DWC 101

Hello and welcome to DWC 101, I thought that I would put together a little how to for those of you that have been asking “How do I build a bubbler?” and I will also be addressing “OK,I Built it Now What?” as we try to answer your questions as easily as possible something is always lost in the translation so I’ll add a few pics
I’ll only be addressing the issue of a simple bubbler for this is the easiest way for a novice grower to get started and to determine if this is the way they want to grow or move on to a different style of hydroponics, ebb& flo, aeroponics, etc.etc.

The basics:
The materials you’ll need are very simple and you may even have most of them at home if not get ready to go to wally world your only going to need 15-$20

1- 10gal Sterlite of Rubbermaid tub I prefer sterlite it has a flat top
2- 10 in air stones
1- Aqua culture dual outlet air pump…rated for 30-60 gal aquariums
1- 8 ft pkg of ¼ in airline
2- Check valves………….these are important
2- net pots..i use 5-6 inch......or home made
Items you’ll also need that you have at home

Tape measure
Drill
¼ dia drill bit
A compass or a small pc of wood ……you’ll see
Pencil
Straight edge (ruler will due)
Utility knife
Roll of 1 in wide duct tape. I’m going to catch hell for the duct tape but after research there are “NO” I repeat “No” toxics chemical in their adhesives and the are totally biodegradable look it up………the info is there

Now gather every thing together and we’ll get started


First we want to determine what size net pots to use i prefere the 6in so thats what we will be using.....no net pots? continue to the end for more on this



now measure the net pot to determine the size of the hole that you will be cutting in this case it will be a 6in hole and set your compass to 3" if you don't have a compass grab your small pc of wood and mark your centers at 3" and drill 2 holes as such





and mark your holes like this i used a nail in the stationary hole and a pencil in the other to mark your hole



this is how it should look after you have laid out your holes and now it's time to cut them out .....PLEASE USE CAUTION WHEN DOING THIS....... i suggest that you do the cutting out on a hard wooden surface



and here it is go ahead and trial fit a net pot and you may have to do a little trimming for it to sit flush with the top


turn the lid over and measure from the top to the bottom of the net pot

now take your tape and measure down the side and mark a line this is going to be your starting water level


ok we can sit this aside and begin to put the tub together
determine the lengths of air line that you need and cut and get your check valves


now get your air pump and attach the airlines as shown***IMPORTANT** make sure that the arrows on the check valves are pointing in the direction of air flow


now drill 2 holes in the side of the tub and insert air lines....SUGGESTION
drill the holes in the end of the tub instead of the side



now take and duct tape the airstones to the tub as shown and attach air lines....this is why i said use the end of the tub

your now ready to fill with water and add air




so you need a net pot? here you go while your at wally world get you a couple of plastic pots that you feel will suit your need and procede to drill 1/4 dia holes both in the bottom and partially up the side and you now have a home made net pot




well that about covers "How To Build a Bubbler" this is about the eaisiest system that the novice grower could use to introduce themselves to Hydroponics this style is not for everyone and remember it's only the basics which we water farmers have to tweak and turn to fit our needs

look for " OK I Built It Now What?" coming soon in thread near you

Nice thread and information. Still deciding which way to go hydro. Not sure which way to go your dwc method, waterfarm, or bio buckets.

Gotta love the Wal-Dro Mart!

Nice thread Buzzerd.. this is good stuff.

Tubblers ROCK!

Nice thread Buzzard, good info for some people who might be interested in a cheap way to experiment with hydroponics.

I love my tubs, can't get much simpler.... just some bubblin water.


THC

nice write up! I was going to do one myself.. as I went to walmart, bought the same tub, the same pump, same airstones, check valves, etc.. (by the way the dual outlet pump from walmart includes 2 check valves).. also when you drilled the holes in the tub.. you could have just used the holes that are already in the tub under each handle.. they perfectly fit the airline size nice and snug and there is no need to drill. I also did not tape by bubble stones.. good idea.. I just never had any problems with them just chillin wherever in the tub. I have had AMAZING results with these systems. I have 2 WW clones in 6 inch net pods (2 of them) in a 10 gal tub and they are amazing.

I have recently upgraded my DWC bubblers to individual 5 gallon buckets from Gander Mountain. They sell new 5 gallon tubs for $5 w. a lid ($4 a bucket $1 a lid).. when I bought the buckets.. the lady just rung up the lids (16 of them) because she didnt feel like lifting the buckets out of the buggy.. she saw the UPS code on the lids.. so my total was $17 for 16 buckets and lids!!!!!! Killer deal! I bought 8 $10 dual outlet air pumps and 4 (2 packs) of T's for $1. Add airstones & net pots and you have a 16 site DWC system capible of harvesting pounds of MJ per 2 months for a little over $100!!! CANT BEAT THAT!!!

Hey buzzerd - nice job!

