Who's Running DWC/SWC with Water Pump

[one Q]

Screw airstones! theyre loud and pumps hum no matter what you do.

Is anyone running tubs with power heads or submersible water pump?

If so, is there a rule of thumb as to how many GPH to RES ratio you used? i was thinking the water should turn over 10x an hour

If you were on OG, you should remember NIMBY... he did an SWC with a power head, under 150w hps.

 

[NIMBY]

Did I hear "NIMBY"??!

It's been years and years since OG. I rarely check boards anymore but when I saw your question and my name...and you're apparently a fellow OG'er (who were you over there?), I signed up.

I still use the powerheads and they're much better than airstones. No clogs and they keep the water moving more vigorously than the air bubbles alone ever could.

Not sure what the minimum turnover rate should be but mine is about 40 times per hour(!). I'm using a 160 gph powerhead in a 4 gallon SWC. And the plants LOVE IT!

A few tips...
Use a powerhead that restarts easily. If the power goes off or you shut it off, it can be a pain to get some of these powerheads to start pumping again. I used to have to shake them, etc. to get them restarted. Currently using a Maxi-Jet 600 and it's a winner.

Use the air venturi if possible. It adds noise and is technically not necessary--just the moving water actually oxygenates just fine--but the more oxygen, the better. Use a long length of airline and it will quiet the sucking sound. Still, there's the sound of the bubbles, though.

Aim the water flow directly at the roots! I experimented both ways and it works best to blast them.

Wow! My first post in about 9-10 years!!!

 

[one Q]

YOOOOOO!!! NIMBY this is a joke right? This has gotta be a joke.

 

[petemoss]

Hi Nimby! Still using those clear tubs?

 

[Scrogerman]

Nice to see you here Nimby, i remember your powerhead thread on overgrow, mentioned it a few times here on IC, but people go on about heat problems from the PH's. be wicked if you did a tute on here. G'Luck, glad your here!

One Q, i found hanging the airstones with fishing line reduced noise to barely noiticable, well worth doing imo(if you got the patience), but well into using PH's & other methods, nice thread!

 

[NIMBY]

Well this is fun running into old buddies!! After OG I never signed into any boards and haven't really watched them much. Been working on my setup, though, and I'm pretty proud of it's simplicity.

Pete--Yep, still using the clear tubs. I find it almost as interesting watching the roots grow as I do the plants above. Must admit I picked up some tubs with white tops and that let enough light in to get some algae growing (I used to use the darker blue colored lids). I'm either painting the tub lids or covering them in foil now. Nice talking with you--I definitely remember you at OG!

Scrogerman--I found that completely submerging the powerhead adds heat to the tub but placing it so that part of it is above the waterline keeps the heat out. And if a warm tub is the problem, I use a super simple passive res cooler. Again, howdy to an old OG buddy!

I'm kinda getting back into the hobby. I'm in a state where it's legal and I've connected with a couple of old friends who are just getting into it and re-stoking my interest. We've collected some nice genetics and, together, should make a great team--one is a photo-journalist/researcher type and the other has a strong aquarium background and a green thumb that won't quit! Their first grow is embarrassing me!! I'm encouraging them to post pics.

Now I've got a question for my old buds... Is this the best place to hang out? No offense, but it's a little like the dark ages here. Was all the stuff we did at OG forgotten? Is there a site where Lucas still posts? That guy was a brain!! I've been to rollitup.org and I see BOG there but is there a good site where my old OG buddies might have accumulated?

 

[one Q]

Cant say, but I like it here. I dont visit any other site, it reminds me of OG in many ways.
If you have any of your old pics, would you post them here??

 

[Voidling]

OG was before my time. I hear a lot of talk about it and sounds like we lost a lot of knowledge when it went.

I haven't heard of these powerheads. I'm about to build some rdwc and would love to know more as well as your chiller.

One is outdoors for veggies and water heat will be a big issue being in the hot south

 

[NIMBY]

My chiller works by the principle of "evaporative cooling". Like a swamp cooler. Blowing air over the surface of the nutes will cool them.

