RDWC questions

Brewer

Brewer

Well-Known Member
I'm off work for a while, so ive got some time.
also have some things just sitting in the basement, so I figured id take a run at RDWC.
my old mashtun from my beer making days has been down there for about 6 years, its a large coleman extreme cooler, it will keep ice cubes solid sitting out in the sun for a week or so, so I figured it would make a good res.
also got a stack of new black 5 gal buckets, and lids, (but I'm only looking at a 2 bucket system)
heres my questions, and hoping some of you with experience can answer.
My plan is to have 1/2" tubing, and connections from the res, to the pump, feeding the bottom of the buckets.
then have a 1" or similar PVC from the water line, gravity fed back to the res, I hope I described that right.
can anybody see a reason this theory will not work??

also, I cant for the life of me figure out what type of bulkhead to use on a 5 gal bucket?, everything seems to to be flat walled?

thanks for reading
 
I have a quick question? I have 2 3 gallon buckets fill with 8L of water ( just below net pot ) I have a 32L Rez. My question is how much nutrients do I add to it. Do I add the amount nutrients based off of the Rez or the Rez and what's in the pots
 
You have to factor in the total volume of water, since as a RDWC (assuming it is?) it'll disperse it throughout the entire system.

In your case you'd be adding nutes for 48 liters of water.
 
Yeah it's a recirculating system, being drained by gravity back into Rez. Why 48 Litres and not 40. I'll have 32in the Rez and 8 in each bucket. Isn't the general rule to have double what's your buckets 8x2=16x2=32 or am I way off? .


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The idea is to add nutrients based on the water in the system, since it's going to all get mixed together, so assuming you have a full 32L reservoir + 2 buckets with 8L each you'd have 48 liters of water flowing back and forth from the reservoir to the buckets and back again. It's all about ppm in the water, or how concentrated the mixture is.

That being said, your best bet is to start low and add nutes at about 1/4 strength and work your way up while watching your pH closely and your ppm as well, if possible. If your ppm shifts upwards over time (as in the number goes from say 500ppm to 900ppm) you're probably overfeeding and risk nutrient burn (depending on how often you top off your rez), if it's a downwards shift you can probably afford to feed them a bit more. You're much more likely to harm your plants by overfeeding rather than underfeeding.

There's no exact one size fits all answer to the question though since there are way too many factors, you just have to tailor the solution to your particular set of conditions (plant strain, room temp, water temp, plant age / cycle, lighting conditions, pH, etc)

I'm new to this too though, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. :p
 
Buwhahahajaha I'm stupid lol . thanks . and I can't do math apparently ugggh!!!


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I have a small tent 2.5 x 2.5 5 feet tall 2 bucket 3gal RDWC drip system with 750watt and 300 watt led with a 4inch fax drawing in cold fresh air from out side and 4 inch fan cooling the tube with a AC unit sucking the the other side of the tent.


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I'm having trouble figuring out how to get the buckets to fill up the same and empty the same, I got it set up and struggled with it, but I figured it out. Now changing my Rez water and adding more water I have the same problem again!!!! One bucket fills up more than the other!


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that's the exact reason I'm thinking of pumping in the bottom of the bucket, and drain off the top.
 
Sometimes it doesn't warrant the effort-keep it simple.
I use a simple gravity return by using simple blocks to support the buckets and allow me to have a gradual slope. I use hydrofarm rubber grommet in the side of my bucket for the drain-it's just a 1/2" barb fitting pushed through the grommet. Each drain is plumbed into a central 1" pvc-it just t's as it runs down hill for each bucket pair. I run a 18 g. rez on a 8 bucket system with a central pump using 4 manifolds to direct nutes to misters in the net lids. 15gal. seems to allow me to keep about a 5" level in the buckets and plenty in the rez for the air stones to saturate.
 
Consider using larger return/drain plumbing to add insurance against overflow... I am using a 2 inch return on my setups but this also depends on your flow rates... 1.5 inch is probably perfect for two buckets.

To combat pythium and other root dwelling nasties... Make sure you get one of these... (Hydroguard, UC Roots, SM90) depending on if your going salt source or organic source nutes, and I strongly recommend a Chiller/heater.

Lastly... There is no such things as too much air... I would use a gen hydro dual diaphragm air pump or better to supply your oxygen for a 2 site system.

*Edit* If you want the best seal possible for protection against leaks... Purchase Ez-Store 8 gallon buckets, Square shaped with flat sides... perfect size for home hydro. Use aquarium/reef supply PVC bulkhead fittings to make perfect connections. If you want to go cheap, stick with 5 gallon buckets and get rubber Uniseals in the size you need, they work but not 100% reliable.
 
I'm waiting for my hydroguard to get here I'm having problem with my roots...I'm using H2O2 for the time being


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Shorty1221 said:
Can I use sm90 with hydrogaurd and or subculture b
Click to expand...

Thats a tough question, the default answer is No. But there is conflicting data and opinions about using SM90 with beneficials...

Allegedly you can run them both but I would not simply because if you are going to develope an opinion on what works you need to try them out, 1 at a time, and for a long enough duration to be sure you're getting the desired effects.

Its hard to say what works if you change too many things at once.
 

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