What i learned the hard way.
RUN A LIVE RES...no ph, light, high temp or ppm worries. I dont understand why the forums dont tell newbs to start all organic/live res. It takes all the bullshit out of dwc. In soil u would add micros to ur soil via teas.
ALWAYS USE MYCORRIZAE...
Mykos samples are 2x 100oz for $8 on Amazon. Anytime u tranplant or expose the roots dip them in this. I killed 7 expensive seedlings before learning this.
I run pond dye and lava rocks in my res. Rocks give a home for my benes. The pond dye stops light from penetrating the water.
Im in dwc so i grow my micros/benes for 2 weeks before dropping my seedlings in.
I run a powerhead with no air stones or venturi. The PH heat is actually not bad, my lights heat the res up more. The venturi was great but too loud for my comfort. Plus the venturi tube introduces hot ambient air in ur water too.
I fought pythium, brown algae, damping root rot, nute lockout (purp stems), and that jelly slime bullshit...grrrrrr lol. Now im live i have an army to fight them. No matter what u do they will ALWAYS exist in ur environment. We could NEVER 100% eradicate them, BUT we can keep them at bay or in check.
If ppl went "live" and learned that grows start with the micros, there would be more harvest instead of distress lol.