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8k ebb and grow.. first attempt at hydro!

loyalty7

Member
Get a small water heater runs you 40 bucks, but you set it at 68, Water temps make a big difference in hydro. looking good
peace
 

Herbophile

Member
Get a small water heater runs you 40 bucks, but you set it at 68, Water temps make a big difference in hydro. looking good
peace

Agreed. In my case I have to use a chiller but I also set it to 68. They say higher temps aren't that problematic in ebb and flow but I like to prevent possible problems so I run it.

If you run a heater put it inside a glass jar inside the tank. I've never seen it happen but they can get hot and melt plastic sometimes. Or so I've heard.
 

shredGnar

Member
Looking good man! My chair is pulled up

Thanks for the kind words man!


Get a small water heater runs you 40 bucks, but you set it at 68, Water temps make a big difference in hydro. looking good
peace


Agreed. In my case I have to use a chiller but I also set it to 68. They say higher temps aren't that problematic in ebb and flow but I like to prevent possible problems so I run it.

If you run a heater put it inside a glass jar inside the tank. I've never seen it happen but they can get hot and melt plastic sometimes. Or so I've heard.

I actually have got some aquarium heaters, but I thought it was good to have cooler res temps. What would you say is too cold?
 

shredGnar

Member
I normally get roots in an EZ Clone then put them in 4x4 pots of hydroton on a small flood and drain table until they are 12-15 then transplant into the buckets. Then I veg for 5-7 days, then flip. It's been working real well but I'm now trying to do my cloning and veging in cups of coco to reduce the equipment and maintenance. I'm on my first run right now using the coco.

You said the drain pump failed to drain. What did you do to fix it? Sometimes if you fiddle with the pump between cycles it'll get an air bubble in the pump and cause it to not drain. Just a thought. Anytime I clean or move them I make sure I'm there on the next drain cycle to make sure they are working.

Well one was a bit clogged and did have an air bubble, however one seized and no longer works, so it was replaced. I'm going to upgrade to some better pumps next run.
 

Herbophile

Member
I'm not sure on too cold but I would guess anything over 60 would be fine. It's just a guess though and I'm sure the answer lies around here somewhere. I see now that you were posting air temps so your water temp may actually be warmer. I would start with checking it at it's lowest and highest just to see where you are at. No since in fixing problems that don't exist. :)

How old are the pumps? Even though the stock pumps are cheap they should still last some time. Are your controllers a long ways from the reservoir? If so this can sometimes cause the pumps to continuously start and stop causing them to burn out. What happens is the pump empties the controller and when it stops the water in the line drains back into the controller triggering the lower float switch again. The drain pump then kicks on again to empty. Rinse and repeat. This process can go on for a long time if not until the next fill cycle. There are solutions though so find out if that is your problem or not.
 

shredGnar

Member
I'm not sure on too cold but I would guess anything over 60 would be fine. It's just a guess though and I'm sure the answer lies around here somewhere. I see now that you were posting air temps so your water temp may actually be warmer. I would start with checking it at it's lowest and highest just to see where you are at. No since in fixing problems that don't exist. :)

How old are the pumps? Even though the stock pumps are cheap they should still last some time. Are your controllers a long ways from the reservoir? If so this can sometimes cause the pumps to continuously start and stop causing them to burn out. What happens is the pump empties the controller and when it stops the water in the line drains back into the controller triggering the lower float switch again. The drain pump then kicks on again to empty. Rinse and repeat. This process can go on for a long time if not until the next fill cycle. There are solutions though so find out if that is your problem or not.


Hah yea man that's exactly what happens.. they pumps are replaced every grow they're only $20..

But thanks for that I will bring the controller bucket closer for sure
 

Herbophile

Member
There are a of couple things you can do besides moving the controller closer to the res. Doing that wasn't an option for me.

First you can shim up the front of the bucket and put the pump towards the back of the controller bucket. This works for the most part and I did this for awhile.

