UV Sterilization on Return Line

[canaguy27]

Fighting the brown algae with some physan20 right now. Guess we didn't have enough HF in the system.

I was thinking about sticking a UV Sterilization light at the end of the 4" drain tube to kill everything without chems. Would it be better in the res instead of the return? Wondering if the water would be running too fast past the light.

F*ck the brown stuff.

Something like these:

 

[mrdizzle]

I say give it a shot, I didnt have any success with the UV lights on the algae too little too late kinda situation, it only takes care of the water that hits it, but the algae will live on in the roots away from the UV.
I think UV would only really work if you had freshwater run through it before it went into the system.

The physan will work if used at 1tsp per 15gal. leave it in the system for 3days,then change it out and make sure everything is nice and clean in the system.

Put a stocking over the return drain to catch all the dead algae and just change it out regularly.

 

[mexicanna]

hey cannaguy i dont post at all just read, but i always chime in when this subject is brought up to help ppl.i have been doing rdwc for yrs and started using Pythoff made by Flairform 4yrs ago and have never lost a plant or had root rot since.Unfortunatly it cannot be used with benifical bacteria but if ur using a dead rez its awsome and can be used from clone to flower

 

[motherlode]

lol ptyhoff - kinda catchy name - cant believe this is the first I heard of that

 

[Capulator]

pythoff looks and sounds awesome, but it wont help with snot algae.

The snot algae will make your pH rise, and the pyth will make your pH drop.

UV needs to be running right when you start, to prevent the brown algae. Dizzles right, it wont cure it once you have it due to the fact that it is already on your roots, and the UV only kills the shit that passes through it. Be very careful with the physan. I was able to kill my brown algae with a res change, and then running the physan at 1 mL/10 gal, for just an hour.

I tried running physan for the 3 days at higher doses and it killed my roots off and made the plants look very sad.

Once you flush with physan. Add EWC tea.

4 gallons of RO water in a 5 gallon bucket. One air stone with a big air pump.

2-3 handfuls of earth worm castings or ancient forest
50mL liquid carbo load
1 scoop of ZHO
1 scoop of Great White
5mL Root Excelurator
50mL Aquashield

Bubble for 24-48 hours; no longer. Separate with cheese cloth and put in a container. Fridge for up to 10 days.

Just use 1-2 cups per 10 gallons. That is more than plenty.


^ thats a cut and paste from various excerpts on icmag. If you want to read a very long thread on the subject search richierich's thread on brown algae over there.

I just did this, and my roots bounced back after about three days. The EWC tea is the shit (literally!). I will be using it for the rest of my grows. Its easy to make if you have enough space for a 5 gal bucket.

 

[Capulator]

edit:

add the ewc tea to a fresh res with just base nutes (NO ENZYMES). NO HYGROZYME. NO SWEET. NO CARBS. JUST 1/4-1/2 strength base nutes and some cal mag.

You can add the uv still. It will kill whatever is in your res. You can always add the tea as a top drench, and the bennies will attach to the roots/media and hang out there. Reapply them every 4-7 days.

Do not use ZONE. this will kill your bennies. Do not use h2o2. this will kill your bennies.

The bennies will outcompete the brown algae for food, and will starve it out.

 

[navesdad]

I've recently gone through some serious problems with bugs in the water, from algae to bacteria and back again...and I've tried this.

What has happened for me is that only whatever passes through the uv gets worked on, but, the uv has many problems that it causes itself.

1 - it won't kill anything that doesn't pass by it
2 - it will cause your nuts to precipitate out, I currently have a SEVERE iron deficiency on 3+ plants out of 8
3 - the high ppm in the nute water makes the uv very inefficient, so you would need a much higher wattage light than you'd think
4 -it's really only preventive, so I use it after the RO filter now, but not inline with the system.

I'm moving on to different techniques now, looking for something better and more effective.

 

[Desertboy]

I use it on a fresh reservoir for 12 hours at the beginning of every reservoir change.

Ionic sell UV balance to replace the lost minerals from UV or Ozone injection.

Consider and ORP controller & ozone generator to raise the ORP in the reservoir this will actively fight an existing infection you will need UV balance again as Ozone will precipitate minerals out the solution.

The ORP controller is essential so the ozone doesn't kill the plants.

 

[RMCG]

I think there are plans for a Biofilter around here somewhere?

:thinking

 

[Desertboy]

Nothing wrong with UV sterilizers or Ozone if you know how to use them.



Used on fresh water before you make the nutrients will ensure a pathogen free environment assuming all other factors have been met without precipitating the minerals.

I don't use UV balance jut run the sterilizer for 12 hours every res change with doesn't precipitate enough minerals out to matter.