I have the cap ebb and gro with the 55 gallon reservoir and was wondering what size water chiller would be needed? The temps are currently between 70-72, but I have only been monitoring the temp for a few days. I've been looking at the active aqua or ecoplus models, maybe the 1/10 or 1/4 but I don't know. Any suggestions would be helpful.
water chiller for 55 gallon res
- Thread starter 619Sativa
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I have a 1/4hp that takes care of my 120 gallon reservoir very well. Read the specs for the 1/10, you should look at min/max input (Ex: 264gph-633gph) so you have the correct size water pump. It will say in the specs what it is capable of. (Ex: Cools 120 gallons by 10F and Cools 60 gallons by 30F) I am guessing the 1/10 will work fine for you, but if you ever plan on upgrading go with the 1/4, it will run less and save you money on power.
I grow in RDWC, I pump from my controller to the chiller to the plants back to the controller. No you do not need a seperate reservoir, in your case you are exactly right. I didn't know water temps were that important in that system, but I am sure it won't hurt to be able to control the temps. You sure you need a chiller for that system? I thought flood and drain didn't need chilled water.
I'm not sure if a chiller is really needed, but I thought I would get one for piece of mind. I want to get everything to optimal levels, and the reservoir is pretty important I think. I'm really more worried about it in the summer, cause the temps can get over 100* on some days.
I would do some research on if a chiller is needed, I do however understand the peace of mind. Wish I knew for sure or not so I could help you out. Concentrate on your room temps and you shouldn't have to worry about water temps in that system, make sure they are optimal first. The reason RDWC needs to have a chiller is dissolved oxygen becomes less available the higher the temps go. High temps actually start to suffcoate the plant from oxygen. In your system, when the buckets drain they pull fresh oxygen down. But just find out forsure, someone who runs that style of system will chime in soon. I am just going off of what I thgought form what I have read, but I am by no means a flood and drain expert.
stillsmokin843
Member
i have the ebb and grow system. i am running with out a chiller my 55 gallon is in the ac and even though my temps run a lil high in the room sometimes my water temp is good. the pump doesnt run often enough to heat up the water so havent had any problems, as far as my cloaner goes the pump runs enough to heat up the water so i have a chiller on that. just watch your temps. how many buckets are you running? if your not running all your buckets ya can useless water in the 55 like 25 or 30 gallons. to save on nutes. if the temp rises add water the more water the longer it takes to heat up. so if ya just have to have new toys then id say the 1/10 will be able to handle it. the water will be mostly affected by the temp in the room it is sitting in so adjust the ac. 100 degress is to hot for plants they stop growing around 85 or so. if ya cant get your canopy temps down to below 85 then you def need the chiller and co2 to compensate for the hight temps so the plants can still grow. one more note make sure ya get the ph stable before adding plants mine took a while to stablize. good luck hit me up if i can help. good luck
Thanks for all your help man. If I do get a chiller, it will probably be one of the last things I buy. The temps have cooled alot from a month ago, so I probably won't have to worry about it for a while.
i have the ebb and grow system. i am running with out a chiller my 55 gallon is in the ac and even though my temps run a lil high in the room sometimes my water temp is good. the pump doesnt run often enough to heat up the water so havent had any problems, as far as my cloaner goes the pump runs enough to heat up the water so i have a chiller on that. just watch your temps. how many buckets are you running? if your not running all your buckets ya can useless water in the 55 like 25 or 30 gallons. to save on nutes. if the temp rises add water the more water the longer it takes to heat up. so if ya just have to have new toys then id say the 1/10 will be able to handle it. the water will be mostly affected by the temp in the room it is sitting in so adjust the ac. 100 degress is to hot for plants they stop growing around 85 or so. if ya cant get your canopy temps down to below 85 then you def need the chiller and co2 to compensate for the hight temps so the plants can still grow. one more note make sure ya get the ph stable before adding plants mine took a while to stablize. good luck hit me up if i can help. good luck
I hear what you're saying about the pump not running enough to heat up the reservoir, I feed my plants every 4 hours during lights on. At the moment, I only have 8 buckets going, and I'm not even using the 55 gallon res, just an 18 gallon rubbermaid. And the reservoir is outside the grow area. I only have a few more months here at my apartment, and want to get a badass setup before I move. There are a lot of things on my "wishlist", and I'm hurting for money right now, but when ever I have the chance I get more grow room equipment.
stillsmokin843
Member
well best of luck like i said even with higher ambient temps have had a prob with my water temp yet. yea i am running mostly soil now my ebband grow is only running 7 buckets now so i only fill it to 25 or so gallons. peace.....
