MPB water level

chrometrichs · Feb 16, 2010

Hey mpb'ers what's your consensus on proper water level in your mini-res. I'm using the home depot 27 gal tubs and 10" net pots. My water level is about 1/4-1/3 of the way up the 10" pot. I know in DD's DIY thread he suggests the water level be 1.5 inches above the bottom of your basket/bucket. I think I would prefer having the water level just meet the end of the basket, to allow the roots a little more air and space. Thoughts?

mrdizzle · Feb 16, 2010

so long as its in the water your ok, avoid a gap between the bottom of the net pot and the water, causes roots to knot which is a bad thing

Lost · Feb 16, 2010

I think your right :)

Can you pull the bucket up a little? If not it 2 bucks to pull the old bucket out and refit a new one.

Edit: If its 1/3 way up that might be a little too high. I like 2-3 inches up the pot. You should be able to move your bucket up or down a little bit.

chrometrichs · Feb 16, 2010

thanks guys, just who I wanted to hear from... I'm just worried the water level is too high and my 4" rockwool cube might get too soggy.

Hey lost whats the best way to lift the 10" net pot up a few inches, improvised collar?

Lost · Feb 16, 2010

How did you do your buckets thru the lid? I would try to just pull the enitre bucket up an inch or 2, if you have the room. If if you trimmed your bucket too close to the lid, you may not be able to pull the bucket thru the lid that 2-3 inches without it popping out. Hope that helps!

I agree about the 4 inch cube getting too wet up top. The netpot lids, i dont think sit as deep as the buckets?

mrdizzle · Feb 16, 2010

i just realize ur said 1/4 to 1/3 up the netpot, i thought you were saying 1/4 inch of water in the net pot. thats too high, hopefully you didnt drill all your tubs

chrometrichs · Feb 16, 2010

lol, I did drill all my tubs, but fortunately I bought an extra set to stack on, so I think I'm going to be re-drilling using those and using the bad ones as stands.

Lost, I cut a hole directly in the lid of the home depot tub and the 10" net pot just slides in and rests upon the lid.

I had just been vegging using the top drip til last night, when I decided to kick in the dwc, I have 7 plants, 4 get hit with a 1800gph pump the other 3 get hit with a 1600gph. The amount of flow is ridiculous, but with my drains being so high, the amount of water in the system is also ridiculous, my 100 gal res was emptied in minutes before a tsunami of water came pouring back thru the 4" pvc. I'm guessing at this point the system will be holding around 150-200 gallons, hope those check valves work.

mrdizzle · Feb 16, 2010

good deal, I did that too my first time, my bottom tubs have the wrong holes in them

Lost · Feb 16, 2010

I too went thru a few lids before I came up with something I liked.

This is how I did mine, so as you can see, I can adjust the level of the bucket by pulling it up or down. Im only limited by how much of a lip I left on..

CAPO · Feb 16, 2010

That's genius right there Lost!
Best get copyrighting!

Apache69 · Feb 16, 2010

Lost said:
I too went thru a few lids before I came up with something I liked.

This is how I did mine, so as you can see, I can adjust the level of the bucket by pulling it up or down. Im only limited by how much of a lip I left on..

How are you guys cutting the holes in the lids? Thanks for all the great info!

Lost · Feb 16, 2010

You can't copyright kludge... LOL!

Lost · Feb 16, 2010

I use a scroll saw myself. Takes about a minute to do a lid. Then I mash a 5 gallon bucket thru the hole and cut it off 3-4 inches under the lid. Again with a scroll saw.

Apache69 · Feb 17, 2010

Lost said:
I use a scroll saw myself. Takes about a minute to do a lid. Then I mash a 5 gallon bucket thru the hole and cut it off 3-4 inches under the lid. Again with a scroll saw.

5 gallon bucket? I Thought most peeps were using a 3 gallon.

Lost · Feb 17, 2010

They are only using a 3 gallon if they are using that as their netpot :)

Wether you shove a 3 or 5 gallon bucket thru the lid it does not matter. You cut 80% of the bucket off...

chrometrichs · Feb 17, 2010

So after much deliberation, taking into account all the great advice and weighing the amount of work involved in creating a proper solution, I tested out a few solutions. First off, I cut new holes in 1 tub about 2" lower. This created an ideal water level but the new drains were lower than my 4" drain pipe, which meant I would have to raise all my tubs about 4" in a room where height will be a concern. Also I wasn't in the mood to cut/file 21 new holes and create new bases. So next I tried the Lost method (TM) lol, I cut a 5 gallon bucket collar, placed into upon the lid (the hole is too small to slide the bucket in yet!) and slid the 10" net pot in. This raised the entire net pot out of the water, which is not ideal, but is definitely on the right track.
The temporary but somewhat invasive solution I came up with was to raise the rockwool cube as high in the net pot as possible. With these plants being 3 weeks into veg they had produced a decent amount of roots. To make this process as gentle as possible, I submerged the root zone in a 5 gallon bucket and began pulling up the plant while shaking it, allowing the hydroton to resettle underneath the rockwool cube. This put the maximum amount of space between my cube and the water level. Today I'm on the hunt to find an improvised alternative collar.

My advice to anyone setting up their mpb, cut only 1 bucket first and test the water level before cutting the rest of your tubs. Or just use the lost method (patent pending)

Gray Beard · Feb 17, 2010

I had the same water level problem and solved it by using a second lid on top of the first. Raised the net pot to about the right height. I used the lid from the tub being used as a base. Works well so far.

Maitreyah · Feb 17, 2010

mrdizzle said:
i just realize ur said 1/4 to 1/3 up the netpot, i thought you were saying 1/4 inch of water in the net pot. thats too high, hopefully you didnt drill all your tubs

I was just wondering what too high a water level up the bucket would do to the plant? I'm about 2'' to 2.5" from the bottom, though my plant sits very high in the bucket. Just curious as to the reasoning behind it

Lost · Feb 18, 2010

a few things can happen. one is that the cube stays wet and that not only suffocates the plant a bit there, but it can grow algea. The algea is a magnet for fungas gnats, and then bam!!! Your fuckered!!! lol Well, that was my experience. Now I try to use only 1 inch cubes and cover the top of the bucket to keep anything from wandering in and laying a bazillion eggs.

Maitreyah · Feb 18, 2010

Lost said:
a few things can happen. one is that the cube stays wet and that not only suffocates the plant a bit there, but it can grow algea. The algea is a magnet for fungas gnats, and then bam!!! Your fuckered!!! lol Well, that was my experience. Now I try to use only 1 inch cubes and cover the top of the bucket to keep anything from wandering in and laying a bazillion eggs.

That's what I was thinking but wasnt too sure. My water line is a bit high but at least I kept the cube quite high to make sure it doesnt sit in the water. Covering the top of the bucket I feel is a must as to make sure that the light stays out,

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