Secondly you can call cap and tell them your problem and they should send you out a one way check valve for free. That's the option I did for the long term solution. They mentioned they could add a delay to the bottom float but that requires sending the controller in and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have solved the problem anyway.

I actually need to get myself a back-up check valve one of these days. It's a pretty simple design with a very light spring in it so I can see it going bad some day.
 
M

mr.shiva

Hah yea man that's exactly what happens.. they pumps are replaced every grow they're only $20..

But thanks for that I will bring the controller bucket closer for sure

use better pumps :) I have built a lot of these systems and the little giant water wizard is where it's at. I've never managed to kill one which is saying a lot. Mag-drives aren't reliable.
 
hey bro, I use ebb and gro buckets too with hugo blocks raised up by net pots and just run veg+bloom nutes with nothing else. I was recommended this by my local shop and it works great. I had my return pump fail too and found the float valve was sticking in the brain bucket. here are the hugos I just pulled;

24yz7kg.jpg

idadev.jpg
[/QUOTE]
 

shredGnar

Member
hey bro, I use ebb and gro buckets too with hugo blocks raised up by net pots and just run veg+bloom nutes with nothing else. I was recommended this by my local shop and it works great. I had my return pump fail too and found the float valve was sticking in the brain bucket. here are the hugos I just pulled;

24yz7kg.jpg

idadev.jpg
[/QUOTE]

Hugo blocks? not familiar with the term is it the same as rockwool..the stuff in your pics? and when you say raised with net pots do you mean there's a net pot in the buckets holding up the blocks?..no hydroton?

what size are the blocks? could you post/send pics of them in the buckets? that sounds like it's right down my alley man thanks for the input
 
I don't use the top slip in bucket just a heavy duty net pot in the bottom bucket. I think it's a 6" net pot to be exact. I water once a day for the first 3-4 weeks then 2x daily when they get big and fat. I'm using veg+bloom nutrients with tap water and a little ph down between rez changes weekly. I have tried a lot of mediums like coco and soil and nothing has come close to the rockwool/veg+bloom combo.
vsnbxt.jpg

2ir56dg.jpg
 

shredGnar

Member
Sick man, thanks for the pics. So is the net pot put in upside down to prop up the cubes? Also are they 6" blocks?
 
D

DHF

Be very careful growin plants that big with such small feed and drain lines cuz roots will clog the shit out of em and kill flow , which in turn kills the plants......

I ran 5 gal ebb and flow bucket flip rooms for over 5 yrs , and gotta say it`s 1 of the most bulletproof setups there is out there once dialed......but....

Yas gotta know the system`s limitations and weak links , and you`re lookin at the potential for 1 as we speak.....I hard-plumbed all my setup`s and used ebb and flow "overflow screen" fittings on the insides of the buckets so roots would grow around the screen and not follow the juice back down the drains for potential clogging.....

I also used big ass pumps to blast roots back away from the holes with each feed and by doing so trained the rootmasses away from the feed/drainholes ......

Lights on/off temps should never exceed 10 degree variables , and cold rootzones will stop growth in it`s tracks and the plants`ll start yellowing with leaves droppin off the plants as yours did....

Rez OR rootzone temps not to exceed 70 degrees or go below 65 , though root rot`s not much of a problem with a dialed ebb and flow bucket setup , but I have seen it happen in the last yr or so with folks filling the smaller containers up with roots and flow stopped causing crop death....and....

Yas can get those buckets up off the concrete floor with 2 x 4 frames and plywood on top to help rootzones from gettin too cold as well , while lettin em back down on the slab during summer ta keep em cool.....

Almost forgot.... When possible , get those other 2 KW`s in that room so you`ll be sportin 50 watts per sq ft minimum ftw......

Wonderin how much they`re gonna stretch once flipped....anyways....

Good luck and holler if I can help....

Peace...DHF....:ying:......
 
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