BigTokes ~ "How-To" Of The Bio-Buckets 101

[BudGood]

Bump and a shameless plug for my grow :

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=2638057#post2638057

I made some modular trellis type things to hold up the plants, check it out:




These plants are at day 7 of flowering, good thing I made the cages!

 

[deseee]

Hey fellas, got a few questions for the bio masters that i'm hoping you can answer.
I currently run a RDWC Blazeoneup style and am wondering if I could create a sort of hybrid bio/dwc by switching out the hydroton for lavarock, have the feed line go onto the lavarock instead of directly into the bucket and create the waterfall effect by having the output from my chiller create the 1ft drop? I'd still keep the airstones pumping as you can never have enough DO. but will the BB still colonize the lavarock even though they aren't fully submerged all the time?

Thx in advance!

 

[BudGood]

I think the beneficials colonize where the air and water meet on the lava rocks, in the pores of the rock. Maybe if you created a bucket or two specifically for beneficials to grow, it'd work, but I think you really need to have the lava rock/water contact. The waterfall with the chiller would work fine, just point a fan at it so the beneficials can colonize the water. It'd help us a bit more to see pics if you can. Post a thread about your room if possible. I think you could leave the feedline as is, and just create 1 or 2 buckets strictly for colonizing the beneficials. Hope that helps!

 

[OGsus]

i was wondering if it was safe to use Hygrozyme or SensiZym with bio-buckets?? i've heard alot of good stuff about the two, but was scared to use them because i thought it might kill my beneficial bacterium.

 

[BudGood]

i was wondering if it was safe to use Hygrozyme or SensiZym with bio-buckets?? i've heard alot of good stuff about the two, but was scared to use them because i thought it might kill my beneficial bacterium.

I've never used either, besides putting a bit of AN's enzyme product (is it SensiZym or Zyme?) to jumpstart the colony once. But, in all reality, it really wasn't necesarry. The fan I have blowing on my waterfall colonizes my water rather fast, So I just save the enzyme products for my soil and other hydro grows, Bio-Buckets just don't need it, kind of a waste of money IMO. Better served to your other plants that don't have a super immunity system of beneficial bacteria built in. This system is awesome!

And now, the shameless plug...

My waterfall



A farther view of the res/lung room. Notice the Dolphin Amp-Master Pump, 3 times as strong as my old pump, yet a 1/3 of the electricity, and SUPER quiet, with the optional anti-vibration rubber foot.


This is the entrance to the Bio-Bucket room, to the right of the last pic. Notice my awesome homemade door.



And some pics of the room





As you can see I built a modular support system out of PVC and nylon string. I needed something to hold them up, as they get HEAVY at the end, and I couldn't just put up a trellis, because of needing to lift the lids periodically to pull rogue roots out of the drains, to prevent overflows. Not only does it support it, (I hotglued the pvc to the lid/netpot combo) but it supports it so well, I can pick up the whole damn plant by the PVC.

Anyhow, if you have any questions, feel free to drop by my thread, link is in my sig.

BigToke, where are ya man? Haven't seen ya on in a while. What ever happened with that Super BioBucket idea you were kicking around?

 

[punkp88]

Honestly I can understand why Big toke isnt replying to his thread anymoreand I dont blame him either.
Ive read about half of it already and there is tons of idiots asking really simple, stupid questions which can be answered from the first 2 pages in his tutorial.
This is one of the best hydro threads that Ive ever read and its a shame that it had to be overcome by morons.
Thanks for sharing Big Toke

 

[p1ninja]

I am bummed that I am just now discovering this thread and learning about the bio bucket system. I just completed what I thought would be the system of my dreams, but after seeing the bio buckets, I am not so sure that I went with the best system for my space. Currently I am running 8 x air cooled 600w on movers over 4, 3x6 flood/drain trays (2 600's per tray), 4 x 40g res. System is setup for a perpetual harvest, one tray harvested every 2-2.5 weeks.

