Big problems with bubblers – DWC, RDWC grower's opinions

-TheShortTexan- · Jun 22, 2018

I can't keep small air stones from clogging. No matter what. At least not with Genteral Hydro nutes. I don't know that GH is any worse than any other brand, but the salt/crap that they accumulate makes me rip em off thearly lines and throw em away. I have those suction cups glued to the bottom of the rez but the lines slip out of em. Any ideas on how to anchor bare air line tubing to the bottom of rez?

Bobby Boucher · Jun 22, 2018

Anyone worth their weight in salt does more reading here than posting.

It did NOT take me 10 years to stop making assumptions about members. If your ass could learn to navigate the forums you'd quickly realize just how far out of our league dudes here actually are. You could be talking to someone who bred the strain you are growing, or helped formulate the nutrients you are using, or who has made millions in the industry..

but whatever.. this shit lost its entertainment value awhile ago. I don't think "Who is gypsy?" can be topped, and this shit is just too time consuming. Just gonna stop engaging you altogether.

Props to all you guys for handling this insanity as well as you all have.

beta · Jun 22, 2018

Just curious, PetFlora - What exactly has been the result of all this 'high level experimenting' you've been doing? What breakthroughs have you made? What are your discoveries?

Have you ever grown a solid crop all the way through to prove that your supposed experimental 'breakthrough' is valid?

I have yet to see even a marginally acceptable crop from you. How will you ever know if any of these supposed 'experiments' are working if you've never grown a decent looking plant?

Bobby Boucher · Jun 22, 2018

-TheShortTexan- said:
I can't keep small air stones from clogging. No matter what. At least not with Genteral Hydro nutes. I don't know that GH is any worse than any other brand, but the salt/crap that they accumulate makes me rip em off thearly lines and throw em away. I have those suction cups glued to the bottom of the rez but the lines slip out of em. Any ideas on how to anchor bare air line tubing to the bottom of rez?

Dmzone. Or bleach. Or pool shock. Zone comes out a lot pricier somewhere around $80 a gallon, but I'm a dumbass who'd rather not be diluting my own disinfectant, and at 1ml per gallon the shit lasts forever. Keeps my buckets so clean I can hardly justify scrubbing my equipment between harvests. I've started just powerwashing everything at 2000 psi real quick, wiping down with ISO and calling it a day.

Or if you are running live, just use medium grenades to anchor down the lines.

And if it's actually salt deposits that's clogging your stones, I'm guessing your water is really hard and an RO would clear that up,

Just a guess, though. Worth what it cost ya.

PetFlora · Jun 22, 2018

beta said:
Just curious, PetFlora - What exactly has been the result of all this 'high level experimenting' you've been doing? What breakthroughs have you made? What are your discoveries?

Have you ever grown a solid crop all the way through to prove that your supposed experimental 'breakthrough' is valid?

I have yet to see even a marginally acceptable crop from you. How will you ever know if any of these supposed 'experiments' are working if you've never grown a decent looking plant?

So you don't have a problem jacking the OPs thread too? Apparently, you didn't look as far back as my posted pictures this morning

Im just not going to respond to such stupidity any longer.

insomniac_AU · Jun 22, 2018

PetFlora said:
but who the hell are you... what are your credentials for chiming in?

As you stated, you've only been here a month. so you really have no clue as to the interaction, their superior knowledge, nor mine.

I might have only been a member here a month but that doesn't mean that's the extent of my experience. I have read right through your thread so I'm well aware of the interaction.

PetFlora said:
To set YOU straight, I constantly experiment in an effort to advance the processes. They do not. Any researcher worth their salt had lots of failures. Investigate how many times Thomas Edison failed inventing the light bulb, as just one example

I have the luxury of growing for HOBBY, not profit. The worst that happens is my yield is less, but quality is still very high

But you haven't even got the basics right. One can only do meaningful research once one has a firm grasp of the fundamentals.

PetFlora said:
All the few jackals do is try to pull me back to THEIR inside box thinking. Why?, because they know no other way. The only advice given (by NONE of these gurus), that was taken and appreciated was that I was not calibrating my pH pen often enough.

If what you were doing was producing great results you'd have an eager audience. That is what your methods are judged by. The results.

