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A NEW Bio-Bucket grow... 12-site/1KW

K

KifGärtner

Member
Saw that picture with the r/o filter exposed in the open. Those clear tubes will start to grow funk in them. I had mine switched out just because of that fact. You might consider moving it to a dark corner, or try to keep it in the dark somehow.
 
C

Casual

Kif... Oh shit, you're right on the money... I didn't think of that. I'll build a box or something that slips over the whole assembly.

Caz
 
angel4us

angel4us

Active member
ICMag Donor
gettin cold around here!!!!

gettin cold around here!!!!

way to go casual , nice choice . i was about to suggest awater cooler diy mod??? what kind of pump you have ???
 
Raphael

Raphael

Member
Casual you are definitely done with the big purchases. Once you have everything setup with no leaks and you have the temp right in the water and in the air you are home free.

I would look to humidity issues when flower is in full swing but air movement will keep that down unless you are running a sealed room.

Everything looks good do you have a screen to stop roots from growing down the drain tube? I used window screen zip tied around the outlet which worked well.

Keep it up!
 
C

Casual

Angel, the pump is a Danner MagDrive 950GPH...

Raphael... That was something I didn't do... I like your idea... it would be very easy to do that in this coming week... I'll precut the pieces and have my wife hold the lids while I pop them on and ziptie 'em... good idea!

Caz
 
petemoss

petemoss

Active member
hey Caz, how's the water temp now? Are you at 68F steady now? Raphael has given you good advice in this thread, but I must disagree with him about the need for screens. I've heard of several overflows in buckets with screened drains. Roots can get sucked against the screen and the beneficials often form a slime on everything. When the drain is obstructed, the water level rises and can overflow the bucket. Why take the risk of a disastrous flood just to insure that no roots grow down the drain? A few roots down the drain won't hurt you. It mainly happens early in the grow when the roots are short. The new roots tend to float up and get sucked into the drain tube, but when the roots grow longer, they stay down in the bucket. Roots growing down the drain can easily be pulled out when you lift up the lids to rotate the plant. So I vote NO to screens. And congrats on getting your bio buckets finished and ready to rumble on your first try. I know you're going to do well on this grow cuz ur doing everything right!
 
C

Casual

Pete, yep, got her purring right along at 68.4f
I think this time around, I'll keep an eye on the roots... I have my drain setup with a removable end cap, so maybe twice a week, I'll kill the pump, unscrew the cap and peer down the tube and see if any roots have reached it. If I see anything, I'll know which bucket to mess with. Is there any harm in trimming off the few roots I'll find?
I have one empty bucket... waiting for roots on my last clone. If it doesn't go, I'll just have an open slot this time around. Next time around I'll run a few extra clones.

I want to thank everyone for the kudos and well wishes. I'm still VERY apprehensive and learning new stuff every day. You guys are an AWESOME source of info and confidence building and I appreciate it! Damn, now it's getting mushy!:grouphug:

Anyhow, that's it for now... I'm finally settling down a little bit...things seem to be steady, ambient air is sitting fine, humidity is good for now, and rez is SWEET now!

Cheers!

Caz
 
Neo 420

Neo 420

Active member
Veteran
Great setup you have there....
1 question tho... Will the "waterfall effect" deliver enough DO to the roots?
Keep up the good work and I am sure you harvest will show the fruits of your labor!!
 
C

Casual

Hi Neo. With 12 buckets, a 12" waterfall WOULD be enough... BigToke explains how to calculate the height of the waterfall with how many buckets you have.
Because I wanted more 'head' height, height above the buckets, I dropped the buckets as low as possible which only give me about a 2-3" waterfall. To generate enough water movement in the rez, I added a 2100gph PowerHead... the water in the rez is REALLY tossed around.

Cheers!

Caz
 
C

Casual

Hi Num... here's a shot of the Rez with the powerhead towards the top of the pic...

I used the Maxi-Jet 1200 Powerhead with the AlgaeFree 2100GPH mod kit.

When I took this pic, I didn't have the mod kit on it... it actually arrived a few hours later. Next time I have the rez lid off, I'll pull it up out of the water and take a pic of it.

Caz
 

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Numboard

Numboard

Member
Rad. I didn't know what a power-head was actually. Quick google search fixed that.
Those things look pretty cool, I think I might get some for my res.
 
dachieftan

dachieftan

Active member
Thanks for the pics caz!
I really appreciate your help brother. Seems like your numbers are all dialed in with the addition of that AC window unit and that 1/4hp water chiller. Looks like all you can do now is sit back and watch the pretty grass grow.:watchplant:

Were you lucky enough to have a room with a window to place the AC unit? Or did you have outfit your space to meet the demands of an AC unit as suggested in hossierdaddy's thread:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=95491

Is there anyway you could maintain the necessary temps. for this system without an AC unit (but with the water chiller)?
 
C

Casual

Chieftain... at the moment, I'm running a small, portable Evaporative cooler that is in an adjacent room, blowing into the grow room through a 16x6" vent in the wall. It's keeping the temps in a decent range... between 80-83f... Humidity is OK now, and about 47%, but as the girls get larger, the humidity will get nuts, plus having to fill the cooler twice a day will get old very quickly. I'm going to remove the vent from the wall and replace it with a Window AC unit, although it won't be mounted in a window. It'll heat up the room that it's ass is hanging into, but it's a spare room we don't really use anyway. That will probably drop the humidity quite a bit until the girls get larger. If it drops it too much, I can always pick up a cheap humidifier to run for a few weeks.
I'm not expecting a whole lot out of this first grow... it's a MAJOR learning experience. I'm hoping to get dialed in within a couple of grow sessions to be able to pull 8z's a plant. I'm hoping that's not terribly crazy. BigToke didn't really talk about his yields, and I've seen numbers on both sides of what I'm hoping to do. Time will tell!

Caz
 
petemoss

petemoss

Active member
Casual said:
Pete, yep, got her purring right along at 68.4f
I think this time around, I'll keep an eye on the roots... I have my drain setup with a removable end cap, so maybe twice a week, I'll kill the pump, unscrew the cap and peer down the tube and see if any roots have reached it. If I see anything, I'll know which bucket to mess with. Is there any harm in trimming off the few roots I'll find?
I have one empty bucket... waiting for roots on my last clone. If it doesn't go, I'll just have an open slot this time around. Next time around I'll run a few extra clones. ...
Caz
Click to expand...

I'd prefer to pull the stray roots back out of the drain. Any broken or cut roots will eventually end up in your res and it can't help you to have dead roots there. I once had roots grow right into my res but managed to gently pull them back into the bucket. Those suckers grew more than a foot per day! Roots growing down the drain is a nuisance but not a danger to your grow. Hope your last clone roots, but if you end up with an empty bucket, that's an excellent place to mix in new nutes.

All your clones should be sending roots down to the water level and should perk up soon. After that you can kick back and let nature take its course! You've done all the hard work already, so enjoy!
 
C

Casual

Sounds like a plan Pete, thanks again bud!
I'll keep an eye on them. They all look pretty healthy. None are drooping. A couple look like they're starting to take off. It's only been 3 days though.
I need to make something to cover the RO system to keep the light out... I thought the clear filter housings were cool, but it was brought to my attention that it's a great way for Algae to start... DOH!

Caz
 
Hundred Gram Oz

Hundred Gram Oz

Our Work is Never Over
Veteran
I haven't read through you whole thread but I can say, you’re a brave man taking on the bio bucket. I have seen lots of peeps fuck up their whole grow very quickly, although if you master the technique then you’re on to a real winner. I hope you get it bro.
 
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