Asking for answers to new grow room design questions for RDWC

[Jason9922]

Heres some pics of my Heath style setup.


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- Jiji

VERY COOL!! I bet that chiller wasn't cheap huh? You built that Jiji? Fist pump on that, it's very cool.

 

[Beezcheeze]

I just built an undercurrent DWC system. 4 - 8 gallon buckets inside tent. And 13 gallon res outside. 2" pvc undercurrent pipes connecting all buckets. 950 maf drive pump feeds into res through 3/4" pvc and a tee at the end. I'm going to insulate each bucket and pipes with the reflectix silver roll of insulation from lowes. It's real thin kinda like bubble wrap too. I haven't grown in it yet but will soon. But it runs perfectly and all buckets keep the same water level. Going to find some type of screens to block the roots from clogging it just in case. Also have a 40 gallon tub I'll run a 2" pipe from the red just in case it overflows. The pic of the 3/4" pvc connects to the water pump and into the res.I just wanted the easiest thing to maintain during growing and easieat to clean up. I'm injured and it's tough to do much. Your idea sounds like it would work good just more work and more maiantanence. Just figured I'd share what I did.

 

[jijiandfarmgang]

VERY COOL!! I bet that chiller wasn't cheap huh? You built that Jiji? Fist pump on that, it's very cool.

Yeah I built it. No the chiller wasn't cheap at all, but I no longer buy cheap stuff that I depend on. Ideally, you don't need a chiller but the room that its in isn't climate controlled, and using a high flow water pump heats up the water quite a bit. I had that 950GPH danner laying around, but next time I would install a real pump thats designed to be external.

But yeah I've never did the RDWC top feed so just experimenting now.

- Jiji

 

[Jason9922]

Thanks for the info!! Yeah I would recommend trying the stainless steel micron mesh filter. Same type of thing as in every sink. As I work on my schematic and research more I was told and read that a 200 micron filter should be good and make no difference in water flow. They sell these 200 micron bags to put submersible water pumps in.

Since I'm using two buckets, a black 7 gallon sitting inside a white 5 gallon (white to reflect heat, top & bottom 6" of "module" wrapped in aluminum tape to cover black top and light proof bottom white where water will be) putting a drain hole in the bottom of inner bucket to drain into the outer bucket with one of those botanic are filter plugs wrapped with the 200 micron screen to put in the drainage hole. That's the plan I have for roots.

I have decided on using 1.5" PVC for drainage & 1/2" PVC running into a JET head just like jcommerce showed me in his setup. He has no aerator and his modules grow trees with no problems. Another reason I've decided on 11/2 & 1/2" PVC is because when I winterized my pipes I bought a bunch of that pipe insulation. The very cheap Styrofoam stuff that just slips over the pipe. It was only $6.00 for 10 ten ft. lengths. And what do ya know; I bought 11/2 for the drainage lines and 1/2" for the copper water lines! So I have plenty left to wrap my PVC lines. Just hold it on w/ a few zip ties I can just clip easily when I want to teardown. Wonder if that will make a temp difference. I'll let everyone know!

Before I knew exactly what I was going to build I bought about 80% of my materials like lights, ventilation, modules. And I bought an Elemental 1268 GPH O2 Commercial Air Pump with 50 feet of black airline & a stainless steel 12 output adjustable air manifold (actually have 2, they sent me a second one for some reason) so now I have all that with no purpose. Maybe someone will trade me another inline water pump for it. It’s all new never used in box still.

I also bought a 1200 GPH inline / external water pump on purpose because I figured a warm pump in the res would be very bad. As I haven't run the pump yet I'm not sure how warm it will get or affect the water temp. But we will see and I'll be back to report!! Thanks again for passing along the info! I will be using your pictures as reference material!

 

[Jason9922]

Very cool Jiji. I like how you have the water blasting down like that. You could so easily put a sink aerator with screen right on the end of that down spout. You can get them at HD or Lowes for $2.00. When I seen that it was the first thing In thought of, the downspout on a sink. All sinks have that plastic aerator / screen combo that threads right onto the downspout. Buy a replacement piece of pvc identical to one you used along with sink end. Thread the pvc or use jb weld with a slip fitting. Replace one in there. It's just a thought, like I said it was the first thing I thought of. But you probably done even need it. Your setup is very cool for sure!

 

[jcommerce]

YES MAN! What you have going in the 8000 water flowering room with the jet heads is EXACTLY what I wanted to do!! I am only going to have four 7 gallon buckets that I might extend to eight modules later & I have a 1200 GPH inline pump. Now that I've seen your set up I am 100% for sure going to go with 1" like you did. What size drain pipe was that? Your setup is exactly what I would build if I could afford it man, it's very very nice and I love how you have it perfectly clean in there. Plus I knew it was bullshit when I was told cutting your root balls back is a bad idea. Your plants looked super healthy. I think I might have found a mentor.

Thanks bro. BTW, they are 3" PVC drain tubes (better to go overboard here or risk overflow flood). I got the bulkhead fittings from Bulk Reef Supply. Check out their website. They have tons and tons of stuff that works for our hobby, great shipping, customer service, etc.

