RDWC water circulation question

[Mongoliasgrass]

Hi guys! I’m planning on setting up a RDWC system recently and was just confused about water circulation.
Here is the inf of my equipments:
9 plants in 9 5gallons buckets in a 2.4*2.4*2m tent
a main reservoir
7000-10000L/H (1850-2640gal/h) water pump
2” intake pipe & 3/4” return pipe

I know that the pump should be enough for the whole setup but is there an optimum water flow rate where the quality & yield would be optimized in the end? I’ve been searching for related inf for a quite a while but it seems like nobody is talking about water flow rate but how many cycles in an hour. Does it also involve the pressure inside each bucket? Am I thinking this wrong? I appreciate your help in advance!!!

 

[Dusted]

I run a 5 pot system. Even though the pump can put out large volumes of water the quantity at the adjustable emitters is quite low. You don’t need to flood the rocks, just keep a steady stream

 

[TurboBucket]

Two schools of thought, slow and steady; and fast and furious.

Some folks like nice slow circulation, several cycles per day.

Some folks like several cycles per hour.

I'm not sure what your concern is with flow rate, it's the same thing worded differently. 100 gallon system with two cycles per hour would be 200 gallons/hour. 8 cycles per hour would be 800 gallons/hour.

Bigger pumps = more heat in the water

 

[Mongoliasgrass]

Two schools of thought, slow and steady; and fast and furious.

Some folks like nice slow circulation, several cycles per day.

Some folks like several cycles per hour.

I'm not sure what your concern is with flow rate, it's the same thing worded differently. 100 gallon system with two cycles per hour would be 200 gallons/hour. 8 cycles per hour would be 800 gallons/hour.

Bigger pumps = more heat in the water

Thank you for the reply! So technically my pump is able to cycle certain # of times per hour but should I also factor in the pressure inside each bucket and the size of intake and return pipe? Do they affect the water flow rate at all?

 

[TurboBucket]

The buckets and return line are basically gravity fed. They don't really effect your pump head in this case. A 3"return is good for ≈8400 gph.

For that much water you may want a 1" supply line with 3 x 3/4" branches to feed 3 plants ea. This will reduce the head pressure on the pump and increase operating efficiency over only 3/4".

Your pump should include documentation that shows how it reacts to head pressure, as the head pressure increases pump flow decreases, the higher you lift the water the less water it will pump. Measure the vertical distance from the top of your pump outlet to the highest portion of the supply line and that's your lift, compare that to the chart supplied by the manufacturer and it will show you how much water your pump can move at that height.

 

[Stltoed]

That's a lot of volume. I dont believe theres a perfect flow rate for a DWC. Mine is around 550GPH. No pump will pressurize your buckets at they arent air tight.

I will say that I'm a huge fan of a lot of air. I have 2 17 gallon buckets in a 50 gallon system. I use an Airforce 80 linear pump which could probably drive 6 to 8 buckets. Sorry if this is a bit off track

Turbo is a good man. He'll sort you out

 

[GrayMatr]

First time posting here I think! Wondering something similar and figured I'd join in


55 gal res
4x 13 gal buckets
3/4" ID hoses <10psi
MONDI 1585 GPH pump

As I've been looking at it, it seems to me that I'm looking at 80 gallons per minute (20 per bucket) in what might end up being a 70-80 gallon system. Is this too much? At this point it would be an expense/endeavor just to slow the flow down.

Edit: haha awe didn't realize I was necrotizing an old post