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Head first into Hydroponics. A beginner's story.

  • Thread starter Thread starter GrumpAzz
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Head first into Hydroponics. A beginner's story.

GrumpAzz 178 Replies 25,656 Views
Page 2 of 9 · Replies 21–40 of 179
#21
Cool_Beans said:
Ok I see. Out of curiosity, what is the purpose of the top-off plumbed into the pump vs gravity feed into the res?

I ask because if it's a a convenience thing and not vital to normal operation you could try unhooking the inlet hose and submerging the pump instead w the outlet hose left the way it is. Hook the inlet hose back up as needed.
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It's also gravity fed. It's strictly there for convenience. The thought behind the idea was to fill my lower and plant resevoirs a little faster than relying on the float valve for 30 gallons. I have valves on everything so I decide where it gets it's water and where it sends it.
 
#22
You have a nice set up going there. Going to follow. I always keep my pumps outside the reservoirs and even with lower reservoir to prevent any siphoning and also for water temps. If your room is getting to 80 in the summer you will need all the heat control you can get to keep your water temps inline. Go easy on the nutrients especially the additives. The GH, silica, and AG is a real good start. I would start with 50% on the GH. Those air pumps are just noisy as hell. I tried everything and the best I could do was setting it on a big soft towel. RDWC is loud and a lot of work but I have had my best grows doing it.
 
#24
breedwheel said:
You have a nice set up going there. Going to follow. I always keep my pumps outside the reservoirs and even with lower reservoir to prevent any siphoning and also for water temps. If your room is getting to 80 in the summer you will need all the heat control you can get to keep your water temps inline. Go easy on the nutrients especially the additives. The GH, silica, and AG is a real good start. I would start with 50% on the GH. Those air pumps are just noisy as hell. I tried everything and the best I could do was setting it on a big soft towel. RDWC is loud and a lot of work but I have had my best grows doing it.
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Welcome and thanks for the input. I'll mount the pump near the floor to see if that can remedy the situation.

Yeah, everything I've seen says to go easy on the nutrients so that's at the front of my mind. I'll folle their ratios but, like you said, at half strength or so.

It's been a lot of fun jist setting this up. I can't wait til I can open the tent to some green!
 
#26
The pump will not primeitself. It either needs to be below the water level or you could try to see if a check valve installed in the line would work.
GrumpAzz said:
My air pump is hella loud so it may just end up here. I tried everything but hanging it.View attachment 1330387
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All those pumps are very loud, and the bad news is they get louder..
This is the most powerful and silent pump going; https://kensfish.com/collections/al.../alita-al-6a-linear-air-pump-12-gang-manifold
They offer larger but IME you don't need more.
The pump if from this page; https://kensfish.com/collections/alita-air-pumps-1
Really great pumps.
Set up is looking good.
 
#27
steamroller said:
The pump will not primeitself. It either needs to be below the water level or you could try to see if a check valve installed in the line would work.

All those pumps are very loud, and the bad news is they get louder..
This is the most powerful and silent pump going; https://kensfish.com/collections/al.../alita-al-6a-linear-air-pump-12-gang-manifold
They offer larger but IME you don't need more.
The pump if from this page; https://kensfish.com/collections/alita-air-pumps-1
Really great pumps.
Set up is looking good.
Click to expand...
I run 2 of the https://kensfish.com/collections/alita-air-pumps-1/products/alita-al-40-linear-air-pump in my rooms, one is 10 yo the other is 3 yo with no problems

Edit: you'll want to keep the air pumps above the water level in your system. In the event of a power failure they have been known to siphon your system dry if below the water level
 
#28
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Last two packages showed up today. I believe I've got everything to get this show on the road. Just waiting for the weekend to get back at it. Having a 9 month old, I really don't have a lot of extra time after work.

I also had an Idea. I think I'm just going to plumb my drain into one of my bathroom drains since they're less than 10 feet away. Saves me a penetration and the threat of a frozen pipe in the winter. Does anyone see an issue with this as long as I put a p-trap in the run? Would sending all the nutrient rich water to the sewage plant be harmful in any way? I don't mind running an outside line but it'll save me some pipe and effort to just connect it to my sewer.
 
#29
steamroller said:
The pump will not primeitself. It either needs to be below the water level or you could try to see if a check valve installed in the line would work.

All those pumps are very loud, and the bad news is they get louder..
This is the most powerful and silent pump going; https://kensfish.com/collections/al.../alita-al-6a-linear-air-pump-12-gang-manifold
They offer larger but IME you don't need more.
The pump if from this page; https://kensfish.com/collections/alita-air-pumps-1
Really great pumps.
Set up is looking good.
Click to expand...
With how everything is plumbed, the check valves seem the easiest route. I can't source them locally so I have two on order.

Having a 9mo and a full time job doesn't leave a lot of time for tinkering. I hope to make some decent progress this weekend.
 