I am not about to rip down and revamp an entire system that I just slaved over so instead I am trying to figure out a way that perhaps I can incorporate some of the principles of the bio bucket system into my current hydro setup, primarily the beneficial bacterium.

Currently each of my 40g reservoirs has a small fish pump and pump stone (or whatever those thingy-muh-bobbers are called) to oxygenate the water/nutes. This keeps my water moving and oxygenated to avoid harmful bacteria from forming as well as algae.

How I want to incoporate the beneficial bacterium into my reservoirs:

I am thinking about mounting the 8" net pots (or larger) to the bottom of the lids of my reservoirs (much like you to with the 5 gallon buckets) and filling them with the lava rocks to house the beneficial bacterium.

To all you bio bucket experts, has this ever been done to your knowledge? Would it work for housing beneficial bacterium and allow me to cut back on res. changes? I am not trying to completely eliminate reservoir changes, but just reduce them a couple times a run ?

Your thoughts? Ideas?

A million thanks BigTokes for taking the time to post such a comprehensive thread on the Bio-Buckets, your work is truely appreciated brother. I am just bummed that I am just now learning about them.

Now...Can some of you bio-bucket experts help a brotha out!?!?

Mille Gratzi,

 

[BudGood]

I am bummed that I am just now discovering this thread and learning about the bio bucket system. I just completed what I thought would be the system of my dreams, but after seeing the bio buckets, I am not so sure that I went with the best system for my space. Currently I am running 8 x air cooled 600w on movers over 4, 3x6 flood/drain trays (2 600's per tray), 4 x 40g res. System is setup for a perpetual harvest, one tray harvested every 2-2.5 weeks.

I am not about to rip down and revamp an entire system that I just slaved over so instead I am trying to figure out a way that perhaps I can incorporate some of the principles of the bio bucket system into my current hydro setup, primarily the beneficial bacterium.

Currently each of my 40g reservoirs has a small fish pump and pump stone (or whatever those thingy-muh-bobbers are called) to oxygenate the water/nutes. This keeps my water moving and oxygenated to avoid harmful bacteria from forming as well as algae.

How I want to incoporate the beneficial bacterium into my reservoirs:

I am thinking about mounting the 8" net pots (or larger) to the bottom of the lids of my reservoirs (much like you to with the 5 gallon buckets) and filling them with the lava rocks to house the beneficial bacterium.

To all you bio bucket experts, has this ever been done to your knowledge? Would it work for housing beneficial bacterium and allow me to cut back on res. changes? I am not trying to completely eliminate reservoir changes, but just reduce them a couple times a run ?

Your thoughts? Ideas?

A million thanks BigTokes for taking the time to post such a comprehensive thread on the Bio-Buckets, your work is truely appreciated brother. I am just bummed that I am just now learning about them.


By my intimacy with nature I find myself withdrawn from man. My interest in the sun and the moon, in the morning and the evening, compels me to solitude -ThoreauNow...Can some of you bio-bucket experts help a brotha out!?!?

Mille Gratzi,

I wish I could tell you it'd work, but I'm unsure since I have no experience with anything like that. There are more parts to the system than just the lava rock in the netpots; thats just where the BB's live, but they are introduced through the fan blowing on the waterfall, both of which you won't have. Maybe you should look into bio-fields for fish setups, maybe adding something like that would help your goal of less res changes.

Whatever you do, keep us posted. If it works, it'd be highly valuable info to others as well!

 

[p1ninja]

I wish I could tell you it'd work, but I'm unsure since I have no experience with anything like that. There are more parts to the system than just the lava rock in the netpots; thats just where the BB's live, but they are introduced through the fan blowing on the waterfall, both of which you won't have. Maybe you should look into bio-fields for fish setups, maybe adding something like that would help your goal of less res changes.

Whatever you do, keep us posted. If it works, it'd be highly valuable info to others as well!

Thanks for the input. Maybe I can incorporate a water fall and fan as well into my reservoirs. It would take some serious modification, but may be worth it.

