Blazeoneup's Recirculating Dwc Construction Tutorial!

best dloadable guide ever. thank you so much, i printed it out in nice color copy and got a binder. You fucking rule! thanks

Nice work Blaze,
have saved and burnt it to disc,lokos like i might have to give this indoors nother go soon!
Kindest Regards,FT

Blazeoneup - I just wanted to thank you for a great tutorial. I downloaded the file and checked it out. Great - thanks for all the work you did, and do, for the rest of our benefits.

Question: Kinda like the Krusty buckets, what if you got some very high output air pump, like a compressor, to really pump the air through. Would this be beneficial, or is the air system you have more than enough? I ask because I have the compressor, and noise is not an issue.

Thank you Blazeoneup. Really superb.

Thank you mate for this Recirculating Dwc Construction Tutorial.

simply amazing setup blazeoneup

What's up blaze on up... YOu are by far one of my favorite documentators of grow journals... I really enjoyed your tutorial and had to read it 3 times to get most of the system... I am really curious how the water flow is done,how do you fill the buckets and when you drain them... what is the actuall process... Do you have your float valve on a timer and how does the drain work other than gravity and emptying the controller.... i've seen your latest journal on ICmag... and was curious how you set up the dehumidifier and r/o unit all on teh same drain.... ... I am starting a new grow and need a little advice.... I was thinking recirculating dwc, because of my success with dwc in the past but hated the hard efforts to keep the buckets at proper ph and ec levels not to mention the once a week dumping of 10 + gallons per 20 buckets.... anyways also would you suggest 2 1000w hps or 4 600 digital hps? I am thinking 4 600 for the light spread and the maximum effiency and pge cost... plus i have the multi flow system with 30 buckets each are 2 gallons, would that be sufficent amount of space for roots to grow and not clog the drain holes.... with your current system what prevents the roots from cloggin the drian wholes and over flowwing a certain bucket??? also where can i get a cheap water chiller for 2 55 gallon drums... I am going go big... plus i have some fantastic genetics and want to continue my hybrid's and train to stabilize a few strains... any help you can give i wiould love... anyways hope to hear back from you and hope every grow looks like the last few i have seen... You should also consider writting your own book on the DWC and Recirculation... have a good weekend... C 4 n n 4 3 1 5 K 1 n 5

do you ever have problems with slight leakage on the bottom on the drains? Mine are tight but drip a little. Also, when the plants take off the roots will grow down into the drains all the way to the rez in some cases, maybe you want to suggest to install an ebb and flow filter for each 3/4" fitting.

Thanks for your post though Blaze, it was very useful when building my Recirc DWC

Impressive as always my old friend!!! 57325 had to stop in and check out ur thread.

question blaze, .... these are some tough ones, and im sorry if they are a pain in the ass. but you will be saving a confused medical patient some real fucking help...... here it is.



Im building a 14 bucket system. I plan on doing it in a square 10 x 10 room but im using 6 x 2 for a vegging/mom area. so that leaves me with 8 x 10. i figured 2 feet fully round each pot. im gonna grow trees are huge monster colas. I own 1 1000 HPS, 1 1000 MH, 2 600 watt HPS hortulux bulb, 2 150 hps. 2 10 inch flange 5 feet tall carbon scrubers. I have 2 256 eco pumps sumbersable. i could get a 3rd out of storage. All my hoods are air cooled and i plan to have a 12,000 3 in one AC/dehumidifyer(does 60 liters of water a day)/heater. THe walls are pink i got a bunch of flat paint gonna paint the room..... I also have a closet... this is where i plan to put my Control bucket and Trashcan Rez. 2 rows will have 5 buckets on it. 3rd row will have 4. So 3 line system.

questions..

1.What size pumps do i need? should i use all 3 pumps each line?

2. How well is the water really recirculating? Is it because the pump draws the water as it squirts a stream of water on top? Are there any new modifications you are working on you can let me in on? I want to make sure to do this right!

3. Do you own a inline chiller? What size etc do you suggest for me?

4. What and how many parts do i need... my shopping list.... i notice you have one for 12... what do i need to add for what i just explained.... I was also thinking of using metal brackets that tighten to prevent water leaks.... as that was a major problem without anything holding them.... little problem.. in a side project i have going on 2 bucket system.

5. should everything be level? this is how the system works?


6. What products, nutes, algie fighter, root stimulators do you use. i remember you telling me about sm90..... will this prevent me from having to flush this system every week.

7. flushing... do i need to clean out all the buckets and everything? so i need to prepare another 14 buckets to put my plants in as i clean the system out? Whooo thats a lot of work....