#30
Cool_Beans said:
Cool! I am on board this train. I just got a system running using the controller 69 with all that stuff. Works great so far. I put my spider farmer light on it w the adapter as well. For early veg I found it much easier to maintain temps and rh by having it cycle the exhaust vs auto or always on low speed. Good luck!
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So I'm seeing two different adapters to control a different light with ACs controller. Type A for 0-10v dimming and Tybe B for resistive dimming. The Type B is the one I want to control a spiderfarmer light (SE5000), correct? I'm under the impression it's just a potentiometer in the driver.
 
#32
GrumpAzz said:
So I'm seeing two different adapters to control a different light with ACs controller. Type A for 0-10v dimming and Tybe B for resistive dimming. The Type B is the one I want to control a spiderfarmer light (SE5000), correct? I'm under the impression it's just a potentiometer in the driver.
Click to expand...
Sorry just saw this, it depends which ballast it came with I believe. Spider Farmer branded ballast takes the type B but there is a compatibility chart that will verify.
 
#34
Cool_Beans said:
Sorry just saw this, it depends which ballast it came with I believe. Spider Farmer branded ballast takes the type B but there is a compatibility chart that will verify.
Click to expand...
Ok cool, man. I'll look for that chart, thanks.
 
#35
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Finally broke out the test strips and EC pen. How fucked am I?
 
#36
I haven't prepped the pH pen yet but the strips are showing a pretty high pH. EC pen shows 510 ppm. I know that's high, but is it something I should worry about or should I adjust accordingly? I'd rather not have to plumb in an RO system and I'm pretty confused on how to make the slow flow work for water changes without another resevoir of just RO. Any input would be appreciated.

I know I've seen others have success with high ppms so I thought I'd shoot this out there and see who has some advice.
 
#37
GrumpAzz said:
EC pen shows 510 ppm. I know that's high, but is it something I should worry about or should I adjust accordingly?
Click to expand...
Is that 510 ppm reading straight out of the tap?

I think my well water, even after going though the RO filter is sitting around 8.0 ph. I would say starting ppm is way more important than starting ph. Ideally you want as low ppm for your source water as you can get. Not sure how the science works behind it, but the starting TDS in the water somehow competes with the actual nutrients and causes the plant to not get enough of the nutrients it needs. I ended up having to get an RO filter, without it I would be dead in the water, pun intended 😆

Our water comes out of the well around 8-900 ppm. I tried growing with it and failed miserably when I first started growing.

As far as getting an RO set up, you want to keep that separate from your hydro system. I had a 55 gallon water storage barrel that I converted into a storage vessel for my grows. I have a submersible pump in the bottom of the barrel and just pump water out of there when I need it. You can plumb that thing to your res with a float shut off valve to automatically top off your res if you wanted to do that. You would need two of those valves, one in your res and one in your RO storage tank so it shuts off when full too.
 
#38
SweetLeafGrow said:
As far as getting an RO set up, you want to keep that separate from your hydro system. I had a 55 gallon water storage barrel that I converted into a storage vessel for my grows. I have a submersible pump in the bottom of the barrel and just pump water out of there when I need it. You can plumb that thing to your res with a float shut off valve to automatically top off your res if you wanted to do that. You would need two of those valves, one in your res and one in your RO storage tank so it shuts off when full too.
Click to expand...
I'm very pressed for space so I would have to add the RO resevoir in the crawlspace. I really don't like that idea, but I'll do what's necessary. That just sets me back a little further. Better to be as well prepared as possible, I suppose. I'm just not sure how I'd go about getting that large of a tank into the crawlspace. It's about 4-5 feet of vertical space but the opening is too small, for sure. Outside may be my only other option unless I could squeeze a barrel into my bathroom lol. I could use a shelf in there, I guess.

Realistically, I would only need to fill it the day prior to a res change, but that wouldn't allow for emergencies. If it sat, filled, would it need bubblers to keep it oxygenated?
 
#39
GrumpAzz said:
Realistically, I would only need to fill it the day prior to a res change, but that wouldn't allow for emergencies. If it sat, filled, would it need bubblers to keep it oxygenated?
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that those RO filters take some time, you also need a waste line because the way they work they generate some waste water. I would hook up to your supply line and install a float shut off valve that will stop production when your vessel is full. Then you will always have water when you need it.

Good question on the bubbler. I do not do that and do not have an answer for that question. Of the top of my head, I would say no. I have air stones and the fallponiocs also oxygenates water in the system.
 
#40
SweetLeafGrow said:
Keep in mind that those RO filters take some time, you also need a waste line because the way they work they generate some waste water. I would hook up to your supply line and install a float shut off valve that will stop production when your vessel is full. Then you will always have water when you need it.
Click to expand...
Yeah that was my concern initially, the time it would take to get the 35-45 gallons of water my system will hold. I think if I can make the space, I'll get a 50 gallon barrel and a seperate pump. My systems plumbing isn't something I want to mess with anymore. I just got it finished up today. Running a line to my bathroom isn't an issue. I just don't wanna mess with my complicated manifold I cobbled together. A seperate submersible and a hose would to the trick when the time comes.

On to the next hurdle, I guess. On a positive note, I "finished" my first RDWC project today and got the electrical roughed in. Looks like getting the RO set up will put me back a week or two but I'm creeping towards the end of setup and I'm getting antsy.
 
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