Need general advice for rdwc

[dankstranger]

So chiller on 18 always

Air pump is fine, no issues.

Was leaking at joint to pot, sealed up now.

UV FILTER 36w after chiller back into pot so after circulation and through filter back into header into chiller then out. It was currently out due to it blew up but is back and working fine.


HIGH UC dosage wasn't normal, was to try and combat whatever it was.

Last 2 runs was way worse

Have pulled apart, scrubs n fully reset completely.

Currently additives and nutrients

Floramax veg 1
Floramax organa bud
Floramax root xs
Floramax flowering Enhancer
Floramax xs growth ( new to line )
Uc roots

I do use Green pplanet additives
Bud booster
Cal mag
Vitathrive
Plant gaurd
Bud booster
Horti rawk

I had a few ISN nutrients go off, I originally think the problems came from there but this run is gonna be the best

Thanks for the details man. With that 18C chiller, UV inline, and UC Roots you're running sterile RDWC. The biggest thing now is to clean up that nutrient soup and stop mixing sterile stuff with organics that fight each other.

You got some conflicts going on:

UC Roots and UV don't play nice together. UV breaks down the chlorine fast. Either dose the UC Roots when the UV is off for an hour or two, or put the UV on a bypass loop so you keep some residual in the system.

You're mixing sterile with organics. That Organa Bud and Vitathrive stuff feeds biofilms then gets oxidized by the UC Roots and UV. Makes gunk, pH swings, and stresses the roots. Pick a lane. With UC Roots and UV go mineral only.

Strip it back for this run:

Keep the clean stuff - FloraMax base, Root-XS if it's clean, cal-mag, light silica, and measured UC Roots.

Ditch the organic stuff - Organa Bud, Vitathrive, and you don't need both Bud Booster and RawK. Pick one later if you need it.

For targets keep pH 5.8-6.1 and let it drift. EC around 1.0-1.2 in late veg, bump to 1.2-1.4 in weeks 3-5 of flower. Only go higher if the plants ask for it.

For UC Roots shoot for about 2ppm free chlorine. Get some pool test strips to check it. With UV inline dose after lights on with UV off for 60-120 minutes then let the UV run.

Top off with RO plus cal-mag to 0.2-0.3 EC then add base nutes to target. Change the whole res every 7 days.

That UV after the chiller is fine but it's eating your chlorine. Either timer it to pause after UC Roots doses or put it on a bypass with lower flow.

This week pull all the organic stuff. Just run base nutes, cal-mag, light silica, and Root-XS. Dose UC Roots with UV off for 90 minutes. Set pH 5.9 and EC 1.2. Keep water 18-19C and good aeration.

If you tell me your res volume, water source, and how fast the chlorine decays with UV on I can dial in exact dosing and timing. This run should be way smoother without all that conflicting stuff.

 

[RBGreen]

24HR Dosages between UC roots, lower dosage then normal is the way to go

Floramax is specifically designed to be ran in sterile or bennies rdwc systems without anything specifically causing nutrients to break down or create bioflim, They aren't classified as organic as what Green planet Ocean magic would be, same with the rest of the additives, they arent specifically classed as organic as what you'd class Ocean magic to be.

My problem isnt knowing what I need to run my system at but what is causing it, my feed guide and additives guide are correctly prepared.

Everything I listed isnt being used at once nor all together.

My problem wasn't to do with nutrients but something else affecting the system which was found to be a clay ball in the chiller line, bacteria soup but appreciate your feedback and knowledge dude

 

[dankstranger]

24HR Dosages between UC roots, lower dosage then normal is the way to go

Floramax is specifically designed to be ran in sterile or bennies rdwc systems without anything specifically causing nutrients to break down or create bioflim, They aren't classified as organic as what Green planet Ocean magic would be, same with the rest of the additives, they arent specifically classed as organic as what you'd class Ocean magic to be.

My problem isnt knowing what I need to run my system at but what is causing it, my feed guide and additives guide are correctly prepared.

Everything I listed isnt being used at once nor all together.

My problem wasn't to do with nutrients but something else affecting the system which was found to be a clay ball in the chiller line, bacteria soup but appreciate your feedback and knowledge dude

That explains everything man. Clay pebble stuck in the chiller line makes a perfect dead spot where temps go up, your UC Roots and UV can't keep up, and biofilm has a party. Good catch.

Here's how to make sure it never happens again:

Rinse your clay pebbles hard before you use them and line your net pots with fine mesh so they can't escape. Put a Y-strainer before the chiller, like 200-400 micron screen. Check it and rinse it weekly.

Throw a pump intake screen or sock filter in your reservoir too. Get some camlocks or unions on your chiller loop so you can pop it off and back flush in 5 minutes.

Kill any dead legs in your plumbing. No capped tees or unused stubs. If you gotta have them put a purge valve you can open during changeouts. Use swept tees and loop your manifolds so everything sees flow.

Get a cheap inline flow meter or a couple pressure gauges so you can track baseline flow across the chiller. You'll see restrictions way before the roots tell you there's a problem.

Your plan with small frequent UC Roots doses is right with UV inline. Either dose with UV off for 60-90 minutes or put the UV on a bypass so not every drop gets zapped.

Get some DPD chlorine test strips and shoot for 1-2 ppm in the loop. Keeps you honest without overdoing it.

If you get contamination again just drain, hot water rinse the lines, back flush the chiller. Circulate high dose UC Roots for 20-30 minutes then drain, rinse, reload with nutes and go back to maintenance dosing. Swap your air stones too, biofilm loves those things.

Good call on the FloraMax, that stuff is clean and RDWC friendly. The Organa name just made me nervous. Keeping it simple and modular is exactly how to run clean.

Watch for rising pH with cloudy water or flow drops across the chiller next time. That's your early warning to go hunt for problems and back flush right away.

Sounds like you got it figured out. With a strainer, quick disconnects, and that micro-dose routine this run should be smooth sailing.