8. Do you use 3/4 ebb and flow fittings for drain and 1/2 inch ebb and flow fitting for pump because of recirculation reasons... or because of pump fitting into the hose?

ok i will stop right there for now... i will scan my print out to my room. and try to explain it to you... if you need pictures i can give you them, but its just a empty room right now.... im starting and need to get this done Fast~ As im moving at the same time, harest, transfer soil plants, tear down my old grow room, etc.... u know what its like to move..


so your help is sooooo greatly appreciated!!!!! thanks bud...


this is my experment i have right now. growth has taken off so much im just going with your system bro. looks like it works. look at next post of my scheme of the next grow room

ok let me try to explain this as best as possible. each square resembles a foot. Each square that i drew resembles where a pot is going to be.... count 14. UP on the left hand corner is where the door is to enter the grow room. to the upper right is the closet where the rez and trash can will be. Im not sure what im going to do for a vegging cab i was thinking maybe a ebb and flow table with something covering them..... but i hate timers and shit... but thats ok gotta do what i gotta do... so set it to me straight brother. Thanks again for any and all help.


o ya... the orange is where im going to put my lights.. upper is the 2 600 watt hps, middle is 1000 MH, and bottom is 1000 HPS. all air cooled. the middle i will take out the light fixture and use that as an take out for air with carbon filter on top in attack. also use some electricity up there if there is any. there is a window and that is where that AC is.... still debating the 3 in one AC i mentioned earlier.... thats about all. the downward right corner is the vegging area, i will seperate it with plastic....

o ya incase you didn't know.. you can click on the picture and on the bottom right there should be a red button and you can click on it to enlarge it larger.... i tried to upload it as a url but didn't work.

SCF said:

question blaze, .... these are some tough ones, and im sorry if they are a pain in the ass. but you will be saving a confused medical patient some real fucking help...... here it is.

Im building a 14 bucket system. I plan on doing it in a square 10 x 10 room but im using 6 x 2 for a vegging/mom area. so that leaves me with 8 x 10. i figured 2 feet fully round each pot. im gonna grow trees are huge monster colas. I own 1 1000 HPS, 1 1000 MH, 2 600 watt HPS hortulux bulb, 2 150 hps. 2 10 inch flange 5 feet tall carbon scrubers. I have 2 256 eco pumps sumbersable. i could get a 3rd out of storage. All my hoods are air cooled and i plan to have a 12,000 3 in one AC/dehumidifyer(does 60 liters of water a day)/heater. THe walls are pink i got a bunch of flat paint gonna paint the room..... I also have a closet... this is where i plan to put my Control bucket and Trashcan Rez. 2 rows will have 5 buckets on it. 3rd row will have 4. So 3 line system.

questions..

1.What size pumps do i need? should i use all 3 pumps each line?

Click to expand...

Well lets do the math. 14x3&1/2=49 + 9-15=64 so basically system capacity will be 59-64 gallons. Now lets say you have a capacity of 64 gallons. 256/64=4 so if you used 1 single 256gph pump that would give you 4 exchanges per hr. With 2 256gph pumps that would give you 8 exchanges per hr. I would say 8 per hr is fine so use the 2 pumps.

SCF said:

2. How well is the water really recirculating? Is it because the pump draws the water as it squirts a stream of water on top? Are there any new modifications you are working on you can let me in on? I want to make sure to do this right!

Click to expand...

The water is recirculating just fine.Its because as the pump pumps water from the controller to the buckets gravity forces water back to the controller to level off.The only modifications i am working on is adding quick disconnect couplings. These couplings will make it easy to disconnect a bucket from the system.

SCF said:

3. Do you own a inline chiller? What size etc do you suggest for me?

Click to expand...

I do own an inline chiller.I would recommend a 1/4hp honestly.You could get a 1/8th hp chiller and it would do the job but i reccomend spending the extra on a 1/4hp chiller simply because you could easily use the same 1/4hp chiller for a 20 bucket system where if you purchased a 1/8th hp it would not be able to be used in a 20 bucket system.

SCF said:

4. What and how many parts do i need... my shopping list.... i notice you have one for 12... what do i need to add for what i just explained.... I was also thinking of using metal brackets that tighten to prevent water leaks.... as that was a major problem without anything holding them.... little problem.. in a side project i have going on 2 bucket system.

Click to expand...

Parts list
14x 5 gallon buckets
14x lids with 6" nets built in
14x 2' air diffusers
1x 18 gallon rubbermaid tub
1x 60 gallon reservoir
16x 3/4" elbows
16x 3/4" tee's
20x 3/4" (tub outlets) ebb n flow fittings
3x 3/4" shut off valves
2x 1/2" ebb n flow fittings
28x 1/4" straight barbs
14x 1/4" barbed elbows
3x 1/2" shut off valves
3x 1/2" end caps
100' 3/4" ID tubing
100' 1/4" ID tubing
50' 1/2" ID tubing
1x Float valve
2x eco 264 gph water pumps
2x eco 8 air pumps
16x quick disconnect couplings
Tools list
1x Drill
1x 3/16" bit
1x 3/8" bit
1x 1&1/4" hole saw bit with starter bit
1x Needle nose plyers
1x sharp knife
1x heavy duty scissors
Thats about right for parts and tools list other than you would need to buy 20 hose clamps.

SCF said:

5. should everything be level? this is how the system works?

Click to expand...

