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

Hay long time no see Journeyman, it’s good to hear from you ~ well let me see if I can answer a few of this Q’s

Would it be of any benefit to have a extra bucket with no plants, jest full of lava rock.

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well I think the key word here is benefit, I am strictly specking from my own experience ~ I have found that if one is using an 8” net-pot that is plenty enough ~ I am rapidly approaching my second year in the Bio-Buckets and I have never lost a crop to anything!! Therefore I will assume that what I am doing is plenty enough ~ but on the other hand let me say that I like this idea and if designed right and implemented correctly it could serve very useful ~ problems that I foresee as disgust before is dead-spots but I do believe that there is a way around that so if you decide on putting this idea to use let me know and I’ll be glade to give you the rest of my ideas until then good luck.

Also curious if a bucket system could be done in 2 gallon buckets?

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I would say that as long as one was not planning to grow trees in these 2 or 2 ½ buckets it should be fine ~ let me explain something to every one here about the Bio-Buckets root mass, I know every one has been told about it and I cant speck for every one just for myself and my Bio-System………….so if one were to decide on two gallon buckets to grow what I grow in it would not work, the root mass that is in my Bio-System would most definitely over flow a two gallon and come very close to over flowing a two and a half gallon buck ~ so I guess it all depends upon how large one wants to grow.

would you reccomend an in line pump vs. a submersable?I would think an in line would avoid high temps in the rez.

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yes I would make all effort as a grower to use an inline pump vs. a submersible one for the very reason that you mention.

If I can be of any further assistants to you let me know and I’ll do my best ~ summer work is slacking up some what now so you should see more of me around here……………

Ps………..this style of growing is very quick and very easy, I am coming to a close on my currant grow and I would say that I did not spin thirty minuets a day in my grow/room………………that is amazing and not many hydro system will let you live your live and grow your weed at the same time.

YES I did it with 14 bio-buckets

YES I did it with 14 bio-buckets

well hello all and a special hello to Big Toke

first off i must tell you all how sorry i am.....several months ago i was in the middle of doing 2 test grows one for bog and one for gyspy.....when as a medical user I had a major set back and lost everything i had, EVERYTHING, I'm just now getting back on my feet........durning my slow recovery I was able to take just 1 or 2 hours a day to slowly work on my new grow room and grow system.....my new system:



Big Toke I am indebted to you, I have followed your directions step by step as listed in this guide your directions and explanations are grrreat and made the building of my 14 bucket bio system very easy......god how I love my Big Toke Bio system, thank- you thank-you thank-you........I'm just 7 days into my first grow using this system and I have never had it so easy with results sooo grrrreat......god bless you Big Toke and did I say thank-you? well thanks

for those of you who may wish to follow my first bio grow keep a eye open in the BOG grow section for sometime this week I will be starting a grow journal reporting this grow using all BOG seeds

I wanted to respond to the above question :
Quote:
Would it be of any benefit to have a extra bucket with no plants, jest full of lava rock.
I think if you wanted to do this just use your net pot full of lava rocks for extra Benifical Bacteria and run your bucket full of nutes....I'm using 5 gal buckets with a 20 gal res.....so if I did this it would be increasing the size of my res from 20 to 24.5 gallons.....having the extra large res would give you greater benifits than haveing a bucket full of lava rocks where dead zones may be created at the bottom of the bucket.....trust BT on this he does know what he is talking about, I have and I am soo soo glad I did

before I go here is a teaser of some pic's for my set up:

wow...wow...

nice work, daltron!!

that looks great!!!

sorry to hear about your declining health.

hope you're feeling better.

Hello daltron ~ it’s good to see you feeling a little better for last I talked to ya you were a little down ~ you have done a fantastic job in your design; congratulations!!! I am sure you will have years of trouble free maintenance and amazing results with the Bio-System, when I first built mine I sat in the grow/room and just watched it work for hours ~ I have done the math on your Bio-System and it should perform great!!! From the sound of your condition this hydro-system is perfect for you I know you will love it………………I have been very busy at work this summer and as you know I am growing two deff strains at once in my Bio-System, I would say on average with this grow that I didn’t spend over one hour a week in my grow/room and this is going to be one of the best harvest that BigToke has had in a long time!! Well I’m looking forward to seeing this grow for sure and you know that I’ll be right here if ya need me but I think you know every thing to do so I’m just going to set back and watch it gooooo……………….

