First time 6 site RDWC 60 gallon problems

kingtitan

Well-Known Member
OK first off I will get pics as soon as possible.

I started some seeds in a aero bucket then transplanted to my 6 site RDWC which I sterilized and cleaned. Everything was great with quick root growth just the 1-2 days in the RDWC. I then decided to add a root inoculate that is the same as Hydroguard but very concentrated.Southern AG Garden Friendly Fungicide https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Ag-Friendly-Biological-Fungicide/dp/B00VXQG23O/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1518250044&sr=1-1&keywords=Southern+Ag+Garden+Friendly+Biological+Fungicide.

Hydroguard is 10, 000/ml and this stuff is 10, 000, 000, 000/ml. going by some other forum posts and amazon reviews i decided to add 3ml to my system and my system went downhill within 10 hours with a heavy aquarium smell and brown slime everywhere.

I hit my system with a slow addition of 200ml of 29% h2o2 and let it sit for 10 hours while i prepared a new solution.I drained 99% of the system and then scrubbed while spraying 6% h2o2 as best I could. 4 days later and there is a clear/light brown sludge building mostly on a few of the roots.The larger roots building more slime and I have noticed significantly slower growth both veg and roots, lsat 2 days plants have been droopy and a couple plants seem like they are showing manganese or cal issues.. There should be a very dilute amount of AG bacteria in there now from the previous left over water but should be closer to concentration of Hydroguard, so is this slime maybe the good stuff or should i be doing something now?

I have RO water ready for mixing if I need to do something tomorrow. Suggestions?

60 Gallon 6 site
1000w MH 3.5ft up
PH 5.6 which goes up to 6.1 in 24 hours.
Nutrient @GreenleafNutrients Mega Crop @ 200ppm
GH CalMag @ 150ppm
Total Solution around 350ppm
RO water @ 2ppm
water temps 63f-69f by end of 18 hour light cycle.
room temp lights on 24c, 27c under hottest hot spot.
Humidity started at 20% and raising slowing to 34% lights on. 51% lights off

Been wanting to start my journal but this has been keeping me so busy!
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Did you have any sterilizing agents in the res?

I only ask because for the first time i tried bleach since i was going from a semi organic fertilizer (RAW) to complete salt based and bleach
4 to 8 drops a gallon.

Then i got problems with only the systems that i added bleach to! I was like wtf .

So i bought some hydroguard and put it in .

And now about a week later after cutting off the slimey roots its working wonderfully and my water temps are low to mid 70s :)


I added hydrogaurd to the other systems and it didnt develop any slime or gross smells.


I was going to get the sothern ag to try . But the hydro store sold it half price cause the exp date was up but its still good for two years after the date if unopened.

Glad i did.

I still planned on buying the southern ag when the hydroguard runs out

Mabey giv it a few more days and perhaps try mixing up the souther ag to a hydrogaurd strength?
 

kingtitan

Well-Known Member
Did you have any sterilizing agents in the res?

I only ask because for the first time i tried bleach since i was going from a semi organic fertilizer (RAW) to complete salt based and bleach
4 to 8 drops a gallon.

Then i got problems with only the systems that i added bleach to! I was like wtf .

So i bought some hydroguard and put it in .

And now about a week later after cutting off the slimey roots its working wonderfully and my water temps are low to mid 70s :)


I added hydrogaurd to the other systems and it didnt develop any slime or gross smells.


I was going to get the sothern ag to try . But the hydro store sold it half price cause the exp date was up but its still good for two years after the date if unopened.

Glad i did.

I still planned on buying the southern ag when the hydroguard runs out

Mabey giv it a few more days and perhaps try mixing up the souther ag to a hydrogaurd strength?
Yeah so the sterilizing agent is the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). I just added a dose of 0.3ml/gal 29% and will get ready for a cahnge out again tomorrow.

So you say don't use anything to sterilize?

Can you help me figure out this Southern AG mix? like 1 drop per 60 gallons would be a hydroguard dosage right? im afraid to use it on how it messed up my system.

Hydroguard is 1x10^4 /ml
SAG is 1x10^10 /ml

also Hydroguard was not available in Canada and SAG was available to ship to me from ebay and I could literally make thousands of gallons if needed.

