Algae Issue Help

Had some issues With algae.. I Started to notice the ph going high.... from 5.8 and was back up to 7 today .. / Could not keep a stable Ph for more than a day

.. I did have covers on the net pots thinking this was enough .

In the pics The light is above the tank about 3 feet and from the inside you can see how much light is getting in there... You think this is my problem ..

. The temp in the in the tank was 65 degrees. Ok there .. Grow area temp 76 Degrees 50 percent humity

So I checked the tank for light penetration and there was alot through the top and the sides..

I am useing a Rubbermaid Blue tote that does not block light to well .
I had no other choice right now. Other than to cover the entire tank in foil for now.

Flushed system Cleaned pump & bag .. Im pretty sure light was the problem .. Tank temp was ok at 65 Deg..

Any other thoughts . And any other causes Of unstable PH ..
And is algae growth enough to throw off the pH ..
Seems the plants are In shock not much growth right now and only have 1 plant showing a tap root out the bottom of the cup ..

Now I am just running plain ph balanced water through the system .. Should I do that for a day or so then add Nutes again . And should they bounce back ??

Thanks

Hydroton can cause the ph to climb. Even if you was it it will climb for some time, that does settle down.

Yes, that is alot of light getting into your res. Try painting it, or covering it with reflective tape or something.

Strong swings in ph ar no good for the plant, that is what is slowing you down. Also, alot of people leave a little water from the last res in when they change it. There are some bacteria that are good for you. It's kinda like seasoning a fish tank.

Best of luck.

spyvy said:

Had some issues With algae.. I Started to notice the ph going high.... from 5.8 and was back up to 7 today .. / Could not keep a stable Ph for more than a day. The temp in the in the tank was 65 degrees. Ok there .. Grow area temp 76 Degrees 50 percent humity
Flushed system Cleaned pump & bag .. Im pretty sure light was the problem .. Tank temp was ok at 65 Deg..
Any other thoughts . And any other causes Of unstable PH ..
And is algae growth enough to throw off the pH ..
Seems the plants are In shock not much growth right now and only have 1 plant showing a tap root out the bottom of the cup ..
Now I am just running plain ph balanced water through the system .. Should I do that for a day or so then add Nutes again . And should they bounce back

Click to expand...

light and moisture will grow algae. block the light somehow. 5.8 is good for your ph and your rez temp. is fine too. if you're getting ph swings it may be rez that's too small. your environment all sounds good. hydroton really needs a good rinsing. i can't see any plants in the pics so i'll suggest holding up on the nutes until they show up...

Ok I covered my tote in foil so no light gets in.
I set my PH at 5.8 at 7am this morning and now it is 7.1 and the PH went back to 7 again at 5 pm est .. How the hell does this happen. There is no light getting in My plants are stunted in growth .

No growth upwards. So all the Bubbleheads Help me ..

I soaked my hydro rocks in PH balanced water for 24 hours in 5.0 water & air stones . Why does my PH go from 5.8 at 7 am and checked again at 5 pm the same day go to 7.1 . Algae is not an issue no more .

I am lost should I just let PH go and not mind it none. Or should I just start over . Plants have been above since last Friday and shown no upward groth.... Should I just give up on these ..I need help

I covered the entire tote in foil top and sides and my PH is still way out of wack In 8 hours,.

Ok set Ph at 5.8 at 7 Am this morning. Nowit is at 7.1.at 5 pm What the hell .

plants sure did stunt growth. Should I just give up and .start again I have no clue. But to say planst`s I have 2 pots showing roots at the bottom of the cupp`s today will be 7 days since they broke rockwol to the top`s

Ok useing tap water when i set is at 7.8 ph.. I set it to 5.8 in the am as this morning.

.. I covered my tote in foil so no light gets in. So why after 8 hours I rechecked at 5 pm And it is at 7.1 ph so how does it go this far in 8 hours...

Am I A PH freak. cause my plants are stunted in Growth..


I am lost or should
do not care what the Ph is no more . It seems I can no get it under control..


