cap ebb and grow 24 site system , input reviews welcome

[NBfrost]

I am interested in buying one of these systems and i was wondering if anyone can shed some light on them , weather there worth it or should i stick to my soil and general organics , im getting about 1 lb per 1000w rite now , but can i get more ?

 

[Tank333]

Man, I would go with the Titan Flo-n-gro system instead. It has larger grow sites, larger diameter tubing, and comes with better pumps. It's the first system I ever used, and I've liked it from day one. The only thing I would change is making the buckets black instead of blue...

Honestly, I like it because it's almost idiot proof. My nutes stay at a pretty stable PH, and I've actually gone three or four days without having to actually adjust the PH... Just fill the rez and go. I'm thinking about setting up a top-feed system in the flower room to supplement the flooding. I've been reading that that will help tremendously..

 

[Mr postman]

i run a 2 gallon system with 30 buckets under 4X 600w and pull 7lbs every run. i do have a killer pheno of Super Lemon Haze that yields really good though. be sure to get the newer version with the slanted bottom buckets to make sure each bucket drains completely. mine has lasted 4 years no leaks

 

[Tank333]

I'm not sure if Titan offers slanted buckets. That's a neat option! I just put an 8" piece of wood under one edge to tip it up towards the drain. It works fine for me, but kind of a pain when I want to move em...

 

[NBfrost]

I looked at the titan on you tube , now sure what to get to be honest . I noticed the cap system now has a monster system with 5 gal buckets .. rite now i am hand feeding 40 some plants plus a veg room . rite now im getign about 1lb per 1000w and im running two , soon to be 3 .. any tips for a new users of this system ? what medium are you guys using ? i have not grown with hydro medium except pro mix and coco nut ..

 

[MonsterRobot]

I love CAP's Ebb and Gro system...

I used to run a few warehouses full of them...
The one thing that sucks is the line going all throughout your room but we made a modification and piped all the control buckets to pvc lines and branched out from there to the individual sites...

I was pulling about 1.5 lb/ 1k light... Sometimes we got up to about 2 lb/1k with that system too...

They are kind of a pain in the ass to clean and maintain though and I have had a few issues with flooding because the float valves get gummed up if you don't clean them really well...

They are also expensive and you have to clean the hoses or replace them each time... I would go with tables that recirculate to a res and put hydroton filled pots in the table... Way way easier to maintain on a smaller scale... Plus, you can use a smaller res and save on nutrients...

Overall, the system is great though... Just a lot of extra work in between harvests

 

[NBfrost]

i have two 4x4 tables now , but does the water fill the pots up as well as one of those systems ? i havent grown much with pump feed hydroponics at all , and advice would be great , ill post some pics of the room asap so u can see what im working with

 

[Mr postman]

What monster robot said about the float switches getting stuck is true, it happened to me once or twice but i caught it in time. Just keep your res clean and free of anything that may cause the switches to jam up. Fiddle with your float switches every couple weeks or so to make sure their operating properly. On the other hand the tables would deff be good for you and you could deff get away with smaller res like monster robot said but you might encounter res instability because the smaller the res the more unstable it can get in there. If you go with the smaller res beware of drastic fluctuations with your ph and ppm. If you cant be there daily to monitor your res then i would go with a larger reservoir just to be safe (you will thank yourself after)but if you can be there daily a smaller res will work just fine and save you some coin. Top feed and place 5 gallon smart pots (depending on your plant count you may want to go with the 2 or 3 gallon smart pots) filled with hydroton into your table , fill your table with hydroton as well so the roots can grow through the smart pots right into your table of hydroton. Have witnessed amazing results with this set up as well as the C.A.P. system.

Hope this helps...

 

[smalltime99]

my friend went to the Long Beach trade show and saw a new system out. Called thehydrolife 7.8. Guy had custom made 7.8 gallon black buckets(super thick) and had 2" vinyl tube he had never seen. Not like tube in HD or spa, you could smoosh it between fingers. Hard to find info on it. saw a little on site thehydrolife. Cheaper than a UC and is top feed as well as it recirculates.

 

[NBfrost]

thanks for the info , right now i am just using 3 gal grow bags and pots . im feeding general organics nutes , which i am really liking . How well do you guys think those nutes will work in a system like that , as long as i keep an air stone in the rez ? or should i switch to a more hydro style ?

 

[Tank333]

my friend went to the Long Beach trade show and saw a new system out. Called thehydrolife 7.8. Guy had custom made 7.8 gallon black buckets(super thick) and had 2" vinyl tube he had never seen. Not like tube in HD or spa, you could smoosh it between fingers. Hard to find info on it. saw a little on site thehydrolife. Cheaper than a UC and is top feed as well as it recirculates.

I like that system there, but I looked up what the cost for that 2" vinyl tubing was, and it's pretty pricey! For tubing that has an inside diameter of two inches, it was $17.50 a foot! That system looks hella tits, but I think it would be much cheaper to make it than to buy it... Although it depends on how much you can get the buckets made for. The $15 each on that website seems a bit steep...

 

[smalltime99]

Ya the vinyl tubing is pretty pricey, but I imagine it will come down in time like everything else did. I called and talked with someone there about it and they said they re-sell the tube to there customers that have purchased a system. I believe they said $9 a ft. With all that is supplied with the system you sure can't beat the price. I looked up the one 1200gph pump its over $200 alone.