flamdrags420
Well-Known Member
On most ebb n flows and drip systems etc., the plant table is higher or above the nute tanks. This allows the excess and drainage to let gravity remove the soup and return it back to the tank. I'm designing my room and setup right now. I'm only going to have only 6 feet of vertical height. So what I'm trying to work out is having smaller footprint tanks that are higher in size to the sides of the planting area. This will allow me to keep the plants lower to ground level so that I can maximize their growth and to still allow clearance and play with light spacing between ceiling and plants.
I don't have a scanner nearby, so to help visualize my current idea: my tank would be like a 2 L coke bottle standing up right next to a bowl. The nutes would be released to a control valve timer to fill the bowl up to it's approiate level. Because I can't gravity feed the nutes back to the tank after feeding, I would need a pump to be set on a timer to pump the nutes from the "bowl" to the coke bottle.
My 2 concerns with this method are: Not being able to have an overflow, if my control valve fails, I'm not sure if the bowl would over flow. I think it would to the point that the level of tank and level of bowl are equal. (I'm a bit rusty on physics and chemistry) The other concern would be the pump in the bowl being able tosuck all of the nutes out to return to the tank without leaving the pump in a state to suck air. I don't want the pump to stall out because of air pockets or needing to be primed on the next feeding. I'm concerned about a higher rate of loss of nutes and water in efficiency as opposed with regular methods of return.
As I finish my grow room prep, I've been studying a lot of toilets, canal water locks, and other things to try to get a solution for this whacky design. Anyone have other ideas to make this goof ball idea work? Or does anyone have a pre existing solution in which their nute tank is higher in elevation than the feeding tray?
Thanks
I don't have a scanner nearby, so to help visualize my current idea: my tank would be like a 2 L coke bottle standing up right next to a bowl. The nutes would be released to a control valve timer to fill the bowl up to it's approiate level. Because I can't gravity feed the nutes back to the tank after feeding, I would need a pump to be set on a timer to pump the nutes from the "bowl" to the coke bottle.
My 2 concerns with this method are: Not being able to have an overflow, if my control valve fails, I'm not sure if the bowl would over flow. I think it would to the point that the level of tank and level of bowl are equal. (I'm a bit rusty on physics and chemistry) The other concern would be the pump in the bowl being able tosuck all of the nutes out to return to the tank without leaving the pump in a state to suck air. I don't want the pump to stall out because of air pockets or needing to be primed on the next feeding. I'm concerned about a higher rate of loss of nutes and water in efficiency as opposed with regular methods of return.
As I finish my grow room prep, I've been studying a lot of toilets, canal water locks, and other things to try to get a solution for this whacky design. Anyone have other ideas to make this goof ball idea work? Or does anyone have a pre existing solution in which their nute tank is higher in elevation than the feeding tray?
Thanks