Hydro res losing color over night becoming acidic

[FTWx561]

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...

What is the ppm of your water coming out of the tap? You can use well water and simple charcoal filters if it isn't too high. My water comes out of the ground at 40ppm and that's with zero filters. If I run it through the sediment filters on my RO unit it goes down to 1-2 ppm. If I runt it through the RO filter as well I get down to 0.

Ttystikk is right about water and getting it tested but we have a few other things to keep in mind. He is using the water in two separate rooms and only having the issue in one. That is a best case as it will allow you to troubleshoot. Since your filters are common between the two and they are one of the few things besides your medium that are consumable I would start there. It should be a quick test to switch the filter around and see if the problem follows. The well water will change throughout the year. Mine is more acidic in the spring/summer because all the snow runoff goes through dead pine needles. My mineral content however stays pretty close to the same year round.

Your water may be the issue but you are already filtering it to account for that. Another quick test would be to drain and fill both res's, before adding anything measure the PPM in both tanks. Is it higher in the one with the issue? If so I would replace the filter element of the one with the problem.

Also, are you able to drain every drop from your res or do you end up with a .5-1 gal left after you drain?

 

[FTWx561]

Also a heads up to see where you are at, they recommend replacing the TallBoy filters after 6 months or 7,500 gallons. The 7,500 gallons assumes the incoming water is 1ppm.

 

[FTWx561]

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?

I have been instructed to add Silica and give it a while to dilute before adding anything else. I havent been using it long but using that method I have not seen cloudiness. Your micro has all of the calcium so I would add that last as far as nutes go.

If it were me I would go Silica, grow/bloom, micro, diamond nectar then PH. Let each one dilute as much as possible before adding the next.

It is also helpful to dilute the nutrients before adding them to the res. Instead of just dumping the nutes in, mix them in a bucket or gallon jug with water first then dump that into the res.

 

[FTWx561]

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

Diamond nectar is liquid humic acids. You can use them fine in hydro, in fact Botanicare puts it in the PureBlenb Pro hydro nutrients they sell. If you use them in a water culture scenario (dwc/nft) don't be surprised to see humic acid buildup on the roots. It looks like a black thick slime. If you touch it however it should be almost like wet compost. If you wipe it off by hand the roots should be fine underneath.

All that being said I am against adding anything organic to the res other than benneficial teas.

 

[ttystikk]

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?

farm consensus suggests adding the silica first and allowing time for it to fully dissolve, but I have no hard information one way or another. The rest of your order looks good to me.

 

[ttystikk]

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.

Yep, you have a hardness problem, all right. So what a water mineral analysis will tell you is exactly what makes up the total hardness in your well water. I bet it's mostly calcium and a little bit of several other micronutrients in solution. Please tell me you're not adding cal-mag to your water? lol

Yeah, that squares with my suspicions re. the Stealth RO. You're likely to have to buy or make a water distiller. Or, buy a big water tank and get distilled water deliveries via truck- it's not as uncommon as you might think.

 

[SodaLicious]

Yep, you have a hardness problem, all right. So what a water mineral analysis will tell you is exactly what makes up the total hardness in your well water. I bet it's mostly calcium and a little bit of several other micronutrients in solution. Please tell me you're not adding cal-mag to your water? lol

Yeah, that squares with my suspicions re. the Stealth RO. You're likely to have to buy or make a water distiller. Or, buy a big water tank and get distilled water deliveries via truck- it's not as uncommon as you might think.

I buy ro water because I cannot afford to replace filters/membrains constantly. I Haven't tried my well water for a round to see if theres a noticable difference. I sometimes use city water that's aroun 140ppm and it seems to be fine, chlorine in it too.

 

[SodaLicious]

farm consensus suggests adding the silica first and allowing time for it to fully dissolve, but I have no hard information one way or another. The rest of your order looks good to me.

Sunday will be when I change the res again, i will put silicate in first for sure.

 

[SodaLicious]

I have been instructed to add Silica and give it a while to dilute before adding anything else. I havent been using it long but using that method I have not seen cloudiness. Your micro has all of the calcium so I would add that last as far as nutes go.

If it were me I would go Silica, grow/bloom, micro, diamond nectar then PH. Let each one dilute as much as possible before adding the next.

It is also helpful to dilute the nutrients before adding them to the res. Instead of just dumping the nutes in, mix them in a bucket or gallon jug with water first then dump that into the res.

