Wondering what if any are the advantages of using dm zone vs just plain bleach in the res? My current line of thought is that dm zone uses chloramine rather than chlorine so you would add it back less frequently... convenience? Also not sure if there's anything else in zone that's gonna help keep things clean... looking for any input, thanks!
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DM Zone vs Chlorine/Bleach
- Thread starter roasthawg
- Start date
Some pathogens can build resistance to chlorine / chloramine. Commercial vegetable growers use 0.50 ppm of Cl in hydro to keep pathogens at bay.
So are you referring to when you clean your tub out completely or just when you are filling it with your nutes? How much bleach do you add? I have a 34 litre res. and have a slight heat issue so I run into root rot often and want to prevent all forms of build up so do you recommend I add bleach to my nute mix in my res? Will the bleach mess with any nutes if you add them together?
It depends on the Bleach that you use. All different bleach companies use a different percentage of bleach. With Clorox regular bleach (not splash guard) I use 1 drop of bleach for every 2 gallons. I add that back in every 5 days. You don't want to exceed more than 2.5 PPM of chlorine or you run the risk of killing your plants. I like to add about 1 PPM of Chlorine and let it run down. If I start to see any problems with any plants, I get out my Chlorine meter and test the PPM of Cl in the system. If you have a pathogen, you will see the Chlorine leave the solution faster than normal. The way that I know this is because I've done lots of testing with it over the years. A chlorine meter is very cheap.
D
DoubleDDsNuggs
I just finished a video where the Rev talks about tlo growing and water quality. H said that Chloramine will not leave your water ever and is very stable whereas chlorine is not so that is why it leaves the water so fast. I used DM Zone and I love it. I've never tried the bleach because like you said it's easy to hurt your plants. with the DM they use copper sulfate as the sterilizing agent which is what is used to clean and treat a lot of city sewers. The plants also get copper which I find lacking in most nute programs. The DM will treat root rot and definitely keep it at bay as long as you use it with each rez change. The one downside is a liter bottle costs around $30 but you use a little bit.
Cool thanks I'll give it a shot for this week to keep them from spreading/growing any further. So far the H2O2 is keeping me going but it's not exactly resolving the issue. I'm going to get some Hydrozyme to deal with the actual pathogens later this week, I just haven't had time to do it so I need something to keep these guys from getting any worse. I've also been cutting the roots that grow out brown. I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks.
D
DoubleDDsNuggs
I've been told by a lot of people that using enzymes will help break down the dead roots like it's supposed to but it turns it into food that is usable by good bacteria and also the bad bacteria you are trying to fight. so when I was battling root rot, two hydro people said to not use it. I thought it would be beneficial. does anyone else have any experience using it to help treat root rot?
Dankstang
Member
The one time I used hygrozyme in my rdwc the ph climbed faster than I could control it. Ended up flushing and tried sterile. Never went back, but I do miss the root mass when I ran a live system
No luck using hygrozyme to treat root rot here. Might even make it worse. Not sure that it's a good idea to add organic material to a sterile system to help keep it sterile. Doesn't make sense. DM Zone seems to work well, zone does contain copper sulfate but it also contains a chlorine product. The manufacturer says it doesn't but chlorine test strips say he's lying. It's a very low level even in the concentrate, in fact it becomes undetectable in the solution at least with test strips. Don't know if it is chlorine or chloramine. UC roots seems to work better. It's hypochlorus acid I've had very good results with it. Next run I'll try using calcium chloride, pool shock, instead to see how it compares. UC roots is expensive and pool shock is cheap.
Swampwater
Member
Use DM zone. Its cheap(only uses 1ml/gal) and works. Personally Im much more comfortable using copper sulfate than bleach.
One $30 dollar bottle treats 990 gallons. If that's too expensive for someone... smh
Hygrozyme is good but expensive. Too expensive for me.
And forget h2o2. That dissolves/evaporates right out(as well as can have adverse reactions with many nutes/chemicals)
One $30 dollar bottle treats 990 gallons. If that's too expensive for someone... smh
Hygrozyme is good but expensive. Too expensive for me.
And forget h2o2. That dissolves/evaporates right out(as well as can have adverse reactions with many nutes/chemicals)
D
DoubleDDsNuggs
I've had a housekeeping business for years and the first two years I used bleach to clean until the bleach wouldn't rinse off my hands when I rinsed them. it's like it soaked into my skin and no matter how long I washed my hands it would still feel like there was soap on them. then the skin started to peel off the palms of my hands. I quickly switched to Mrs Meyers natural cleaning products and my hands started to heal after a week or so.
Bleach imo should be avoided. Those roots are more tender than our hands.