Yeah the system should be as level as possible otherwise one row will be 5" from the top of bucket the other will be 8 ect it will keep the buckets from holding the same water capacity.

SCF said:

6. What products, nutes, algie fighter, root stimulators do you use. i remember you telling me about sm90..... will this prevent me from having to flush this system every week.

Click to expand...

As long as you get black buckets and black tubing and keep light out of the system algea wont be a problem.I use pirhana as a root stimulator...

SCF said:

7. flushing... do i need to clean out all the buckets and everything? so i need to prepare another 14 buckets to put my plants in as i clean the system out? Whooo thats a lot of work....

Click to expand...

No you do not have to clean the buckets during flush you simply drain as low as the pumps and fittings will allow and fill back with fresh batch of nutes.You clean the buckets and system once after every crop.

SCF said:

8. Do you use 3/4 ebb and flow fittings for drain and 1/2 inch ebb and flow fitting for pump because of recirculation reasons... or because of pump fitting into the hose?

Click to expand...

I use the 3/4" and 1/2" tubing simply cause its available and works plus i dont want the recirc lines as big as the return lines.That will cause problems with proper flow and may cause an overflow. The tubing size is preference just make sure the return line is larger than the recirc lines.

SCF said:

ok i will stop right there for now... i will scan my print out to my room. and try to explain it to you... if you need pictures i can give you them, but its just a empty room right now.... im starting and need to get this done Fast~ As im moving at the same time, harest, transfer soil plants, tear down my old grow room, etc.... u know what its like to move..

Click to expand...

Cool looks good enjoy your grow...

SCF said:

so your help is sooooo greatly appreciated!!!!! thanks bud...
this is my experment i have right now. growth has taken off so much im just going with your system bro. looks like it works. look at next post of my scheme of the next grow room

Click to expand...

np bro, check out my second post as well, think it out.... lets do it right! wooot!

Ok scf not really sure what you were asking in the last post with the diagram of your room so i have not replied to it...

basicly i guess i was asking if you think that set up would work? the way i have it all set up? seems like it would as long as its level like you said.. And any suggestions you might have.... like how to run my return line to the two buckets to the left side etc...


if im becoming to much of a pain just tell me now


in a 10x10 room how many BTU will i need with my lighting 2 600 hps 1 1000 MH 1 1000 HPS, all air cooled hoods exept the 1000 MH will hang verticaly, and maybe the 1000 HPS too... not sure on it... I was debating on a 3 in 1 AC.... Dehumidifys 60 litters of water a day... and its 12,000 BTU but its a portable AC.. so i wont draw attention from neihbors.


thanks so much for that reply. Helped me out tons.....


on your new improvment are you putting shut off valves on each bucket? instead of the rows?


any other help or suggestions would be lovely... if you got the time maybe i will start up a thread and you can give me a hand if i run into problems as i build it...


now the ONLY problem i had with my 2 bucket system.... is leaking from the hosing to the bucket... do you think metal brackets with a screw to tighten them will work fine for leaks?

i love the idea of no glue...


and if i want a faster return rate of water should i use a bigger pump? or since we are dealing with 1/4 inch tubbing to feed it really doesn't matter? go with 2 or 3 maybe 256's?


you think that would create a lot of heat inside the control bucket with that many pumps? inline cooler is a must hu?


ok ill stop there.... LMAO im just so excited



dude that shopping list you gave me... priceless....

side by side, hydro vs soil.....

Hey Blaze I have a question for you. I modeled my setup after yours but I made a lot of changes. A big one is that I use 1" pvc and Uniseals for drain lines. It's a 6 bucket setup.

My question is because I'm planning a second 6 bucket setup. Do you adjust the position of your buckets after building the system? Say, drain it and exchange the tubes for longer ones so you can spread out bigger plants? Or do you set it and keep it there for the duration of the grow?

If you do change the spacing, then your setup makes more sense than mine. If you don't, you might want to consider PVC and Uniseals because PVC is cheap and Uniseals are very reasonable and are rock solid - no leaks, even if you move them around. The downside is its very hard to move the PVC in or out so once you get them in place that's pretty much it.

I actually like soft vinyl tubing for the purpose i have play,So if one plant were to get to big i can adjust it and keep even canopy, I use threaded tape now on the bulkhead fittings and also use clamps to tighten down the tubing around the bulkheads.

These 2 adjustments give a 100% leak tight seal and i have the mobile ability of the vinyl. As well its easy to tear down and pack away using this method...

SCF i dont know how but i didnt realize you posted again until just now, I will reply soon to the post k sorry took so long....

Hey Blaze,

Another big thank you from the peanut gallery!

Question: What type of shutoff valves are you using for your feed line?

I purchased the black pvc shutoff valves that one generally finds in hydro stores.

Looking inside it, its a gate type valve with no rubber seal...they leak unbelieveably (whether open or not!)...seems like they can't handle any pressurization.

I see you're using something else!

Real Pro job on this turtorial. Graphics great.

Long time lurker, because of this thread I decided to register and say thanks for the awsome tutorial!