I set my PH at 5.8 at 7am this morning and now it is 7.1 and the PH went back to 7 again at 5 pm est .. How the hell does this happen. There is no light getting in My plants are stunted in growth .

No growth upwards. So all Help me ..I do not want to loose 6 Easy Ryders to a F-up I thought Ib had a handle on this grow But seems the ooser has no clue..

I soaked my hydro rocks in PH balanced water for 24 hours in 5.0 water & air stones . Why doe`s my PH go from 5.8 at 7 set in am and checked again at 5 pm the same day go to 7.1 . Algae is not an issue no more .

I am lost should I just let PH go and not mind it none. Or should I just start over . Plants have been above since last Friday and shown no upward growth.... Should I just give up on these ..I need help

I covered the entire tote in foil top and sides and my PH is still way out of wack In 8 hours,.

Ok set Ph at 5.8 at 7 Am this morning. Nowit is at 7.1.at 5 pm What the hell .

plants sure did stunt growth. Should I just give up and .start again I have no clue. But to say planst`s I have 2 pots showing roots at the bottom of the cupp`s today will be 7 days since they broke rockwol to the top`s

soaking the hydroton isn't gonna get it. it needs to be rinsed, over and over. hang in there, you'll get it!

put 1 tbs (5.0 ml) regular cheap hydrogen-peroxide(3%) per 1 gallon (3.75 L) , and the ph should go down
you might have to retreat it.
keep the light out and you should be good to go
ps,,, foil reacts to nutes so mylar or dark plastic works well for pot covers

IT is the tap water. It is buffered with a chemical. I bet if ou were to ph some water and just let it sit that the ph will climb backup all on its own.

My tap water likes to hang out close to 8.0 so i use R.O. water.

Best of luck.

Ok like Silky Shagalot said there doesn't seem to be any plants in pics, if they are there somewhere how old are they?

Don't think that your slow growth is only down to your PH, maybe just young plants... For instance my clones take a week to show first root growth (from cutting) and then another week after being transplanted to 20ltr buckets before showing any upward growth.

Also are you using PH down to regulate your PH or vinegar?

Been using GH PH down.. Ok checked and adjusted to 5.8 again last night. And poof back to almost 7.0 again this morning
. Im lost here .

The tote water when i fill it is at 7.8. I adjust to 5.8 and goes right back to almost 7

The plants are 8 day`s old today above ground now ,,and never seen such small leafs.. Also could be it is Lowryder Easyryders fems mabee this is normal the way they look .. Is it Just me or do I have a problem >> LOL mabee look at the pics let me know .. Thank`s people

I am having the exact same problem as you are, I have added 1/4 dose of FF Big Bloom Hydro nutes at res change yesterday, water is cloudy again, and PH keeps going back up, my plants are about the same age as yours, I just added 2 1/2 oz H2O2, I dont know whats going on, maybe I should have just done a soil grow, this sux..

LOL I hear that never had issues like this in soil .. Im so lost . I will give it a few more days to see if they come back .. LOL

I'm no pro but I will add my opinion. Done a lot of reading on bubbleponics especially Rosemans threads. This is my first and current project: https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/283883-first-try-w-o-soil.html

My first suggestion would be to go buy one of these:http://www.brita.com/us/products/water-pitchers/, I really like mine, it drops my tap water ph down to 6.2 or so and seems to hold it there.

My ph rises through out the day also. I add water every night to ph my res at around 5.9-6.0 and by the next night its around 6.8. The first five days it would go to 7.1.

Just hang in there and make sure you check things out daily. Do a full water change maybe every 5 days and scrub everything down to keep it clean. Good things will happen!

Good luck!

Edit: Just noticed you ph test kit. A digital meter is a must bro, go get one asap. When you start adding nutes your water color is going to change, plus you can't beat the accuracy.

yarddog35 said:

I'm no pro but I will add my opinion. Done a lot of reading on bubbleponics especially Rosemans threads. This is my first and current project: https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/283883-first-try-w-o-soil.html

My first suggestion would be to go buy one of these:http://www.brita.com/us/products/water-pitchers/, I really like mine, it drops my tap water ph down to 6.2 or so and seems to hold it there.