Not to hijack yer thread - just waiting for the

Now what do I do with it thread!!!!

very nice thread Buzzard,
1Toke,now ya put that thing in a big box and give it to the ups guy,he will get it to me!

there you go 1toke, woo hoo red lol ,sorry not to have gotten to the next part of the thread but i have had some major med problems the last month and am now getting back into the swing of things again. as i am a cancer patient the chemo just wacks my system out and the after affects tends to make my bones brittle and they like to break,and then on top of that i sliced up my hand pretty good and had to have surgery to repair the tendons so be it, life likes to fuck with me..........so till i get the cast off my hand things will be a little back logged but i promise that when i come back it will be full tilt boogey

nice thread

Since this old thread floated up, here are some thoughts on improvements. First, a cooler makes a superior dwc unit, but they are harder to cut up, otherwise, insulate your tub or bucket.

The check valves, that do come free with the pump, cut almost half of the airflow into your unit. I ditched them three years ago. And those air stones are good for one or two crops, then they clog. Just tape the air tubes down, open tube works great. The tubing and the tub need to be clean for the duct tape to stick for multiple crops.

Nice thread.
H

Haps, the only issue I have with "open tubes" is theyre loud as hell. I like how the stones diffuse the air into fine bubbles. If stealth is nt an issue, then youre fine....Just my 2 cents

Haps, the only issue I have with "open tubes" is theyre loud as hell.

Click to expand...

I used 1/4" soaker hose, also from "Wal-Dro Mart." 50' length was $6 and a pack of Tee fittings was another $1.50.

Bubbles like crazy and cheap!

Wow, just noticed this thread is 3 years old.

well i'm glad it's still being used i pointed a newbie here just for some info....

Haps.....my self i went to 5 gal bkts coolers? nah too much trouble i was growing in a basement concrete floor kept the water temps dwn..infact even in the summer never had any problems no need for insulation AT ALL.

SomeGuy....went there did that LOL nah... here's what i did do though chnged out my air pumps to 1 air pump and these air stones and they rock bro





and if you can see her....she never complained about the heat she just sat back and chilled...




JLP's ULT MOONSHINE

Yeah those round pond stones are very good, I have a bunch of them, and still use a couple in my fresh and nute reses. They are worth keeping till I need stones for a project of some kind.
H

Great thread!

DM

buzzerd said:

SomeGuy....went there did that LOL nah... here's what i did do though chnged out my air pumps to 1 air pump and these air stones and they rock bro

Click to expand...

I'm having a lot of fun going ghetto and using Wal-dro Mart Parts. Nothing else around here to shop at unless you count the local hardware and the dollar stores.

I did order a BIG honkin air pump and divider as I run 5-6 bubblers for cloning and what not.

nice thread, ive been running two 5 gallon buckets, and im about a month into flowering. Any advice on easier ways to check the nutes?? I absolutely hate hassling with taking my lid off and then finding something to do with the lid/plant while checking/adjusting the nutes. i usually just top it off with a gallon of mild nutes but sometimes theres PH problems so my ppm gets super out of whack.

Gotta love the DWC - Pulled 15 1/2 OZ off a grapefruit last fall in a 12 Gallon DWC.

Love the DWC systems and for my money and time they are pretty easy to deal with. I run 6 girls in 5 gallon buckets nonstop except for the summer months. Also those big blue airstones are the shizzle!! Make major bubbles and my girls seem to pretty happy with them!!

hidy ho this thread lives on

hidy ho this thread lives on

Rainman: yea buddy they do disturb the water and i bet those girls just love being tickled

lighterfuel: damnit boy...those look real tasty GF is on my list been wanting to run them, looks like i'm going to HAVE to make time soon i just got back out to the west coast and i gotta get unpacked FAST

Heres The Dank: Here's the trick, you don't do any thing!! I bet that your watching them pretty damn close like maybe to close LOL. No what i'm saying is lighten up,what you are seeing with the ph it is going up right? what do you set it at? i set mine at 5.6-5.8 day later your seeing it go up to 6.1-6.3 ? that's ok the plant is telling you where she WANTS to be,she's talking to you bud...now listen to her,this is what most people do not understand.At the next water change set the ph a little higher 5.8-6.0 and see where she takes it.Then set it just below whare she levels out at and you won't see you ph jump again this is called dialing in bro Also look at how much water she's taking up.You make her use the nuets she has. look at you ppm and see where that's going that will tell you wether she's eating or not. here's a feed chart to give you an idea of nuet levels during grow and bloom compare that with what your giving her.If you start out at 800ppm you don't want to end the week at 800
What neuts are you using? I have never topped off with more nuets, top off only with plain PH adjusted water i change the bkt out every week on sunday
with the next level of nuets. I use Flora Nova 2 part... grow, then bloom when I go into flower at week 4-5 i add Koolbloom for 3 weeks and then flush with plaine ph water then feed for 1 more week and then flush till she's done so by the end of week 10 she's fat and sassy and good to go. And maybe you to can have a naked lady sitting in you buds. By the way always look at the leaf tips when you jump nuet levels up if the tips look brown then drop you ppm down that's a sign of nuet burn other than that she's looking good


here's the chart for both GH 3 part and Flora Nova