Befri's 2K Basement Grow

[bh420]

Hey Befri,
First of all I just wanted to say your setup looks awesome.

My post below is regarding the Algae issues you were having, if you haven't found a good solution yet.

I know when I got my grow going, algae was a huge problem. Used H2O2 as much as possible but that only ended up putting dead/decaying particles into my reservoir which lead to brown slime growth.

The solution I rigged up to this was Filter Koi Mat's in the reservoir. These mat's are basically a porse pad with all sorts of different shapes and sizes of holes for the water to flow through. It ends up getting the nasty stuff caught in it. That plus some AquaSheild basically seems to be destroying all nasties in the water and converting them to plant food! This beneficial bacteria colony has saved me so many hours of work... its amazing lol.

Also the way we had our trays setup, they were level and flat, which would make it so some water wasn't draining. To combat this we put a small piece of wood under the opposite side of the overflow. This makes the water pool up in one spot instead of all over the tray. Then we just taped a little 1/4" air hose to the side of the tray so it was as deep as possible in the pool of water that forms due to the slant. From their, got a manual siphon going by sucking on the other end of the hose, and ran that back into the reservoir. Once you get a good siphon complete and if u don't mess w/ the tube at all, it will auto siphon from then on every time it floods.

Anyways keep up the great work man your ladies are looking sexy.

 

[Befri]

Are you putting one of those round airstones in each bucket? If not which stones are you using for the grow buckets?

Thanks and looking great brother

The round diffuser is in the main bucket only...I put 6" air stones in ever other bucket. Peace Bro!

 

[Befri]

Hey Befri,
First of all I just wanted to say your setup looks awesome.

My post below is regarding the Algae issues you were having, if you haven't found a good solution yet.

I know when I got my grow going, algae was a huge problem. Used H2O2 as much as possible but that only ended up putting dead/decaying particles into my reservoir which lead to brown slime growth.

The solution I rigged up to this was Filter Koi Mat's in the reservoir. These mat's are basically a porse pad with all sorts of different shapes and sizes of holes for the water to flow through. It ends up getting the nasty stuff caught in it. That plus some AquaSheild basically seems to be destroying all nasties in the water and converting them to plant food! This beneficial bacteria colony has saved me so many hours of work... its amazing lol.

Also the way we had our trays setup, they were level and flat, which would make it so some water wasn't draining. To combat this we put a small piece of wood under the opposite side of the overflow. This makes the water pool up in one spot instead of all over the tray. Then we just taped a little 1/4" air hose to the side of the tray so it was as deep as possible in the pool of water that forms due to the slant. From their, got a manual siphon going by sucking on the other end of the hose, and ran that back into the reservoir. Once you get a good siphon complete and if u don't mess w/ the tube at all, it will auto siphon from then on every time it floods.

Anyways keep up the great work man your ladies are looking sexy.

Thanks 420!!!

awesome Tip Bro! I made a cover for the tray, drilled holes for every pot. The tray already had a slope towards the drain, but I like the idea of the 1/4" line...sweet!! I will also look into the Koi trays that you talked about.

 

[Mist]

Well I, for one, am ready for some pictures. I am curious about what is going on with the current grow, LOL

 

[Feijao]

Can you tell me what the part is called that you used to reduce the 2 inch T to the smaller line running to the water pump? Also what size tubing is that that is running from the T to the water pump?

I looked for some reducers the other day at Lowes but was unsure what exactly I was looking for.

Does anyone know which water pump comes with the 12XXL from UC? I think I remember it being a 900 or 950 danner but cant find that info as of now.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Hydrosun]

I had to use about three reducers for this one.


Just keep putting reducers together with the PVC glue until you are there.

Peace,

 

[Befri]

Can you tell me what the part is called that you used to reduce the 2 inch T to the smaller line running to the water pump? Also what size tubing is that that is running from the T to the water pump?

I looked for some reducers the other day at Lowes but was unsure what exactly I was looking for.

Does anyone know which water pump comes with the 12XXL from UC? I think I remember it being a 900 or 950 danner but cant find that info as of now.

Thanks again for the help!

I used 3/4" tubing, and reducer from 2" to a 3/4" ball valve. There are many ways to get to that...as Hydroson showed you. I would do it with the resources easily available to you. Another thing, make sure the hose is black(or NO LIGHT that can get thru). I used blue line just for prototyping the set up to make sure we are all ok until the black line comes in.

I'm not really sure what water pump UC used, I ended up using a MAG 18(1500gph I think)...Which turns the water cycles 12 times an hour or so. I'm sure if the water turns at least 5 times an hour, you should be fine. But with me being a "reef tank" guy...I like to turn the water as much as possible.

 

[Juzam1]

The buckets are the same 8 gallon that is in the UC system. What is PRODEX?? I thought about the white buckets maybe an issue. But I figured my trees were going to shade the buckets very well.

I pretty much used everything that they used on my system. As you can see the air pump is the same, Uniseals are used, 8 gallon buckets, etc.

Anybody know where to get the 13 gal buckets in blue instead of white? Tried about 20 places through google wihtout any luck ... would prefer to not have to paint and wrap them if I can just find the right color.

TIA

 

[Befri]

I tried to find them myself, and couldn't. If anybody knows, let us know

 

[EvasiveManeuver]

Juzam1 and Befri : I tried finding any of the EZ Stor buckets in different colors a few months ago. You do have a few options, but not in the 8/13gal range. They sell cat litter in the smaller buckets with hinged lids, but only between 3-5gal. They are yellow buckets with either blue or red lids. I've also seen some fertilizer sold in the same yellow buckets. I called a few places when I was looking for 8 gallon in blue, to try and copy the UC systems and a few companies can order them in blue. Catch is you have to order over 2,000 buckets. Maybe a bunch of peoples here on the boards would be willing to kick down a few duckets to make a large order(wishful thinking). Although it does seem that quite a few of us are interested in replicating this particular system. Have either of you tried calling cch2o and seeing if you can just purchase the buckets. Might work, a sale is a sale right. Good luck, and I feel you on not wanting to paint. I have one 13 gallon right now painted with Krylon in blue and it's starting to chip/peel in random areas where it's been roughly handled. Peace.

 

[Juzam1]

Pretty much the same that I've found so far.

Noticed some people using hte rubbermaids but with the flimsy walls I don't think I'd looking to go that direction.

I'm going to try it with a 100l cooler this weekend and see how it works out. It'll take 2x as many uniseals but we already have all of our coolers so it'd be nice to reuse them.

Anyone use anything else that has worked in the larger capacity range?

 

[EvasiveManeuver]

Coolers would be a great idea, nice and easy way to keep regulated temps as well. The doubling up on uniseals could get a little expensive, but it's not like you'd ever have to replace them. Other containers to be considered would be residential trash/recycling containers(if you have the vertical space and want full on trees) - plus they have the nice pre built hinged lid and everything. It's common to find square-ish garbage cans for inside the home that are a bit thicker than rubbermaids, some are 10+ gallons but again are not low profile as are the buckets made by Ropak. DIY FTW! Keep sourcing better and cheaper ways to grow..