 

[jcommerce]

Heres some pics of my Heath style setup.


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- Jiji

Nice little rig there. FYI, those Danner/Pondmaster mag drive pumps can be run externally (unless your model specifically says it can't, but I've never seen any that cannot be run external). I have used them externally in many applications for growing and reef keeping.

From a retailer:

The Pondmaster Pond-Mag (formerly Mag Drive) Pump, by Danner, is a magnetically-driven, submersible utility pump for outdoor water gardens and ponds. This unique, energy-efficient design uses only one moving part - a ceramic/magnetic impeller. Installation in larger ponds is a breeze: just connect and plug in to power!

• Can be used submerged or in-line
• Includes grounded power cord & FREE pre-filter
• 5-year manufacturer limited warranty

Pondmaster Pond-Mag water pumps are designed to handle virtually any water movement application, and have been the most trusted pumps in the industry for over 20 years. Each Pond-Mag pump provides quiet, efficient and reliable performance, 24/7.

Ideal for any pond application, Pond-Mag Pumps operate equally well whether in-line or submerged. With a ceramic impeller as its only moving part and an epoxy-encased power unit, you never have to worry that the pump will contaminate your water with harmful chemicals or oils.

Pondmaster Pong-Mag Pumps are ideal water moving solutions for ponds & water gardens, waterfalls, statuary, de-watering, hydroponic installations, and general purpose clear water circulation purposes.

 

[jijiandfarmgang]

Yeah, I know they can but they are really designed to be submersible. Danners tech support has even admitted this. Sure there are those that have used them externally with no leaks for years, but there are those that have had issues. I'd rather not take the chance, even if it is really low.

Thanks,

- Jiji

 

[Jason9922]

Thanks bro. BTW, they are 3" PVC drain tubes (better to go overboard here or risk overflow flood). I got the bulkhead fittings from Bulk Reef Supply. Check out their website. They have tons and tons of stuff that works for our hobby, great shipping, customer service, etc.

Well I was going to use UNI-Seals in place of bulk heads because I want to be able to tear it down to be able to scrub it clean in between runs. I was going to use 1 1/2" PVC as the drains lines with 1/2" flex for feeder lines. This is the part I'm having such a hard time deciding on because I only want to build this one time. The UNI-Seals seam to work great as long as you drill the hole correctly, de-bur it correctly, and put a slight chamfer on the ends of the PVC pipe. I've heard from many that large bulkheads don't work with buckets because of the round external wall. You have nice flat bins. Another problem I've heard and read about is bumping into a heavy full module with bulkheads can sometimes crack the stem on one. Then the mess begins!! LOL

One guy told me who's entire setup huge like yours with two 50 gallon topper drums hooked to res so he could go out of town still and work. He bumped his res before he left for the weekend which cracked bulkhead. He came home to every drop of water on the floor!!! I've already paid for the buckets & net pots to fit. Just have limited $ to finish this after all the $ initially invested in everything.

That includes the 20 feminized seeds from Barneys Farm which includes 5 beans of 4 varieties which are Liberty Haze, Pineapple Chunk, Girl Scout Cookies Kush, and G13 Haze. The other feminized 5 I got added to this order is Cali Connection 818 Headband. 5 Feminized seeds from them were over $100! This little purchase took me months to save for and cost around $350!! But every seed came in the original breeders pack and I've never gotten anything but female plants from Barney's over the past 7 years. 1 hermi, but that could of been a stress problem.

Thanks again for the input, everyone in here has been very helpful. I just want my hydro plants to look way better than my soil plants.

 

[HempletonState]

I run the exact system that you are explaining pretty much. I have 4-27 gallon buckets with a controller and vortex bucket on top of the controller. A 1400 gph pump for the sprayer hearts and a booster pump for my fog sprayers. 1/4" poly line for the fog sprayers, and 3/8" poly lines for the sprayers. I bought John guest fittings and pipe which is expensive but very easy to work with and even easier to take apart and breakdown for cleaning. I have 1 1/2" drain line at the bottom of my buckets bringing water back to the controller. It is a really good way to grow hydroponically , I used water farm buckets with drip rings then I moved to this system and doubled my yield with the highest quality buds. Your system sounds like it's gonna be a nice setup, you will definitely need a chiller , and a ph stabilizer if you are using RO water because it tends to fluctuate a lot more in this type of system. House and Garden makes a cheap ph stabilizer that you add an hour before you add anything to the water and the ph does not fluctuate at all throughout the week.

 

[Merlin34]

This is veg from a caregiver grow that I ran recently. Top fed buckets in RDWC. These trees were 8 feet tall in the second pic, which was the day before moving to the flower room. If you have questions fire away!

Sent from Northern Colorado.