My ph rises through out the day also. I add water every night to ph my res at around 5.9-6.0 and by the next night its around 6.8. The first five days it would go to 7.1.

Just hang in there and make sure you check things out daily. Do a full water change maybe every 5 days and scrub everything down to keep it clean. Good things will happen!

Good luck!

Edit: Just noticed you ph test kit. A digital meter is a must bro, go get one asap. When you start adding nutes your water color is going to change, plus you can't beat the accuracy.

Click to expand...

Well, I took your advice, I went and bought a PUR filter to put on my faucet, it took my PH to 9.2! I added my PH down to 5.8 and let it set overnight, this morning it had crept to 6.2, much better, I put it back down a little, we'll see what happens......I think i might buy a few gallons of distilled just for top offs, its cheap enough....I read a lot on city water systems and they add a buffer to the water, thats why it keeps creeping back up, hopefully this filter will help

Ok after a nightmare first with light getting in the tub.. Fixed that for now temp solution.

Next was wild swings in the PH.. I read Rosemans Info on algae and did try the Hydrogen peroxide at 1 tsp per 3 gallons of water since mine is 8 gallon i went with 2 3/4 tsp. To try to get ph under control ...That did not work . Still would set Ph to 5.8 at 8pm. The next morning was back to over 7.0..

Then I did the 8 step recovery . That did not work But eliminated all alage. So we eliminated the light / The algae . Still had issues..with ph..

Next was reading some Of your Guy`s input and the last thing was the water what else could it have been ..

Well I went online to find out what the use in our city water . Turnes out they use some kind of buffer in the water . Not chlorine...

So next I went to WM and got one of these
http://www.brita.com/us/products/water-dispensers/ultramax/

a Brita Ultramax water filter pitcher and filter 8 gallons of water ..

Well first thing I noticed is that the water out of the tap was at 7.5 straight ..

After I Fill up I checked PH and Bam it was sitting at 6.5... So i added some PH down got it to 5.9 or so.. 9pm last night ..

Checked this morning at 7 am and stayed it is 6.0 .. Well the water was the issue . I was baffled..

Now the next problem is that I think My plants may be damaged now..

Have shown no upward Growth and the bottom leafs are curled down .. And only 2 cups are showing 1 tap root hitting the water now ..
I added some nutes. 20ml of GH grow/ 20ml GH micro/ 20ml of GH bloom to 8 gallons using this chart

http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/weekly_feeding_program_flora.asp

I am going to give them a few days and see if the get bett or start growing upwards.

Think i will have to make a filter system for my water now. and also get a Digital PH meter .. If these dont get better by next Monday Think I will scrap em and start over ..

Not happy with a loss of EasyRyders at 80 Bucks LOL ..... Live and learn water was not my friend on this grow at all ..

How long have the roots been showing through the bottom? Mine normally poke through the bottom first, have about a week of root development and then only get vertical growth.

Regarding your PH maybe it's as someone else said earlier and your water is PH buffered. If so only solution would be reverse osmosis but I have no clue when it comes to this.

Best of luck

I use distilled water, Healthy white roots all around. Cant go wrong. Its a bit costly, but it helps for a great start. i noticed on your pics under the nets there was a lot of light leaking through the lid. You need to black out the top lid. good luck!

Seems The PH is under control now Just need to see if the plants recover .

We will see what happens . if These don`t go I have 20 Nirvana short ryders and 20 bubblelicious. and the Attitude x mas 15 seeds /and assorted DNA seeds + some good bag seed so I am ready for anything .

My water really is bad here..
But now I know what the problem was . I am still going to see if the Easyryders come back.
I hope they do . My ph for the last 2 days stayed at 6.0 and did not change yet /..
I kind of planned ahead LOL thanks for the help and will keep ya posted ..