Thanks for the info, I have a 30 gal res, so when I do a change, I drain all water possible, then add 10 gallons of water, then first set of nute. Then add another 5 gal of water before and after each other addition.

 

[FTWx561]

I buy ro water because I cannot afford to replace filters/membrains constantly. I Haven't tried my well water for a round to see if theres a noticable difference. I sometimes use city water that's aroun 140ppm and it seems to be fine, chlorine in it too.

If you still own the RO you could use the filters that Greenleaf is using inline before the RO to bring the PPM down enough to make your membrane last.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

I took apart the filters and doesnt seem to be any wear...but they are over a year old...Ill change the sediment filters and see if it helps. Thats weird though, silica as the ability to break down my nutrients?

 

[rick ratlin]

If the silica is dynagro proTekt, then definitely add it first. If added after, it will cause lockout and crystals to fall out of solution. If it is not diluted well enough before adding additional nutes, you will get the "snot balls." Your rez is clear because of the h2o2. I used gh and 50% h2o2 at 1ml/gallon and it made the rez clear. I wish they'd stop adding color to nutes.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

So, does the effect that H202 has on the nutrients make them useless? If I water with that clear water will it effect anything?


Thanks!

 

[rick ratlin]

nope, it just eliminated the dye used. What color is your rez before you add h2o2? I add 1 ml/liter of 50% h2o2.

 

[ttystikk]

50% H2O2?? Dude, that's getting close to rocket fuel, no joke. How is it better than 29%?

If Greenleaf added H2O2 to his res, that would account for the color disappearing. Color counts for... nothing. If you have funny looking dust on the bottom of your res. then you have a lockout problem. If your plants are healthy and growing, you have a growing success.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Theyre are growing nicely, no complaints...just never had this problem with H202, and yes I am adding it with each feed. 2.5ml/gal of 29%. Ive done this for 2 runs now and havent seen anything like this...I will back off and look for change. 50% is crazy! I read a SOG grow log about using 40ml/gal of 35%, no way... Anyways, I will try feeding without h202 and report my observations. You guys have been a big help and even if it isnt my filters I think they're do. Thanks!

 

[rick ratlin]

Don't be afraid to use H2O2, you are using it correctly, just make sure you use it last. Don't use diamond nectar or Floralicious Plus( which I do like) with H2O2. If in doubt about your nutrient compatibility, ask the company, or put some straight H2O2 in a small amount of the nutrient/additive. If it bubbles, don't mix the 2. Using 40 mL seems sketchy, at those levels the H2O2 behaves like bleach, and doesn't care if you are good or bad. If you are organic, you're dead. 50% in my case is just easier, 1 mL per Liter, added every 3-4 days. A 3 gallon bucket lasts about 6-8 months. It's cool to see the people fill the bucket, it just steams like crazy, like they're pouring boiling water.

 

[rick ratlin]

Not trying to be a parent, but after writing that I feel obligated to suggest safety tips.
35% is real strong 50% is insane
Never ever ever wear leather when using
Never ever ever ever store on/in around wood
Always wear gloves and eye wear
immediately wash the syringe/beaker or whatever made contact with the H2O2
Store in a cool, dark environment. If you don't use it for a while, open the jug to release pressure.

If this stuff touches wood/leather it will ignite, believe me. Some guy in my town was transporting some 50% in his nice leather interior suv. Well the bucket was not secured, fell, spilled, and torched the car. He's alright, but lesson learned. I don't care how safe you are, wear gloves and a face/or eye goggles. If you don't clean your equipment, the next day the wrong person can run into it, and wonder why there hand hurts, and also why it is turning ghost white. Leaving the H2O2 in a hot environment will crush the half life of the product, and also put you in a sketchy situation. Having a 3-5 gallon bucket that is stretching out due to pressure is not fun to deal with. If that happens, get the smallest drill bit possible, wear a face mask, and drill a small hole in the lid to release the pressure. Love H2O2, it leaves a by product of O2 and H2O2, but just be careful. And only use food grade. Here's my bucket

 

[GR33NL3AF]

DAMN! thats nuts. I've ran the experiement in small baby food bottles with all the different variables. The jars that changed were the micro w/ h202 and the micro w/ my ph down. The weird thing is I've been doing the same thing for almost a year now and have never seen this, I add the nutes the same everytime. I will do further testing with the H202. Have you actually seen the h202 clear your res and break down the dye?

 

[SodaLicious]

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

Never from the nectar, I usually stop it week 4 of flower then they just get micro and bloom, but I am toying with switching to Lucas for the remainder of this round. 8-16