Thanks for all your help! I will drop the PH - wanted to see what you thought. I thought I had read that the PH should up to around 6 but I guess that is later? Or I may be reading bad info. Good to know - I will mix them up. And wow 2 Gallons? That is crazy. I am hoping to find some time to work on reservoirs soon - bigger. Work is hectic even though I work sitting right next to these...
Appreciate the help!
Yea it most hydro growers different on their ph. I like to run 5.5, but watch it naturally climb to 6.0. Then I drop it down to 5.5 again. In my large 30 gallon 1 plant system, it takes about 5 days. Since your running 1/6th of mine, you will be ajusting it 6x sooner.
y thoughts on the cause? Just light breaking through?
Ill try to explain, and im sure im not 100% correct, but I have a theory.
3 things you have going on in your pot. Your
hydroguard bacteria. Algae (some benefitial, some not so), and pythium, root rot fungus.
Your goal is to have your benefitial bacteria (
hydroguard-BBS), eat the pythium that is in your res. This bacteria keeps your root zone clean and able to uptake nutrients. The algae is a side product of the light entering your res. Anywhere light enters water with nutrients a slime forms, like shorlines where theres mud. So this algae is only a threat when it covers your roots. It stops the bacteria from working properly, or as google puts it "
The overgrowth of algae consumes oxygen and blocks sunlight from underwater plants. When the algae eventually dies, the oxygen in the water is consumed. The lack of oxygen makes it impossible for aquatic life to survive"
You are running a live hydroponic system that uses bbs, not corrosives like pools. Your water more resembles a river than it does a pool. Both are clean but one doesnt have peroxide, bleach or clorine. Those are called sterile systems. If you add peroxide to your water to kill all microbes, you will eventually grow more and have to kill those too. The benefit of using bacteria is that corrosives do not touch your root zones. They act as more of a probiotic than anything for your plants.
Anways, most people run sterile systems, and would like to prolly argue what I said above, stating that their method is actually healthier but id debate that.