How are ya.
I am starting to assemble my bio bucket system and i would like to run a few things past ya.
I have a small grow area,so i will have to condense this down. I am thinkin a 5 2 gallon bucket system.5 gallon buckets are just too tall, and eat up too much space.ONe thing i do have going for me is my rez is recessed into the floor.My plans are to cover the rez with something heavy enough to support thr buckets,3/4 in plywood.My buckets would then be sitting on top of the rez. The rez is 18 inches deep,and i am planning on it storing 10 gallons,which is about 5 inches of water.This will give me 13 inches(+._) of water fall. one question i have is do i need to run all my buckets to a common drain,then dump it into the rez, or can each bucket drain in to the rez individually? 5 small waterfalls,vs one large one.

I have just bought a mag drive inlne pump 700 GPH,which is more than enough from what i ahve read.my system will be about 20 gallons total.

Another question is can my feed line be plumbed into the bottom of the buckets? I realize if there is a power outage the buckets will drain into the rez,but thats ok the rez will hold it all.By doing this i can drain the buckets into the rez,and empty the rez if needed.I am concerned though if a bottom feed bucket will work the same as a top feed system.I personally dont see where it would make a difference,but what do i know, thats why i am asking you.

A week or so ago i had asked you about a extra bucket to hold rocks,and do nothing but harbor BB.you said you liked the idea,but to hit you up if i was gonna take that route. I think it would work, given enough water flow to avoid dead spots.

I will be feeding my buckets with 3/4 inch cpvc,and draining them with inchand a half pvc.
I also am planning on adding a 4 inch fan to blow air into the rez,and will have a 4 inch outlet for air on the opposite end of the intake.
I have scads of hydrotron clay pellets, i would like to use,but getting lava isn't a big deal.what are your thoughts here?

I have been reading all i can find on bio buckets,on several different boards,and i think i have a handle on it,but i wanted to pick the brain of a pro. Thanks





__________________________

Bigtoke.
I have just read your thread.
This is the first time I have posted in IC but I felt my first one must be congratulate you on an excellent thread. Beautifully clear. I was also very impressed with how clearly and politely you answered people’s questions.
I am presently about to start a new grow in a new location and am torn between a DWC, Bio Bucket or KFB. I can see pros n cons with all the systems. If I go with BB I should have no problem setting it up if I follow your thread.
Nice one . and thank you for the time and energy you have put into this HOW TO thread.
Peace
shi

Howdy JM ~ sorry it took me so long to get back to ya something came up that could not whit ~ here’s what I see going on with the info that you supplied me with………………..

I am thinkin a 5 2 gallon bucket system.5 gallon buckets are just too tall, and eat up too much space.

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well it’s like this, I grow medium to large plants in my Bio-System and each bucket is exchanged with nutrients eighteen times an hour ~ now here’s how this works for me, because I let my plants grow so large most of the time {not all plants} will fill the bucket up with roots and seriously slow down the flow or exchange rate to about ten times an hour, now here’s how this works ~ the supply and the drain must be equal no matter how big the roots get, so here’s were folks run into prob’s with this ~ if the grow area {bucket} is to small the roots will completely fill the bucket and seriously slow down the flow exchange rate and when that happens here’s what usually happens ~ because the water going into the Bio-Bucket cannot get to the other side fast enough so that it can drain, it will cause the water level to rise and may over flow!!.....................................but if you keep your plants small enough you shouldn’t have a problem.

ONe thing i do have going for me is my rez is recessed into the floor.My plans are to cover the rez with something heavy enough to support thr buckets,3/4 in plywood.My buckets would then be sitting on top of the rez.

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the rez idea sounds like a good one but here are some things to think about ~ remember to never put plywood over your rez because of the salts that are going to be splashing upon it will cause the stuff that is in the wood to come out and you do not want that!! ~ cover the wood fist with a piece of plastic and you should be just fine. ~ do not cover your rez all the way so that it can breath, all living things must breath.

The rez is 18 inches deep,and i am planning on it storing 10 gallons,which is about 5 inches of water.This will give me 13 inches(+._) of water fall.

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that sounds like you should have plenty enough fall to generate good O2.

one question i have is do i need to run all my buckets to a common drain,then dump it into the rez, or can each bucket drain in to the rez individually? 5 small waterfalls,vs one large one.

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ether way will do just fine as long as the exchange rate is good.

Another question is can my feed line be plumbed into the bottom of the buckets?