In my cabinet I use an intake fan (lots of guys use exhaust fans) and plastic pipe pieces to catch and aim the air into the tub. Outside you might want to lay a computer fan over an extra hole in the tub lid and blow the air in. Be sure to allow the air to exit, too. The fan can be at fairly low speed.

This principle uses more water since there's extra evaporation. An automatic fill valve would be a nice addition. I don't think swamp coolers are very effective in the humidity down south so parts might not be readily available, but that's the kind of valve I use in my tubs. A bucket of water set higher than the tubs can feed the valve by siphon.

If I didn't explain all that just right, let me know and I'll try again. Maybe add some pics of what I'm talking about.

One Q--I don't have many of the old pics but actually found the whole batch of my early cabinet conversion. Unfortunately, they're on floppy discs (remember those??). My friends think they have a way of getting them onto a thumb drive for me, though. Might be fun to put them back up. It's funny to look back and see flashes of where my current box ideas started.

 

[Bunz]

NIMBY..........there's a name that brings back memories...........Welcome brotha'! Pull up a chair and stay a while!! Time to impress these people with your knowledge like you did at OG.

Overgrow the World!!!!

Bunz

 

[NIMBY]

Bunz--Another OG guy! So there still are a few of us left around... Good to see you here! Thanks for the welcome!!

Snapped a pic of my veg tank that's running a powerhead. Not the best pic but I just wanted to demonstrate how much air there is saturated in the water.

There are three blue netcups and the flow and bubbles are directed at the cup on the right. But look at the bottoms of the other two netcups that aren't in the direct flow of air. They're covered with tiny little bubbles attached to the plastic.

Not sure how big these pics turn out here so I hope you can see what I'm trying to show. I guess I'll know better myself in just a minute here.

 

[petemoss]

Welcome back Nimby!

Welcome back Nimby!

Good to see you back, Nimby! This forum is probably the largest and has many OG refugees as well. Other forums include grasscity, thc farmer and rollitup. Others can fill you in on other forums. I don't believe Lucas is active anymore. Last I saw, he was posting on CW, which is defunct.

Many of you newer growers probably don't know Nimby. He's a memorable poster from the past who was widely admired for his keep-it-simple approach for his small personal grow. Nimby used no TDS or PH pens, a clear reservoir, no res changes and a simple GH Lucas feed. Back then, while everyone was trying bubblers, he used a powerhead in the tub in lieu of an airpump and airstone. His healthy scrogs proved that water movement alone could provide sufficient oxygenation. Nimby reminded all of us that this plant is actually easy to grow without special equipment- just common sense!

 

[NIMBY]

Gosh, Pete, that was really nice.

Sounds like a nice obituary...I'll save it!!

 

[Bunz]

Now I've got a question for my old buds... Is this the best place to hang out? No offense, but it's a little like the dark ages here. Was all the stuff we did at OG forgotten? Is there a site where Lucas still posts? That guy was a brain!! I've been to rollitup.org and I see BOG there but is there a good site where my old OG buddies might have accumulated?

I've tried most of the other sites & this one seems to have the feel closest to OG.........not that Overgrow could ever be replaced. LOTS of knowledge on this site, moreso then any other one I've found since OG. You're still gonna have your douchebags, but that's everywhere & eventually they hang themselves. There's a lot of the OG FAQ's somewhere on the site. I took off for about 5 years (not by choice, mind you) and stuff I've missed has been amazing. I feel like a rookie all over again...............LOL

Good seeing ya again, man!!!!!!!

Bunz

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I find the level headed to moron ratio to be the most tolerable here.

Probably the most concentrated archive of up to date info there is. Glad to be a part of it and Very glad to see names I haven't in years.

I learned to grow off OG and CW... still growing the same basic way, just with updated experience a techs. Thanks for being part of the original information community.