 

[Jason9922]

@HempletonStat: That's exactly how I'm going to set up but with my root bucket on top is going to be 7 gallon on top of a 5 gallon. I can't afford to use those fittings right now and don't need a chiller either. I've got it together testing for leaks. If you scroll back you'll see where I explained how I built a 10 gallon bucket chiller which is basically 100ft of hose wrapped around a a frame I made of copper pipe. I can put the whole bucket outside filled with water and it freezes to a solid block of ice. Gonna make another to rotate. When running the water through the chiller bucket it got as cold as 55'F and has stayed under 68' for going into day 3 without insulation. I think once I cut this hot water heater blanket in half and wrap the 2 buckets they will stay frozen longer. I have the advantage of living where its freezing out 7-8 months a year. Today so far it's gotten down to -15 w/o wind chill. Was thinking about getting another hose and making some permanent intake outtake lines to my frozen bucket contraption inside a wooden box to hide it. That would solve the unhooking and reconnecting to my lines and no chiller need until summer time. I have talked to a lot of people that say frozen 2 liter rotation works to unless you have a monster res.

 

[Jason9922]

@merlin36 why did you let them get 8ft before you flowered them? 8ft and growing inside just a 5 gallon bucket? Damn. The last thing I ever want to buy is a chiller. I'm gonna look into that ph stable stuff Hempleton was talking about.
@Hemplton, a 1400 GPH pump? Someone showed be his 8 five gallon bucket RDWC set up using 1/4' feed lines and 1 1/2 pvc drain line and all he was using was an 80 GPH pump.

 

[Merlin34]

@merlin36 why did you let them get 8ft before you flowered them? 8ft and growing inside just a 5 gallon bucket? Damn. The last thing I ever want to buy is a chiller. I'm gonna look into that ph stable stuff Hempleton was talking about.
@Hemplton, a 1400 GPH pump? Someone showed be his 8 five gallon bucket RDWC set up using 1/4' feed lines and 1 1/2 pvc drain line and all he was using was an 80 GPH pump.

They're not in a 5 gallon in flower. In flower they get their own tote. And 8 foot high is good for filling trellises... (And 8 foot was excessive... Cutting 2 weeks out of veg so they're only like 6 foot tall)

Sent from Northern Colorado.

 

[HempletonState]

@merlin36 why did you let them get 8ft before you flowered them? 8ft and growing inside just a 5 gallon bucket? Damn. The last thing I ever want to buy is a chiller. I'm gonna look into that ph stable stuff Hempleton was talking about.
@Hemplton, a 1400 GPH pump? Someone showed be his 8 five gallon bucket RDWC set up using 1/4' feed lines and 1 1/2 pvc drain line and all he was using was an 80 GPH pump.[/QUOTE
I don't know how he was doing that but with all the things going on in my system it's def needed. The pump powers the vortex bucket that waterfalls into my controller, plus 2- sprayers in each bucket as well as a 90 shooting water down into the water plus I could add a couple more buckets to the system if I want in the future , so that's why I needed that big. I have a 1000 gph for my veg setup and a 500 gph for my cloner and need the power for them both also. I would love to know how that guy does it with a 80 gph pump that's impressive. Here are some pics of the pumps , I am cleaning my main system so I couldn't snap any pics of that right now The first picture is the two pumps I use for my main system, the second is my cloner, and the last is my veg setup

 

[Jason9922]

well dude obviously he's using a drip system not pressurized heads, guess I wasn't clear about that, my bad. I guess it just seems like the fogger heads and multiple sprayers was something to try later on. I don't have anymore extra $ right now and besides, this is a weed I'm talking about building a climate controlled room for...

 

[Jason9922]

I really like the way you have your modules plumbed and setup. I still am unsure and have not been able to pull the trigger on a pump to go with a design. I keep thinking why put all this time into these 9 gallon double bucket modules when it might be better to just go get 4 brand new large containers or just go buy 4 SQUARE tubs that are 30 gallon so I can just use bulkheads and not have to worry about leaks. I can't really afford 20 1" bulk heads for flex poly hose (drainage lines back to res.

I still can't figure out how big of a pump to get so I could expand in the future maybe or what size res to get. I find myself finding problems with every decision because I don't have the $ to screw up. I really like the way you have the PVC pipe with the sprayers. You could even make a hexagon PVC drip ring looking part but with sprayer heads instead of holes. Hmm sounds interesting..heaxagon going around the bottom of the net pot with sprayer heads shooting inward at the rootball. Probably would put lots of O2 in the water using the spray heads. Wish I had a blue print for your module design.. lol

 

[Jason9922]

So you use UNISEALS or top hat grommets and it's fine because your water line never comes near them huh?

 

[HempletonState]

In the pictures I posted above that's my veg and cloner setup. With them I just use regular 1/2" rubber grommets and John guest fittings. The picture I am posting below is my main system with bulkheads and John guest fittings

 

[legallyflying]

Just go with a design that works dude. 3" pipes connecting all the modules. Fuck the two bucket brain strorm...have fun installing the piping on that one.... just wrap the bucket in reflextix.

Buy a chiller or perish...

If this is your first foray into hydro you are biting off A LOT to chew. Just saying.

It's "easy" for us experienced folks but your basically going from the dmv with your temp license and climbing into a F1 car.