Hey just wondering if I'm doing a 10, 5gal bucket recirculating DWC, can a 14gal(53liter) rubbermaid be used as my controller AND rez? If I don't have to have a seperate rez then that would be sweet. I don't mind topping it off every day if that's what it will mean. Thanks
The few journals i have read from begining to end has both a resi and controller as one. but im just goin off what i have read in other peoples journals. I perosnally just added a resi to my little grow and use it as both. i take readings from both my resi and bucket just cause it makes me feel better to. hahaha but getting hard with the sog screen above now.
with 10, five gallon bubble buckets your have roughly 35 gallons of water in your system... the difference would be the size of your net pot and where your water mark is based on the age of the plants you can have any size controller you want... it just means more water in the system for the plants to pull from the reason people suggest using a res: your plants at the end of life cycle can use as much as a gallon and a half a day of water... this means 15 gallons a day based on ten buckets if your using R.O. water.. it has to sit out for 24 hours before use the res has to be placed above the controller bucket (gravity feed)and it turns on and off using a float in the controller bucket where do you plan to have your water chilling for 24 hours before use? i toss mine in my RES... and ball valve off the res and let it sit for 24 hours.... the plants will drink, but only the water in the system.. but then i open it up the res and it auto tops off for a week or more the choice is yours.... if you don't add a res now.. you will
Thanks for the tips guys! A couple more Q's if you don't mind... 1) Why does RO water need to sit out? I thought RO was the best and could be used right away? I thought it was regular tap water that needed to sit out for a while to evaporate the chlorine? 2)What is the best way to plumb this so I get even flow? I've heard people use 1/2" return lines(too small) and their pump was too powerful causing their buckets to overflow. I was thinking of using a 1" return manifold line, connected to each bucket via 3/4" return lines. I'm not sure how to plumb the supply lines though, or how big they and the pump should be? I've seen Youtube videos where there is a 10 line supply manifold thing that attaches to the pump, so each bucket gets equal supply of solution. I can't seem to find those things online tho. What about using a 3/4" supply manifold, connected to each bucket via 1/2" lines? What size pump would I need so that every bucket gets equal parts of solution? I just don't know how to plumb this thing to make sure I get even supply and drain from my system. Also I'm actually only going to run 4 or 6 buckets in my 4x4 tent to start, but I'm buying enough stuff that if I want to have 2, 4x4 tents for flowering then I'll have I guess 12 buckets total. But I might just have 2 separate systems, one for each tent, or maybe 1 system for both?....your thoughts on that? I'd also like to keep the control and rez outside the tents for obvious temp control. I don't plan on using a chiller right away, as the room is a basement and the temp rarely go above 20c(68f). Thanks again for all ideas
http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/600352-budslingers-recirculating-bubble-buckets.html sounds like your system