in the day when I grew a lot, my soil plants out grew my hydro friends every time. Even if you don't know how to run them fast getting healthier denser plants in fractionally more time is way better.

That said I think once you know what you are doing hydro is easier. I think up front soil is easier but after you have a handle on things you can dial in hydro way easier. So having an easy grow makes a big difference when going big. And if you are not going big then none of this matters.

It takes a decent chunk of labor to do soil right. Doing it the "best" way takes months of prep before you start. But then during the grow you just add water and don't add nutes or even have to pH it. So if you aren't doing a proper soil that needs no nutes then you can't really compare the results. If your soil is straight out of a bag... talk to the hand.

Anyway if I were going big again (more than a personal grow) I would definitively do hydro exclusively. But for now I will do both depending on multiple factors, including time of year, to decide what to do. If one were just substantially better I would do it exclusively. I am old though and getting lazy so maybe that is part of the equation too.

I prefer soil for seeds. I prefer to only use clones in Hydro as I gang sites or do large multi plant totes.

And that is the real issue. They both have their place. It really depends on your goal.

:peace:
 
DRO is a slang for Hydro. It doesn't mean anything about quality. People can do great stuff with Hydro. It has to do with genetics, the maturation and curing process as to whether it is the bomb or swank.
 
Back to topic ..hmm splitters brilliant im sure i can create a fine light bar or whatever you would like to call it . I would prefer leds but i dont think there in the budget as of yet . Being a contractor by trade i can make whatever custom setup i would like. Yea i think im going to do the rubbermaid tote or the coleman cooler . Hydro supplies at home depot damn i diddnt even think to check there and here i am trying to find a good hydro shop in albany ..

Ya homedepo is a growers one stop shop to make a crazy grow they have everything ........ keep us posted sticky
 
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