PetFlora said:
I really suck as a grower don't I?

I'm sorry to burst your bubble but yes. You need to take the rose coloured glasses off. If you think those plants look good there is no hope.

I'm going to give up here. :wallbash:

-TheShortTexan- · Jun 22, 2018

Bobby Boucher said:
Dmzone. Or bleach. Or pool shock. Zone comes out a lot pricier somewhere around $80 a gallon, but I'm a dumbass who'd rather not be diluting my own disinfectant, and at 1ml per gallon the shit lasts forever. Keeps my buckets so clean I can hardly justify scrubbing my equipment between harvests. I've started just powerwashing everything at 2000 psi real quick, wiping down with ISO and calling it a day.

Or if you are running live, just use medium grenades to anchor down the lines.

And if it's actually salt deposits that's clogging your stones, I'm guessing your water is really hard and an RO would clear that up,

Just a guess, though. Worth what it cost ya.

Golden info right there.. that hydroguard has live bacteria in it from what I understand but it probably is really hard water. Next nutrient go round ill pick up some RO. Thinking about making a DIY res chiller from a cooler and copper coil. I've got a small submersible to pump the nutes through the coil and back into the res. My question is this: Will the roots get caught in the pump when they get bigger if I set it in the bottom?

Bobby Boucher · Jun 22, 2018

-TheShortTexan- said:
Golden info right there.. that hydroguard has live bacteria in it from what I understand but it probably is really hard water. Next nutrient go round ill pick up some RO. Thinking about making a DIY res chiller from a cooler and copper coil. I've got a small submersible to pump the nutes through the coil and back into the res. My question is this: Will the roots get caught in the pump when they get bigger if I set it in the bottom?

Yes. They will clog your pump. You'd be better off putting the pump in a larger external res. If your external res is big enough, and the room you keep it in is cool enough, you could probably get by without a chiller. I've got a 1/4 hp collecting dust in the attic. It cools the water, but it seems to generate a lot of its own heat in my lung room, and it uses a ton of electricity.

I keep my 10 gallon res external res on my basement floor, and it keeps the water in the 5 gallon buckets in the tent ~10 degrees cooler than it gets in the tent.

Don't forget submersible pumps generate a considerable amount of heat. If your water temps get too high you might wanna look into external water pumps for your project.

Medfinder · Jun 22, 2018

PetFlora said:
Medfinder said:

You mean you agree with AnusBrown?

Laughing right back at you

Your numbers ignorance, not withstanding...

Yes, I screwed up when I transferred these plants from their starter home into their grow/harvest tents, BUT, I neglected to change the light timer from ~ 12/12 back to ~ 18/6. Within 2 weeks I had pistils on tiny plants and was like WTF? As soon as I figured it out, I increased the light, but that's the equivalent of a reveg, which produces single bade leafs. You knew that, right... right... right

So tell me master grower, do single blade leafs not process chlorophyll? The only possible answer you could provide is yes, BUT, 5+ blade leafs would process more, and I would agree, but look at the abundance of single bade leafs and the huge mount of buds I have.

Friday's Update. Oh the horror

View attachment 458998 View attachment 458999 View attachment 459000

Click to expand...

no where in that QUOTE did i agree with absolem's post.

it was a cut and paste fromoff topic ranting from you pet flora.

I was amused when you asked Gypsy Nirvana if he was a Moderator here...

As far as bubble systems... cheap stones turn into blue sand after many uses .

changing water every 30 days and ph checking is the most important issues. active aqua is a preferred product

-TheShortTexan- · Jun 23, 2018

Bobby Boucher said:
Yes. They will clog your pump. You'd be better off putting the pump in a larger external res. If your external res is big enough, and the room you keep it in is cool enough, you could probably get by without a chiller. I've got a 1/4 hp collecting dust in the attic. It cools the water, but it seems to generate a lot of its own heat in my lung room, and it uses a ton of electricity.

I keep my 10 gallon res external res on my basement floor, and it keeps the water in the 5 gallon buckets in the tent ~10 degrees cooler than it gets in the tent.

Don't forget submersible pumps generate a considerable amount of heat. If your water temps get too high you might wanna look into external water pumps for your project.

