ttystikk said:

Interesting setup on your RDWC, but it's obviously working! I've had good success with one inch tubing and bulkhead fittings, these are big enough to flow well and resist clogging and yet still small enough and flexible enough to reconfigure on the fly as your room's needs and layout change. This approach has seen me through multiple redesigns of rooms and RDWC systems, always with flying colors. Even 27 gallon tubs are adequately serviced- I just use a pair of intakes and outlets to each tub!

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PaperStreet said:

Supp all been running around here long enuff figured i should start a grow of what i currently have growing on instead of jumping around from to other peeps thread maybe i can get a lil help and keep it organized to my journal..

Anyhow briefly heres my flower pad at any given time i can be running up to 5x1k considering i have everything dialed in with enuff veg and healthy.
Built my rdwc rig after building a couple Waterfarms for my buddy and took the basic bucket idea from there and incorprated it with a couple ideas i seen around includeing UC and other peoples ideas.
Anyhow mine sits flush.
Whats shown is a 4 plant single bucket set-up with a controller bucket used for mixing nutes and remote for my chiller i have set-up to an adjacent room to keep the heat from the chiller out.
Only revisions ive made from the picture is the middle tubeing/drainback or equalizer pipe is all 1inch instead of the 3/4 inch that clogged up when hydroton was pulled into the drainback tubeing id reccomend anyone that builds one of these with this idea to use as big of pipe or tubeing that u posibbly can i have used 1.5" that seated and sealed well in another build for my buddy but found anything more like say the 2 inch is pretty much a pain in the ass to get to seal without leaks on the rounded bucket..
The outside 3/4 inch push line was setup at 4inches to center.
The middle equalizer tube is set at 2inches to center.
The controller bucket intake for the equalizer tube was dropped as low as i could to allow for gravity feed.
The contoller buckets pull and push line where also set-up at 2 inches on center.
Why push thru the buckets all the way back go the controller? Simply because if u dont your pumps going to drain your controller bucket faster than gravity can feed it..
Anyhow i have a single 264ecoplus pump pushing water into the buckets thru the loop back into the controller bucket.
The middle tube or drainback/equalizer tube was put in to equalize and disperse the water between buckets while makeing it possible to keep same water level in the buckets without flooding them thru the loop.

I have air lines pumping air to each plant bucket site.

Think that just about covers my rig i can more thoroughly explain my Rig if anyone has any questions feel free to ask ive been working this rig for a couple years now and pretty much have all the kinx worked out..

Heres a pic its pretty much self expanatory.

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tweedy said:

According to most reef forums a 1" bulkhead will flow about 600 gph. More than adequate for an unobstructed drain on what most people pump into their buckets. They key word being unobstructed. Keep roots away and you're good. Clog and you're flooded.

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ttystikk said:

I think this will circulate water better if you disconnect the part of the outer ring that goes from the last bucket in line and the return bucket. This just bypasses all the growing sites and reduces flow through them.

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PaperStreet said:

Yes u can just 90 into the last bucket on the loop if u want but im useing a 264 and my original design was all 3/4 inch returns and the pump couldnt keep up with itself if u can picture what im saying.
I know the 264 was overkill but it was only 20bux and i designed it with mor buckets being added to the loop and have had up to 20 plants all running at one single time.
The equalizer tube and return back to the control bucket does help keep the buckets all the same water level thru the loop. Your right without them being equalized not only will a clog flood them but each bucket in the loop would flood first before makeing it back to the last bucket in the loop.
Very simple fix just adding the equalizer tube problem solved as caveman as this design is it does work flawlessly now that ive changed the return or equalizer tubes all to 1inch becuase the 3/4 inch was always getting clogged on me..

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