Hey guys, just getting started in hydroponics and I had a few questions. I have the 55 gal res with 6 drip n gro dual feed buckets. How much water should i fill the res with for 6 plants? All the way? How often will I be draining and refilling the res? Also how much water will the plants drink weekly? thanks a ton!
I fill my buckets to 1/2 inch below the bottom of the net pots. Reservoir change is not done every 14 days, some change every 21 days. I built a float to measure water level and top off as needed. I've had some strains that were going through a gallon a day, also be aware that as the roots grow the water in the buckets gets displaced, where the buckets won't hold the amount of water you started with when they were seedlings, so a 15 gallon reservoir in the beginning may only hold 11 gallons of water during the peak of flowering. Attached a pic with the float.
is this your hydro system? A larger body of water will be more stable as far as pH, ppm, temperature, and oxygen content is concerned and you won't have to top up as often so I'd fill it right up. When the plants are small you won't notice any measurable amount of water gone per day, but once they have filled out the area and depending on how you have everything dialled in and how fast they grow, the amount they take up is significant. When one of my 4'x3' tent is full, around 10 litres per day is taken up by the plants. What area will your plants cover when fully grown? I only change my reservoirs when I move from veg to flower. Although if I have a long flowering strain I will change the reservoir half way through. My reservoirs are 70 litres and 145 litres. I top up the 70 litre res every few days, but the 145 can last a couple of weeks. But when the plants are small, topping up doesn't need to happen very often
this is a really good way of managing your nutrient solution http://forum.grasscity.com/hydroponic-growing/1198... .
No, sorry gold mine is the dual top feed version. 7x9 panda wrapped room Drip N Gro Dual Top Feed 6 site system with 55gal res 2 1000w hortilux hps bulbs 2 galaxy legacy ballast 2 econo xl reflectors 1 6 inch exhaust fan 2 corner fans 1 Bluelab Guardian Monitor AN Grand Master Level nutes My tap water comes in at 50F 240ppm 8.3pH
Okay thanks ill check it out. Also it seems my drip n gro system has a few leaks.. is this something 100% silicone can solve?
oh right, well, I think my post is still relevant lol. With an area that size filled out they will use a ton of water so you definitely want to keep the res full. Your set up sounds awesome. Does the 6" fan handle all that heat and all that space ok?
This room will only be setup this big for the winter, otherwise i dont think the fan would be enough lol. next spring it will probably get halfed off with panda film and a 2x4 frame as a veg room under 1 light. But for now its going to be bursting with light! It's been a big investment but i wanted to try and put my best foot forward and go with the setup ive always wanted so hopefully i dont screw anything up!
where is it leaking from? And how bad is the leak? When I was building my recirculating top fed system, I researched quite a bit and a lot of people said they got slight leaks but they fixed themselves as the nutrient solution dried around the area. But mine didn't have any leaks so I wasn't able to put that to the test Silicon sealant would have been my go to method. Fish tank sealer is expensive so I would probably just use regular bathroom sealant, but probably stay away from anti fungus sealants just in case they leach toxins in to the water
when i first put the system together and did the initial fill and flush it only leaked on the back of the controller box. some kind of pressure nut for the tubing leading to the float valve. but since its been assembled for a few days now ive noticed some water at the bottom of each bucket. i re-tightened all of the nuts inside the buckets but they still seem to have a slight drip. Also one of the end caps had a pinhole in it and sprayed like crazy.
that sounds like a manufacturer's fault. Have you spoken to them about it yet? Is the connection a bulkhead / tank connector? Does it have a rubber washer?
not yet, the bulkhead isnt the part leaking its the compression nut EDIT: the bulkheads on each bucket do have washers on each side which are still leaking though
is it possible that you have tightened the bulkheads too much and misshaped the washers? I have done that before. Although this wouldn't apply to the compression fittings. Have you tried using ptfe tape for the compression fittings? That should give them something to bite in to I would contact the manufacturer or the person you bought it off because multiple leaks is taking the piss a bit
hey buddy sorry its been a rough few days. i taped the compression fitting so that doesnt leak anymore, but ive noticed some water around the bottom of EVERY bucket at one time or another. i still havent contacted the manufacturer but at this point i dont have time to wait for something else ... i decided i would seal it up with 100% aquarium safe silicone, which seemed to work pretty good until i got the pump going and the pressure built up again ... still a few drips here and there.. my seedlings were off to a rough start showing signs of overwatering in the rockwool starter plugs never had this problem before.. but now theyre looking good and only a day or two away from going into my system, and now my res smells like dead fish! my res is seperated from the lights with panda film and started out at 50F from the tap, over a week or so it rose to 77 at the hottest point and 70 on average. Ph downed my res from 8.3(tap) to 6.3 ph 0.3 EC ... draining res now ...