That is what I needed to know. I'm using a 7 gallon Rubbermaid and am dealing with constant high temps. No ac, outdoor shed, big cfl, etc. There is a way to hook up lines to this sump pump so it doesn't HAVE to be submersed. I'm thinking of doing the copper coil through an ice cooler thing.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=8310857#post8310857

Drop by the grow! Any help is appreciated!!!
Certainly not a big grow but it's what I have so it's what I'll use. High temps is the whole problem but I'm interested enough to work around it. More of an experiment than anything else...

Douglas.Curtis · Jun 23, 2018

-TheShortTexan- said:
I can't keep small air stones from clogging. No matter what. At least not with Genteral Hydro nutes. I don't know that GH is any worse than any other brand, but the salt/crap that they accumulate makes me rip em off thearly lines and throw em away. I have those suction cups glued to the bottom of the rez but the lines slip out of em. Any ideas on how to anchor bare air line tubing to the bottom of rez?

My air stones never get nutrient accumulation on them, they're always submerged. I've also used GH nutes for 16 years...

I personally use drip irrigation tubing for air lines. It's light proof and also very stiff. You can clamp the tubing to the side of the bucket or res and slide the tubing down the side of the container. The tubing always has a curve to it; placing the curve against the wall keeps it from turning up and out of the water.
:tiphat:

Douglas.Curtis · Jun 23, 2018

-TheShortTexan- said:
That is what I needed to know. I'm using a 7 gallon Rubbermaid and am dealing with constant high temps. No ac, outdoor shed, big cfl, etc.

Sorry, missed this little bit here...

DWC absolutely depends on keeping the nutrient solution between 65F and 69F. Below 65F and you slow growth and interfere with nutrient uptake. Above 69F and you **will** have biological issues blooming in the res and root rot.

Unless you're able to keep the nutrient solution cool, I strongly advise you transplant to some type of hydroponic media and switch to a drip or ebb and flow system. Hydroponic systems which use media (I call them roots-out hydro) can tolerate up to 75F in the root zone without issues.

Hope that helps.

Bobby Boucher · Jun 23, 2018

The kryptest hydro I've ever seen was consistently grown out of unchilled single cell dwc buckets ran in an 80 degree tent.

Just gh 3 part, supathrive, blackstrap, and hygrozyme.

Granted, dude was fuckin clean. His house was always immaculate top to bottom. No pets, no smoking, nothin. Also granted is that our dude here trying to grow dwc in a Texas shed baking in the sun, and that he will likely run into bio issues.

I run 2 x 5 gallon buckets flip-flop connected to a 10 gallon res which sits on my cold basement floor.

3 gallons of water in a dark tent, 10 gallons of water in a dark lung room, and 3 gallons of water in the day tent under 600w hps. This keeps my water temps within a few degrees of the floor temp in my basement. The 1/4 hp chiller I've bought is collecting dust in the attic. It seems to make very little difference in my garden.

I think above 75 -80 is where you are really starting to deprive your plants of DO and open the doors to bio issues. I see plenty of hydro guys here running without chillers, though.

Sorry, dude. Should probably grow your hydro indoors where it's a little more cozy. Maybe throw some dirt in the shed.. not saying it CANT be done, just saying I wouldn't do it.

-TheShortTexan- · Jun 23, 2018

Bobby Boucher said:
The kryptest hydro I've ever seen was consistently grown out of unchilled single cell dwc buckets ran in an 80 degree tent.

Just gh 3 part, supathrive, blackstrap, and hygrozyme.

Granted, dude was fuckin clean. His house was always immaculate top to bottom. No pets, no smoking, nothin. Also granted is that our dude here trying to grow dwc in a Texas shed baking in the sun, and that he will likely run into bio issues.

I run 2 x 5 gallon buckets flip-flop connected to a 10 gallon res which sits on my cold basement floor.

3 gallons of water in a dark tent, 10 gallons of water in a dark lung room, and 3 gallons of water in the day tent under 600w hps. This keeps my water temps within a few degrees of the floor temp in my basement. The 1/4 hp chiller I've bought is collecting dust in the attic. It seems to make very little difference in my garden.

