Rdwc Help

[Tetra]

Thinking about building a RDWC system but there are a few things I need answered such as, how do you know what size water pump you need?

 

[Junk]

Describe the setup you are hoping to build & people can help you. If your only q' is the water pump, just get an adjustable if you aren't sure.

If the setup is relatively small


If it's large


One thing I would point out. I set mine up myself....it was a lot of headache, mistakes, flooding, & just stupid problems. For days one time I was figuring out a water level problem. Literally, days on end....in the end, it was a problem with the pump. For me, I like to understand how things work, so, I did it this way.

However, added up total costs to set it up, & I was well over the cost of something like this...& that doesn't include labor
http://hydrobuilder.com/flo-n-gro-ebb-flow-gro-system-12-site.html

^^The above system is also significantly shorter than a plain 5 gallon bucket. You wouldn't think it, but in hydro, having an extra 4" of height matters.

If I was doing it over again, & now that I've fulfilled my desire to understand the setup, I would get this...


If that's too much cabbage for you, the Titan Ebb & Flo is a much easier setup, performs just as well, has a bigger res, instructions on setup. Unless you have a mechanical mind, that Titan setup will cost you about the same, if not less than DIY, & save you a lot of setup headache.

 

[Tetra]

two 27 galllon totes with a 13 gallon control res. 10 inch mesh pot in each tote.

 

[Junk]

two 27 galllon totes with a 13 gallon control res. 10 inch mesh pot in each tote.

Everything just leads to more questions. What size room/setup/lighting are you running?

Unless the answer to the above question is "enormous", that's too big. 1 - 10" net pot in a 27 gallon tote? It's not even just a little over the top brother....it's WAY too big. Like, more than 3x too big.

If that's not a typo, a 10" in a 27 gallon tote? Your plants will be the size of African village. It's too much.

So, first off, reverse those. Use 13 gallons as your buckets. I would also use a 13 as your control...& use a 27 (or larger) as the res.

If you already have them, I would put two net pots per 27 gallon tote. But the spacing wouldn't be optimal.

In my opinion, 10" net pots are just a waste of hydroton. When you replace those, get 8". It's not like Hydroton is expensive, what I mean is, that's all the 10" accomplishes, plants don't seem any bigger. Plus, in hydro, you rarely need your plants to be larger.

So the 13 gallon bucket you have is called a control bucket. A res is a different thing. Based on your other "rubbermaid" parts, you can make a decent res out of a new trash bin. In your case, you need necessarily need something that is food safe. You aren't going to be eating out of it, the plants are. Your call. I've seen it done both ways & not noticed a difference. If anything, the non-food safe container was easier to work with. Just read up on what type of plastics can leach into the water etc... remember, the water is for the plants, not you, & decide how "food safe" you want to go. I would much prefer to use a non-food safe container, than to use water that has chlorine & fluoride in it. But you make up your own mind.

So, do you know how to set up a control bucket? Or how you plan to set yours up? Are you going to be top drip? What size feed lines? What size drain lines?

To get back to your pump. I don't know if you are doing top drip or undercurrent or what. But based on the size of what you are trying to do, this pump should cover your bases...

 

[Tetra]

Sorry man. I'm going by Hygrohybrids build but some of the detail hes a bit vague. I will be building a room/closet 6 foot x 11 foot 8 feet high, I'll be using 4x4 foot scrog nets and two kind or blackdog leds haven't decided yet . I will be veging my two plants for two months topping along the way after the two months I'll be installing he screen and tripping once plants get used to the change. My gravity lines will be two inch pvc return will be half inch going to a return pump . I think a 400 gph will suffice I just wanted to be sure. This system with 2 1000 watt hps can pull 3 pounds with two plants.

 

[Tetra]

I'll also be using a garbage can as a top up source to the system. A pump in the garbage can will be triggered by a horizontal float switch to top tge control bucket.

 

[Tetra]

What I'm building is sort of like the culture system just designed for bugger plants