I want to add that this is my first run at RDWC and full hydro. Been growing in soil less promix HP for a very long time.

the slime on the roots are not too bad and i could wash whats left after the h2o2 eats what it can.
 
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Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Like i said i only got root problems in the buckets that had bleach in them when i switched my nutes.

Only thing i could think of

@Jypsy Dog uses it jn hot weather for his dwc cucumbers.

Mabey he can give you a good recipe but i would mix it using the conversion formula you listed.

But probably just a few drops in the whole system like you figure.

I hope it works as it is way cheaper then hydroguard
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
I still think the bleach is what messed mine up but i cant be sure if it was the bleach or switching from semi organic nutes to salts
 

kingtitan

Well-Known Member
Did you ever try just the bacillus without hydrogen peroxide?
I have not. maybe i should clean as much as i can again? i can get most minus a few gallons with a shop vac. Its easier now beacuse the roots are smaller and not in the way.
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Good news is since they are young they havent made a big root ball so it wont hurt it much to just cut it off if its mushy
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
I have not. maybe i should clean as much as i can again? i can get most minus a few gallons with a shop vac. Its easier now beacuse the roots are smaller and not in the way.
I wouldn't worry about it just let the hydrogen peroxide die off or swap out your res.

Then give the bacillus a few days to get established then a few days to see results

About a week for meid also just give it just slightly less food in the mix then what it was when you got the problem if that makes sense
 

kingtitan

Well-Known Member
did your water smell? I mean Mega Crop has its own bit of smell but its not bad at all. the SAG in the bottle smells like Aquarium sludge.
 

kingtitan

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't worry about it just let the hydrogen peroxide die off or swap out your res.

Then give the bacillus a few days to get established then a few days to see results

About a week for meid also just give it just slightly less food in the mix then what it was when you got the problem if that makes sense
Ok so i will need to practice patience once again, I feel like a newb again LOL.. I was hoping for 1-2 week res changes, I can easily get 35 gallons out. will changing that much weekly be good, as long as i can account for some ppm imbalances in NPK with bigger flushes start of flower and mid flower?
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
did your water smell? I mean Mega Crop has its own bit of smell but its not bad at all. the SAG in the bottle smells like Aquarium sludge.
That would explain the pond smell

I wouldnt worry unless the smell goes more sewerage lol

I cant say for sure bud but i can say its the results i had in the last week :)

Swap your res add just nutes and southern ag and ph it.

Then wait a week you will probably be ok.

Cause you looked like you had good airflow


Hydrogen peroxide is pwerful stuff even 3% will bleach your skin
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Ok so i will need to practice patience once again, I feel like a newb again LOL.. I was hoping for 1-2 week res changes, I can easily get 35 gallons out. will changing that much weekly be good, as long as i can account for some ppm imbalances in NPK with bigger flushes start of flower and mid flower?
After you get the issue resolved you should be able to go several weeks with just top offs. :)
 

kingtitan

Well-Known Member
just a view of the site im dealing with. the control/res tote is 27gal 10 ft away with 1.5inch pipe going to the furnace room where the floor is cold keeping the temps low. all totes have 1.5 inch connecting them. water level is about second squares from bottom of netpot.
 

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Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Looks good

Do you know what your cycle time is? What size pump for how much water?

Hopefully yours will turn around in about a week or less they dont look bad
 

kingtitan

Well-Known Member
the undercurrent pump runs 24/7. its a Mag 9.5 950gph but I have slowed it down with a valve as it was too much making the last 2 totes lower than the rest.maybe its at 500gph now. Air pump is a 70 L/min
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Should be plenty

How is your plumbing run?

In my rdwc my buckets are all level only the res drops when the pump kicks on but the buckets stay level
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
I mean i wouldnt worry about it you should have plenty of movement.

Id just do like i said above

Try sending Jypsydog a message as he has experience with southern ag specifically.
 

GBAUTO

Well-Known Member
I like your UC system. I try to duplicate the 'river' flow of the UC with a slight elevation difference between the buckets and the rez. Like you, once I figured out the correct volume to maintain the level in the buckets it's pretty much fill and top off as needed. I just switched over to the Southern Ag on this rez change so we'll see if it gets funky...
 
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