I think above 75 -80 is where you are really starting to deprive your plants of DO and open the doors to bio issues. I see plenty of hydro guys here running without chillers, though.

Sorry, dude. Should probably grow your hydro indoors where it's a little more cozy. Maybe throw some dirt in the shed.. not saying it CANT be done, just saying I wouldn't do it.

I hear ya for sure. Lots of good info and no harm done here! It was either wait until fall/winter to grow and not have anything until then or give it a go and see what happens. I always enjoy doing it so its never a waste to me. If it produces nothing, if I run into problems, blooms, or issues that can't be corrected, then I will end up with the same amount of end product as I would if I didn't grow anything until fall lol. Which of course would be 0. At least any equipment, info collected on this grow will serve the purpose of aiding with the next! Thanks for the post in the grow thread as well.

:tiphat:

Drop That Sound · Jun 23, 2018

IMO the only real pro to a decent air stone, whatever shape or form, is the fact that they sink.

A big con with some other solutions (or even open lines) on the other hand, is they want to piddle around and float like a raft.

Been considering using nylon toilet seat bolts to secure my new custom air diffusers down, instead of suction cups, macgyvering halfway through the grow, etc..

The bolt heads or clearance issues won't be a problem because I usually insulate the bottoms of my totes with 1/2" + foam matts anyway, and can always notch out a hole. A little dab of silicone to seal the bolt and wingnut. Give you a nice stud or 2 to mount too.

If I ran open lines in solo buckets I would just use a grommet and connect the line towards the bottom or the container, push it in maybe a few inches, and keep the pumps up high. Hell with battling the line from the top.

Or run the lines/venturi ports into the plumbing or bulkheads if recirculating.

Anyways, I'm about to finally run some tests this weekend, and will make a new thread, only if my idea works out good. If not I will report back here with my findings, and a list of materials not worth messing with

-TheShortTexan- · Jun 27, 2018

Drop That Sound said:
IMO the only real pro to a decent air stone, whatever shape or form, is the fact that they sink.

A big con with some other solutions (or even open lines) on the other hand, is they want to piddle around and float like a raft.

Been considering using nylon toilet seat bolts to secure my new custom air diffusers down, instead of suction cups, macgyvering halfway through the grow, etc..

The bolt heads or clearance issues won't be a problem because I usually insulate the bottoms of my totes with 1/2" + foam matts anyway, and can always notch out a hole. A little dab of silicone to seal the bolt and wingnut. Give you a nice stud or 2 to mount too.

If I ran open lines in solo buckets I would just use a grommet and connect the line towards the bottom or the container, push it in maybe a few inches, and keep the pumps up high. Hell with battling the line from the top.

Or run the lines/venturi ports into the plumbing or bulkheads if recirculating.

Anyways, I'm about to finally run some tests this weekend, and will make a new thread, only if my idea works out good. If not I will report back here with my findings, and a list of materials not worth messing with

I used to have lead fishing weights tied to my air lines. I never SAW a problem with having lead in the water, but I just wasn't comfortable with it. I'm probably gonna put the stones back on my lines and take a drill and just bore large holes in the tubing.

CaStoner · Jun 27, 2018

I been using the same old stones for years now, how can they go bad it's not like they're sucking in water rather blowing air out of them. Still lots bubbles so no replacements needed.

Big Nasty · Jun 27, 2018

-TheShortTexan- said:
I used to have lead fishing weights tied to my air lines. I never SAW a problem with having lead in the water, but I just wasn't comfortable with it. I'm probably gonna put the stones back on my lines and take a drill and just bore large holes in the tubing.

I also use a fishing lead,it's covered with plastic and it does not release lead oxide in the water,it's specific for carpfishing.

-TheShortTexan- · Jul 27, 2018

To try this thread again. I've gotta order some stones for the lines. Tired of them floating when I come home. Any advantage to flat stones vs round ones??

bobert · Jul 27, 2018

I use brass tee's to match the size of the air line. I've never had them clog, not once. Their definitely not fine bubbles but once the roots fill up my dwc buckets, it doesn't really matter. They don't float either.

Plus, less air flow restriction means it's moving more air and the pumps will run cooler.

Edit.. Forgot the most important part. Make SURE it's lead free brass.

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