After a long weekend, I have a bit of bad news. I had my system up and running, came back a few hours later and the tent was flooded with water. After sopping all of it up, I pinpointed the leaks and attempted to repair them to no avail. If I'm going to use this system, it looks like I will have to drill anew bucket and switch it out with the one or two that were severely leaking. But seeing as my seeds were already in the process of germinating, I had to get something to put in it's place, so I decided to make a new set of bubble buckets Rumple style (as my hydrostore was not open yesterday). Went to HD and grabbed my supplies, then spent the entire afternoon getting the replacement system up and running. I'm happy to say that there is on very minimal leaking, like a drop or two on one of the buckets every hour or so. I have the mindset that no hydroponic system is 100% leak proof, so it's all good. Here are some snapshots. The first is a close-up of one of the new buckets, with the second being a group shot of the system up and running. It looks like, at least for this first grow of mine, that there will be no recirculating system. I plan to have it up by next grow, though. For this go around, I will just stick to checking each bucket separately and changing out each bucket's water with fresh nute solution every 7-10 days once the ladies are established. Plus, I figure this is a better idea seeing as I am growing two completely different strains, from seed, and have no idea how they would have reacted to one continuous level of nutes throughout the system. This about ends this thread. I hope it was somewhat helpful for those looking to build this system. I encourage anyone who is thinking about it to go ahead and DIY. My only word of caution is to test, test and then test again for any leaks. Make sure you don't sand or deburr the holes on the buckets too much (my mistake), and you should be good to go. For anyone interested in seeing this grow throughout, head on over to my grow journal, where I just posted up some germination pictures. Ciao!
Hey man! Sorry to hear about your leaks. Was it leaking from the 5 gallon buckets? If so, I'd imagine that the curve on those are too extreme for the round buckets. If you get some square/rectangle buckets, I think you'll be in business! Might be a good project while this grow is going. You have all the hardware, and seals, just need some new containers. I'd get 5 identical containers to start. FYI, Tidy Cat, cat litter can be found in the Linpac buckets I use (4.25 gallon versions, versus my 3.5) At $12 each, with a lid, you might be able to buy them locally, for the same as it would cost for half dozen shipped from somewhere online. Just a thought. Good luck on this grow!
I have to agree with the above. Square buckets (or even small totes) are much better for making a leakproof system. I know it can be done with normal 5 gallon buckets, but it can take some trial and error. Square or rectangular containers seldom let you down. That being said, you can surely find a better source for square buckets than Tidy Cat containers. Unless you have a ton of cats. If not, you're not recirculating anyway, just get a big Sterilite tote for like $10 and put 4 6" net pots in the top of it. That'll make adding and adjusting your soup much easier than 4 separate bubble buckets. Just add valves and level checks like building a single large Rumple Bucket, and combine all your airstones to the one container,obviously.
i used buchets they work just fine i used hole going from 1/2 inch -3 inch with no leaks first ffew leaked once you know how big to put the hole its all good
Hey Kryptic, I'm just wondering if you ever got to use your/a undercurrent system. I'm getting really defeated here now reading about everyone's problems with leaks, and all of them are from 5 gallon buckets afaik. Thanks for any info.