I have recently changed my RDWC setup to copy one I feel would be better for me. I will be using six 10-gallon totes and a reservoir. Rather than using an inline pump that flows water into the reservoir, I will have an inline pump pulling water from the reservoir. It would then pump up and distribute water into the tops of the buckets. I will also connect the buckets at the bottom so that the water can flow back to the reservoir. I will have a link at the bottom to the system I am copying. I will be using a hydrofarm 1000GPH pump inline. I will also have a 165GPH submersible pump in my reservoir that will connect to the chiller, and flow back into the reservoir. My question is about the pumps. Is it a problem to go with a 1000GPH pump that circulates and a 165GPH submersible pump that chills the water? What size submersible pump would you guys recommend? Thanks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yXzZzOJikI
That is backwards. With a circulating DWC, the nutrient solution goes in at the bottom and out at the top. The top line is the over flow control that keeps the levels constistant.
Maybe I just have an eye problem, but I don't see that working. How are you going to control the level if you're filling from the top and pumping out the bottom. If it fills faster than it pumps out it's going to over flow, and if it pumps out faster than it fills, the level is going to get too low. You would almost need a float valve in each bucket to shut off the fill valve at the full point. When you fill from the bottom and use the over flow as the return, you maintain a consistent level in all the buckets. You just have to make sure you're overflow/return lines are large enough and run free enough to keep up with the pump that is pushing the nutrients into the buckets.
As long as you have the top feed bore much smaller than the return lines the waterline in all the plant's reservoirs will be the same as the control reservoir. Having a top feed brings an advantage of keeping the net pot and stones wet even when the waterline drops so the roots won't dry out. I'm not sure on the best size of pump though It sounds to me that your idea is a standard under current RDWC but instead of sending a feed to one plant reservoir and let it circuit the rest, you pump water to each bucket through a standard micro-bore top feed line. You won't want a fast flow mind, just trickling gently
So if I am using a 3/4" return I should use a 1/2" top feed? How do I control the speed of the flow, I am using a 1000GPH pump I assume that controls the speed. In the video it says he has been running the system for 2 days with no issues.
no, you want micro bore for the feeds, it's like 4mm or something like that. The returns should be at least 19mm. You need a big difference because the micro bore will be under pressure and the returns are going to flow as the difference in the reservoirs evens out from gravity If you are getting confused by this design it's understandable, it's not the standard way of doing it and its a little over complicated. You may prefer to adopt the standard overflow or undercurrent RDWC
The main source of confusion is what you're saying is not what the person in the video is doing. This is his first run at it, so it seems I may be following a bad design. I may opt to avoid that and go for an urdwc instead as you suggest. Do you know where I could read more about this type of a system (the proper way to do it) or should I just start a forum and ask around during my next grow?
I think you are way too fixated on this video, I have noticed you have brought that video up in other threads saying it is contradicting what other people say. RDWC is a very simple concept. It's simple a circuit of reservoirs all daisy-chained together and the pump taking NS from the control res and putting it in the first plant res. The NS then flows through all the plant reservoirs until it gets back to the control res, and its starts it's journey all over again Because you want to add a chiller and you have a separate pump for it, just have that coming from the res, through the chiller and back to the res. There's no need to have it inline. That way if you want to switch off the chiller and remove it, it won't effect the main system
I understand that. You have showed me that diagram before and it was very helpful. The reason I was asking about this system in the video is because it seemed to have advantages over a regular setup. The main advantage I saw is that it would create additional oxygen, and eventually would like to find a way to do that potentially without air stones or the air pump. I don't think I have anymore confusion over a regular setup, and will probably go with one for this grow; however, in the future I would like to go with a similar setup to the video. I say similar because it seems most people do not like the setup in the video and I was only following it because I have nothing else to follow. Thus my question; do you know a website that explains the correct method of setting up that system, so that I could read up on it and learn about it before I attempt it, or do you think it would be better if I came back on this forum a month or so before and start asking questions? Thanks for all your input. You have definitely allowed me to make a few adjustments for the better.
This is a similar setup to what I'm doing in my flower room. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEeRVIyzUFQ I use a 950 gph inline for the under current, and 200 gph for cooling. My cooling is home brew though. Stainless wort chiller type deal in my res.
How does it give extra oxygen? You will never be able to run any DWC well without an air pump. You need an air stone in every bucket btw. The plants won't do well without them Edit.... I just watched the first 3 minutes of the video, I see what you mean about the added oxygen from the feed blasting down in to the water. These aren't top feeds in the normal sense of the term, so I thought you meant normal top feeds that trickle down through the clay balls and net pot. I honestly can't watch more of that video, I find it so tedious it starts to aggravate me. He talks really slowly and repeats the same thing over and over and I'm just thinking "get on with it for christsake" lol. he is aerating the water pretty well as far as I can see, but if he took out the air stones the plants won't live long. The "water fall effect" that he said about 15 times in the first 3 minutes isn't a bad idea but in no world would that aerate the water enough on its own. I noticed that his control reservoir was a couple of inches deep yet the plant's reservoirs were full. This means he is running the pump way way too fast and needs to slow it down. A few roots slipping down the returns will have his plant's reservoirs overflowing. another way to fix this would be to have much wider returns
I know what you mean about him talking slow and being repetitive, most growers on YouTube do the same and trust me he's not the worst. That's usually why I prefer reading, but having a visual us nice. The person that didn't have air stones used jet heads that shot water in through the top; he used 2 per bucket. I would not plan on taking the air stones out with this setup, but I figured the extra oxygen could only help. Anyway, this is the type of setup I was wanting more information on, but it seems I may have to just build something similar and experiment with it a bit. Or maybe I'll just go straight for the jet head idea. Thanks for all of your input you have been most helpful