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there are several reasons way that I don’t recommend this but the primary reason is that the pressure that is produced by the supply line {incoming} tends to push the roots upward and causes the roots to go down the drain line to much……………………in every attempt that was tried I ran into too much problems. ~ believe me the way this system is designed is the best.
Ps………….there are advantages and disadvantages in doing it this way but if you think that you have every thing covered go for it ~ I don’t want to be the one do discourage you in trying something new.

A week or so ago i had asked you about a extra bucket to hold rocks,and do nothing but harbor BB.you said you liked the idea,but to hit you up if i was gonna take that route. I think it would work, given enough water flow to avoid dead spots.

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ok so it looks like you may try this after all so here’s what I think about this ~ in this case when you have one central hive bucket or colonization bucket that is full of lava rocks you will need to design it a little deferent than the Bio-Buckets ~ so here’s the only way that I see this thing working; remember that the supply line that is coming out of your reservoir is under pressure, so if your going to have one control colonization bucket to feed all of your other buckets here’s the only way that I see that this thing could work ~ the bucket that is going to be filled up with lava rocks would have to be sealed {water proof} because it is a SUPPLY LINE and if it is not then here’s what’s going to happen ~ the pump from your rez is going to pump to the control bucket and then DRAIN to each bucket ~ and there is no way that you can get enough pressure from a drain line to exchange the bucket’s water/nutrients so that it will produce sufficient enough O2……………………….if you still have further Q’s on this just ask and I will give you more of what I think about this.

I will be feeding my buckets with 3/4 inch cpvc,and draining them with inchand a half pvc.

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for grater flexibility I would not recommend using cpvc ~ I would simply use a contractors water hose for this, that’s what I did and it works great and almost two years have gown by and never a prob.

I have scads of hydrotron clay pellets, i would like to use,but getting lava isn't a big deal.what are your thoughts here?

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it is of this grower’s opinion that lava rocks are the best and would not recommend using any thing that does not have pours in it ~ water must be able to flow though the rocks and the rocks MUST be able to breath for the Beneficial Bacterium to live.

I hope that I was able to give you some useful info on what you wanted to know but if not just ask again sometimes it takes me a few times to get what folks are talking about.

Big Toke thank for you input, you are truely a asset to the community.You cover everything wonderfully,Howevr i think there is some misunderstandin on my thoughts on the Bucket'o'rocks.rather than this bucket feeding all the others,i was thinkin on simplyhaving the input at the bottom(or top and plumbed to the bottom) then a overflow drain at the top going to the rez,just like the buckets with the plants in them.Ill be building this set up over the coming weeks and ill post pics and documentation if anyone is interested.
Thanks Big Toke!

I have a grommet for your thru holes, it's called a Uniseal and you can get them from the mailorder Aquatic Eco in Flordia. Drill the hole and clean it up, install the Uniseal and when you put the pipe through it makes a watertight seal.

I grew some peppers in a little Aero system with a Bio-filter (which was a 1/8" line coming off the manifold, which dumped over LECA (clay pellets) and I didn't clean the res for a year and they kicked out peppers whenever it got warm enough.

Try adding some EA EN and or GH Subculture to your lava rock, I've had real good luck with using Subculture in bio-filters.

Nice pictures.

Hey just stoppin by. Awesome thread here 4 the bio growers. Im growin in hydro also but chemicals only. One lil question : when the seedling, lil plant is ready to be put to the hydro sys ?? Iam runin the 3gal bucket with aquarium pump. Mine setup is so tiny that i feel here like a lil worm. Thanks for any help. BTW: plant is cindirella 99. And one more clue m8s. The plant is 2 inches high and has got two pair of leaves already.

Peace Pes

gettin there

gettin there

bucket system almost complete.I went ahead with the 2 gallon buckets, and i have a 6th bucket to make a bio field.Ill try it WTF.

WOW ~ that is very nice J ~ I want to be the fist to say great job on your ingenuity, I can see that there was a lot of thought that want into this so I hope it works for yea ~ there are a few things that I see that I think I would have done differently but I like what I see ~ I think I would not have had the supply tube go all the way down in the bucket because of backflow/suction, and it looks like plywood that the buckets are setting on, I would be worried that the salts from the hydroponics solution would have some effect on the wood but other than that it looks great, I congratulate you on a job well done ~ I never did have much use for any body that second guessed there work, build it, run it, and see what it does and Larne as you go.