Bleach imo should be avoided. Those roots are more tender than our hands.
sanjuan
Member
I run bleach in my reservoir for a Blumat-coco-fabric pot setup. I add about 0.3ml per gallon, using regular Clorox which is now 8.25%
sodium hypochlorite. This equates to 3ppm Cl, I believe.
I use my nose to tell when to add more bleach. Any opinions of colorimeters?
http://www.hannainst.com/usa/prods2.cfm?ProdCode=HI 711&id=024015
I tried using "pond-zyme with barley" to clean the embedded roots out of used smartpots but the hydrogen sulfide smell was too much for me. Didn't seem to phase the old roots after maybe a week.
sodium hypochlorite. This equates to 3ppm Cl, I believe.
I use my nose to tell when to add more bleach. Any opinions of colorimeters?
http://www.hannainst.com/usa/prods2.cfm?ProdCode=HI 711&id=024015
I tried using "pond-zyme with barley" to clean the embedded roots out of used smartpots but the hydrogen sulfide smell was too much for me. Didn't seem to phase the old roots after maybe a week.
That sounds like a lot. Do you have a meter?
I put 5ml into a measuring glass and add water. All 3 of my tanks and my runoff totes get a splash.
It keeps my res from smelling and the hoses don't get all funky with it in there.
Sometimes I use h202 at 1ml a gal, but the bleach is so much cheaper.
B
BB420
I heard that bleach should not be used with blumats as it eats away the dripper lines is this true ?
You guys need to get some pool shock and quit fucking with the bleach. Now you have super cheap clear rez.
To get rid of the myths here (which piss me off-researching forums with bad info is a waste of life)
Chloramine IS NOT in DM Zone. It's active ingredient is copper sulfate.
Pathogens may build a resistance to chlorine at high dilution rates, but anything can, including you (your drinking water-DUH!)
Use enough of it at the proper dosage
To get rid of the myths here (which piss me off-researching forums with bad info is a waste of life)
Chloramine IS NOT in DM Zone. It's active ingredient is copper sulfate.
Pathogens may build a resistance to chlorine at high dilution rates, but anything can, including you (your drinking water-DUH!)
Use enough of it at the proper dosage
ok, had some issues with rotting stems in my aero cloner... fixed that issue and was going along nicely until this last batch of clones. they started out great and now its day 6, their are tiny roots forming now with lots of "pre" root bumps (forgot the botany term... any how i checked them last night and noticed the water was cloudy and upon further inspection there was a gelly like whitish/ beige slime on my air stones... i had been using snypes method with a few tweaks. i added (to the original plain water in my rez) heavy 16 flower a and b at 2.5 ml/g, kln@ 10 ml/g, 1/4tsp/g st and 3 ml/g sm90. rez temp was 72-75F this solution was what turned cloudy and the slime .(super thick like mucus..)
so... i got all new collars, new super airstones,( lots of micro bubbles popping and splashing) so my water is moving around well even without the misters going. temp in the rez is 72F which is pretty close to optimal
so i scrubbed, bleached and the soaked everything in straight 29% h202 to kill any thing in there. i wiped the stems down wiith 3%h202 and poored some directly on the roots.! crazy i know but ive done it before once to wipe down some leaves with early pm (luckily havent had issues with that in years... good old sulfur..) any way i knew the plants could handle it. and today they seem healthy and happy,
after re sterilizing everything i added to fresh tap water. (our tap water is really good here, well as far as city water goes. 6.1 out of the tap @65ppm)
1/4tsp/g super thrive
1 ml/g dm zone
and thats it. hopefully it will do the trick. any one add both bleach and zone? and1ppm chlorine doesnt seem like it would do much.. any one try higher rates with success? i know zone is copper sulfate but has any one tried adding sulfur powder to the rez to fight pathogens?
so... i got all new collars, new super airstones,( lots of micro bubbles popping and splashing) so my water is moving around well even without the misters going. temp in the rez is 72F which is pretty close to optimal
so i scrubbed, bleached and the soaked everything in straight 29% h202 to kill any thing in there. i wiped the stems down wiith 3%h202 and poored some directly on the roots.! crazy i know but ive done it before once to wipe down some leaves with early pm (luckily havent had issues with that in years... good old sulfur..) any way i knew the plants could handle it. and today they seem healthy and happy,
after re sterilizing everything i added to fresh tap water. (our tap water is really good here, well as far as city water goes. 6.1 out of the tap @65ppm)
1/4tsp/g super thrive
1 ml/g dm zone
and thats it. hopefully it will do the trick. any one add both bleach and zone? and1ppm chlorine doesnt seem like it would do much.. any one try higher rates with success? i know zone is copper sulfate but has any one tried adding sulfur powder to the rez to fight pathogens?