Stay Safe!

p.s. NGB.... if you're out there Your cab got me started in hydro and stealth growing. The rest has been a dream.

 

[Voidling]

I've seen the name nimby from time to time. Lets hope you don't need that obit for a very long time.

I know about swamp coolers. My cab stays around 42% humidity without misting. Outdoors will be 100+ degrees plus high humidity.

Definitely plan to learn more about these powerheads

 

[Dawn Patrol]

Welcome home NIMBY! Pull up a chair and tell us some stories. You probably don't remember me from OG, but I learned a lot from you back then.

 

[Voidling]

Oh yes, lets have Nimby Story Time (TM)

I'm on my pc now so I can see the photo at a size that's actually detail visible. Few questions if you don't mind answering Nimby.

1)What medium do you have in the cups?

You say that's for your veg
2)Do you run the water level that high the whole time or just until roots show? If you lower the level to beneath the cups like I see other dwc it doesn't look like you have much of a reservoir of water.
3) Since that is for veg, how do you flower? Transplant to another pot or use same cup?

I've been wanting to use totes but I've been afraid the water level would be too low if I kept the water level below the cups.

Thank you very much Nimby

 

[il19z8rn4li1]

I can chime in on this one answer the water lvl question, maybe get you a response a little
sooner then Nimby will be able to reply.

Remember though that Ill be speaking from experience and
own opinion... we all have different ways of doing things.

Oh yes, lets have Nimby Story Time (TM)

I'm on my pc now so I can see the photo at a size that's actually detail visible. Few questions if you don't mind answering Nimby.

1)What medium do you have in the cups?

You say that's for your veg
2)Do you run the water level that high the whole time or just until roots show? If you lower the level to beneath the cups like I see other dwc it doesn't look like you have much of a reservoir of water.
3) Since that is for veg, how do you flower? Transplant to another pot or use same cup?

From my experience, I find if BETTER to have the water LVL JUST BARELY touching the bottom of the pots, OR have the cups no more then 1inch submerged. These will encourage your plants to grow
tiny hair like roots, that are more desirable then the "CORDS"
The "cord roots" do nothing to absorb nutes or water, they merely hold and suspend the HAIR LIKE ROOTS which are more active
in water and nute uptake.

I used to have my water lvl a little below the cups.. about 1-2 inches, but now I make sure I have a nice HIGH water lvl that the cups just touch or sit in a little bit. Noticed large different in TYPE of roots formed by the plant.

More smaller roots have more surface area and larger ones, collectively.


I've been wanting to use totes but I've been afraid the water level would be too low if I kept the water level below the cups.

Thank you very much Nimby

 

[NIMBY]

High Dawn Patrol! Still more of us oldies--cool!!

Voidling--I use small lava rocks. Friends just provided hydroton clay balls recently but I quickly went back to the rocks. The balls rolled around next to each other and caused the plant to shift as I worked her into her SCROG screen. The irregularly shaped rocks lock more firmly into place.

I'm an old aquarium guy and that was a big part of my contributions at OG. Everyone was sterilizing their tubs but I knew that wasn't conducive to a proper biology--at least in an aquarium.

So I didn't dump tubs but, instead, encouraged good bacteria. And they need media (it would be rocks in the bottom of an aquarium)...so I leave a large portion of the netcups dipped in the nutes so the bacteria can live in the nooks and crannies of the lava rocks. I also attach a foam filter piece to the intake of the powerhead for even more places for the good bacteria to reside. After that you just need good water movement and you'll have a happy tank!

And I grow in a box which I try to keep stealthy. The shorter the box, in that case, the better. Mine is 34" tall and I SCROG in a SWC under a 150hps. The finish tubs are larger than that veg tub in the photo (to allow for all the roots) but the same height--just 6".

By the way, back to One Q's original question (sorry, I hope I'm not stealing your thread), that veg tub barely holds over 2 gallons of nutes and is running the same 160gph powerhead as I run in my finish tub. Around 80 gallons per hour and no problems with too much flow!