If a bio bucket expert was going to modifiy a 40g reservoir to house the beneficial bacterium, I want to know how it would be done.

You are right, by simply adding the net pots with lava rocks, I am still missing several pieces to the puzzle. Chet...

 

[Cranberry]

i have put bio balls in a mesh bag in the rez for my little colony. seamed to work just fine.

 

[BudGood]

i have put bio balls in a mesh bag in the rez for my little colony. seamed to work just fine.

Exactly what I was thinking. P1ninja, google bioballs, and look around at how people set up beneficial bacteria setups for large fishtanks, I'm sure you'll get some really good ideas from there.

 

[Raphael]

Hey all, just wanted to post another 8 bio bucket setup, with air lines in each bucket as well as a 8-10" waterfall into the controller res.

I have an overflow sump line to another res in case of power failure that isn't pictured as well as another 6" sealed hood going in with another 600w hps, for a total of 1200w over 8 plants.

Cheers

 

[420Clones]

Nutes?

Nutes?

No nutes are used and a fan points room air at the waterfall to give bacteria? I've not found anything on nutes, if fish are used etc... in the first few pages please direct me to the post if possible. Is there fish and fish food anywhere in the system? Summary: Like a DWC with central reservoir except all incoming water falls inside the buckets to aerate. Stones create nutrients for the plants via microbial action. Location of stones? Fuel to instantiate microbial action?

 

[punkp88]

Hey all, just wanted to post another 8 bio bucket setup, with air lines in each bucket as well as a 8-10" waterfall into the controller res.

I have an overflow sump line to another res in case of power failure that isn't pictured as well as another 6" sealed hood going in with another 600w hps, for a total of 1200w over 8 plants.

Cheers

Hey watch out for that pump Being lower than the level of water theres a chance of water being siphoned back into the air pump and fucking shit up. u can get check valves at pet smart if u dont want to raise the pump. but it kinda restricts the air.

 

[Raphael]

Hey watch out for that pump Being lower than the level of water theres a chance of water being siphoned back into the air pump and fucking shit up. u can get check valves at pet smart if u dont want to raise the pump. but it kinda restricts the air.

punkp88, thanks for the tip. I remember that problem from my fishtank days, lets just say its happened before

I recently hung the pump from its rubber feet for noise isolation purposes, and it is now above the water line.

 

[kp^]

No nutes are used and a fan points room air at the waterfall to give bacteria? I've not found anything on nutes, if fish are used etc... in the first few pages please direct me to the post if possible. Is there fish and fish food anywhere in the system? Summary: Like a DWC with central reservoir except all incoming water falls inside the buckets to aerate. Stones create nutrients for the plants via microbial action. Location of stones? Fuel to instantiate microbial action?

420Clones
Did u post in the wrong thread? There is no fish or fish food in the bio-bucket system.

The first page will answer just about every question regarding bio buckets. I've read the entire thread a few times and still find some good tips. Give it a good read!

Cheers!

 

[420Clones]

Yes on steps 1-6 on the first page there is no mention of where the bacteria comes from.
My guess is you run the system with tap water only and the waterfall catches bacteria from the air and after few days massive processes grow from what was in the air into a super balanced fertile solution within the water?
Does airpump in one bucket with hydroton in net pot (DWC) do the same things as this?
Sorry I have a bindspot on this.

 

[BudGood]

Regular hydroponic nutes are used, the beneficials come from the air. The waterfall/fan combo serves a few purposes: aeration, cooling, and introduction of beneficial bacteria into the water. The beneficials colonize in the pores of the lava rock medium.

To answer your questions, it takes at least a week or two for the beneficial bacteria to be colonized. And no, an airpump in one bucket with hydroton in net pot will NOT do the same thing. LAVA ROCK is the medium for a reason.

 

[420Clones]

Thanks Budgood that makes sense.

 

[BudGood]

No problem, glad to help.