Hey big toke thanks for takin a look. Those pics were taken during construction.The bottom of the plywood has half inch foam board to keep the splashin in the rez off the plywood.The top of the plywood has since had silver bubble wrap insulation stuff placed between the buckets and the wood. The pipes in the buckets are not glued,when i want to drain the buckets ill add these to cause a siphon back thru the supply to the rezwhen the pump is shut off.I wont be using these tubes during normal operation.Been working on this all day,and the buckets and rez are filled,lids are on and lava rocks are in the pots.Its alive!!!
I have some lighting and ventinlation projects to work on now while the buckets are getting their bio colony's built up.
The pump I am using is a 700gph mag drive.I have a bout 20 gallons of water and it takes about 2 minutes for the buckets to fill. The flow rate in the buckets is not what i had imagined,but with a 2 minute fill time that would be about 30 times an hour they recirculate.Am i doing the right math here?
I had to place my pump in the rez and i am concerned about the temps.What is the maximum temps i should accept?

Journeyman - nice work girl! Real nice! Can't wait to see what you grow in it...

Well J ~ I stand corrected, looks like you have already though of every thing before hand, great job!!

I am guessing but can we expect a grow thread once your done?

I'm back!

I'm back!

Hello bio-bucketeers,
I've been gone for a long time (since Jan. 2003) and just recently checked the forums I used to frequent. Much to my dismay, no one was still using the bio buckets, as far as I could see on OG and CW. Then I saw a link posted by Big Toke that led me here. Well what do you know, Bio buckets are still alive!

Big Toke: You've done an excellent job on this BB Tutorial. Thanks for keeping Hurtback's methods alive through your threads and helping newbies who want to learn this beautiful growing system.

I'm not currently growing but will be lurking enviously and will try to chime in when needed.

Regards,
petemoss

Petemoss my bro ~ it is great to hear from you after all this time and even better to know that your ok, let me take this opportunity to say thanks for stopping by; it is truly an honor to see you here, folks this is truly one of the Bio-Bucket Icons from days gone by and a True Master at Modular Bio-Bucket SCROGing style, I have a link to one of his supper-grows at CW and there are many at OG, I have found this man to be of good character and of honest report of the things he does ~ yes it is true that the god/father of the Bio-Buckets is Hurtback!! I would like to send out a great big hello to ya me friend and if your reading this it would be an honor to have you here ~ well pete I’m not sure if your going to do another Bio-Grow any time soon but if you do it would be a great pleasure if you did it here at ICmag ~ I tried keeping a grow/thread documentation at OG/CW but it just got to much for me to keep up with so I needed to decided on a permanent grow/site to settle down with and ICmag was it, the folks here are unbeatable....................pete, back in the day when you were on OG/CW I was there lurking in the background taking notes but I was not ready to come out of my nutshell seeing that I had some security issues to take care of seeing that’s all taking care of now I have tied to carry on with the Bio-Buckets

Big Toke, thanks for your kind words and warm welcome! I miss those old days when a bunch of us were all trying the bio buckets for the first time. Most of us had no prior growing experience and had to learn basic growing skills as we went. Along the way we had to overcome numerous problems such as equipment breakdowns, pests, hot weather, nute deficiencies, flame wars, mold etc. But somehow we all made it through and ended up with some good bud. I'll never forget the pride and satisfaction I felt to smoke my own weed for the first time!

You've done a great job BT in putting into words the theoretical underpinnings of the bio bucket system. When a new grower asks me for info on BB's, I can now refer him to your comprehensive tutorial - I certainly couldn't expect him to wade through those old 80-page OG threads!

Grow on, Big Toke! Show them the incredible naturalness and power of the Bio Buckets!

Well I was looking forward to seeing Journeyman’s finished Bio-System but I looks as thou she’s not around any more…………..Oh well, were every your at Journeyman I wish you well.

Guest said:

... The pump I am using is a 700gph mag drive.I have a bout 20 gallons of water and it takes about 2 minutes for the buckets to fill. The flow rate in the buckets is not what i had imagined,but with a 2 minute fill time that would be about 30 times an hour they recirculate.Am i doing the right math here?
I had to place my pump in the rez and i am concerned about the temps.What is the maximum temps i should accept?
...

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Yup, they are getting 30X turnover, which should be plenty. In fact, more than enough since 6-12X turnover is the norm. The reason you are getting less flow than you expected with a 700 gph pump is that your feed lines are over two feet high (from your submerged pump to the top of the bucket) and at that height, a 700 gph pump will barely pump 500 gph.