Hydro res losing color over night becoming acidic

[GR33NL3AF]

Hey guys, Im running an ebb n flow setup and have been doing so for a couple years. This round has me puzzled because everytime I fill up my res and feed not long after the color of the water is clear, not cranberry colored like normal, and PH drops from 5.9 to 4.8. I use the GH 3 part by the bottle, H202, filtered well water and I only feed when needed, not like your standard 5-6 times a day.

My plants are tiny, it's a SOG grow and ppms have been 600-800. Regardless, a day after feeding the res is clear but the ppms are usually the same. I dump the res cause I dont want to water them with some type of pathogen or disease.

Any ideas?

 

[SodaLicious]

Very strange, i've run a res before until it went clear from top-off, but never heard of GH Nute's going clear in the res overnight. This round I began using Silicate, and when I add it to the Micro mixed into the res, it turns all cloudy for about 10 minutes, then it seems to clear up.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Hmm, its really weird. I know that the well water contains a large abundance of silica. Maybe my filters need to be replaced.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Come guys, nothing?

 

[TrichromeFan]

Northone has it. Flush real good, new nutes at a reduced concentration, and go from there

-TF

 

[GR33NL3AF]

That doesn't seem right. Example: I filled my res on Saturday 500 ppm and fed my vegging clones once. I always wait for the flood to finish draining to take the measurements. This time the return ppm was 350 and their was a large amount of water gone, that tells me they drank and took heavy nutes. At this time the res' were still very dark purple. I left my spot without setting a timer because i let my cubes dry. The next day I returned and the res color was clear/ slightly cloudy, ppms were the same though. I have 2 rooms that run identical and this has never happend in the other room, same strain, same everything.

I understand your theory Northone but my plants show no signs of over nuting them and if they were on the verge of locking up wouldnt my return ppms be going up and my res would get darker, not clear.

Im starting to suspect my filter system, tall boys. If the filters were bad and pathogens were aloud in with the well water is it possible something in the water could break down the dye in the nutrient?

Thanks guy!

 

[ttystikk]

Okay, so if your plants are happy and things are growing well, what difference does it make what color the res. turns? How long have you left it alone like that and seen what happens next? I'm thinking if there's nothing wrong with the plants, then there's nothing wrong...

 

[BlueBlood]

Are there any solids in your reservoir after it turns clear? Its possible that something in your well water is precipitating your nutrients. Although I couldn't tell you what . There is certainly something wrong if your reservoir is becoming that acidic.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Plants are happy but when I see the clear/cloudy res I immediately clean the res out and refill. I have not watered when the res goes clear and only takes a day to do so. I am going to check the filters today.

 

[BlueBlood]

If you've been doing it the same way all this time without problems, then it must be something that's happening outside of the reservoir.

I'm betting you just have hard water, which would explain your use of a filter in the first place.

Unfortunately, that really doesn't explain why it would be happening in one room and not the other, and it also doesn't explain why your ppms don't change. Could you have some kind of mineral buildup in the rockwool? What all is different between the rooms?

 

[GR33NL3AF]

To be excact, the room without problems has 6" cubes and the plants are in flower. The problem room has 4" cubes and the plants are 10-12" in veg. Same strain, same nutes, same filters, tables, lights, temps...everything. My only assumption is the filters need replacing, ill know for sure today. The worst is running a drain to waste in an ebb n flow, such a waste of nutes. I need to figure this out quick.

 

[SodaLicious]

This is the first week I've used the silicate, first time in the res it was cloudy like i was saying, checked last night ppm's are good and it still has that brown colour. Been 3 4 days usinig this batch of nutes in the res. Things Seem to be fine after the cloudyness. Just for YOur Info

 

[FTWx561]

If you are running separate filters in each room try switching them between rooms and see if the problem follows to the other room. That will either show the filter as a problem or eliminate it from your troubleshooting.

Are you flushing the system at all? It is possible there is salt residue build up in the res and plumbing. Though that would typically raise your EC. If you haven't done it I would drain your Res and water once or twice with just plain water then try going back to nutes.

 

[FTWx561]

This is the first week I've used the silicate, first time in the res it was cloudy like i was saying, checked last night ppm's are good and it still has that brown colour. Been 3 4 days usinig this batch of nutes in the res. Things Seem to be fine after the cloudyness. Just for YOur Info

Cloudiness can be a symptom of nutrients falling out of the solution. Make sure if you use a Silica additive that you add it first and by itself. Let it dilute as much as possible in your tank before adding anything else.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

I will examine the plumbing today thanks, and for those that did miss it...The well water does contain a high amount of silica which leads to believe the filters are bad. Ill trouble shoot and post my findings. Thanks guys!

 

[ttystikk]

Well Water- you're up against a tough challenge there, brother. If it's that hard, you're gonna have flocculation problems (nutes dropping out of solution) as well as nutrient balance issues, since you don't want to add back what's already in the water. Some options here;

Option A; desalinate your water. You might try an RO filter for this, though my bet is you'll clog it up pretty quick, or distill it yourself. Do NOT use a 'water softener', as they just add more salts!

Option B; get your well water tested for mineral content, so you know what's in it and how much. Then, work backwards and reduce the equivalent nutrient by the amount in the well water. This is tricky and requires getting pretty knowlegable about nutrient salts. Once you get the hang of it, it will pay its own dividends, far beyond the current issue. BEWARE; well water's mineral concentrations will change throughout the year, so you will want to test your water several times in different seasons to get a handle on that.

Option C; buy distilled water.

 

[SodaLicious]

I just thought of something, GH Makes a Hard Water Micro Nutrient, my well water is super hard @400 ppm, 16grams of hardness per gallon. So I HAVE to buy water, I did purchase a Stealth RO 100 and it works for about 50 gallons, then ppm starts rising, also had to buy a booster pump because my expansion tank on my water system is too small.

 

[SodaLicious]

Cloudiness can be a symptom of nutrients falling out of the solution. Make sure if you use a Silica additive that you add it first and by itself. Let it dilute as much as possible in your tank before adding anything else.

I have been looking for this info for a bit, I can't seem to find anything about what order to add nutes and additives to your res. I usually add Micro, grow, bloom, diamond nectar, then ph to 5.6-6.0. This last res change i added the silicate for the first time. This is the order, Micro, Grow, Silicate, Bloom, Diamond Nectar, Ph'd. any thoughts?

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Great knowledge! Sounds like you're accustomed to this sort of thing. I will do some research on the contents of the water.
How do you feel about Tall boys for well water? They offer a new filter specific for well water...

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Hey Soda, you use diamond nectar in a hydro set up? Is that organic? Ever have problems with root rot?