Flood and drain reservoir maintenance?

How much per gallon??

So im back after many experiments and would like to share my findings with you guys.
I realized after many may hours of reading that the issue was with my ph down, yes ph down lol.
I was using general hydroponics ph down which contains phosphoric acid and this happens to be food for bacteria.
I am now using sulfuric acid ( aka battery acid ) it is beyond cheap vs general hydroponics or other brands of ph down and from what i read its safe as many big big agricultural places use it ( PLEASE PLEASE do your own research before using this)( i am not an expert or a chemist )
anyway after using sulfuric acid as ph down and pool shock i can maintain a rez for a few days, even up to 7 days without anything nasty starting to grow in it.
the formula i used for the pool shock is as follows.
pool shock is 73% ( calcium hypochlorite)
1 gram of pool shock for 1 gallon to make stock solution
then use 5ml per gallon. this makes basically clear rez solution, I found a video on youtube for this.
I waited for a while to come back and post to make sure my plants did not get effected long term and so far so good, they look happy and healthy.
Again, please do your own research as well or do a small test if you are going to use what i posted.

Darknes01 said:

So im back after many experiments and would like to share my findings with you guys.
I realized after many may hours of reading that the issue was with my ph down, yes ph down lol.
I was using general hydroponics ph down which contains phosphoric acid and this happens to be food for bacteria.
I am now using sulfuric acid ( aka battery acid ) it is beyond cheap vs general hydroponics or other brands of ph down and from what i read its safe as many big big agricultural places use it ( PLEASE PLEASE do your own research before using this)( i am not an expert or a chemist )
anyway after using sulfuric acid as ph down and pool shock i can maintain a rez for a few days, even up to 7 days without anything nasty starting to grow in it.
the formula i used for the pool shock is as follows.
pool shock is 73% ( calcium hypochlorite)
1 gram of pool shock for 1 gallon to make stock solution
then use 5ml per gallon. this makes basically clear rez solution, I found a video on youtube for this.
I waited for a while to come back and post to make sure my plants did not get effected long term and so far so good, they look happy and healthy.
Again, please do your own research as well or do a small test if you are going to use what i posted.

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i'd love to know waht kind of relationship there is b/t phosphoric acid and shock and sulfuric acid and shock. maybe 1 interacts better than the other???

glad you got it sorted out though

Your water goes weird when its still in warm conditions. The trick is to keep it moving and oxgenated . Use a separate pump with a bit of hose that comes out above the water to create a constant moving waterfall effect. Leave that pump on continuously. I used phosphoric acid in this system with no issues.

Prepare 1 gal of CLO2 and use 1ml/gal in your rez. You can increase the strength if that dosage doesn’t work.

TheWholeTruth said:

I used phosphoric acid in this system with no issues.

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i've used GH down for over a decade

rkymtnman said:

i've used GH down for over a decade

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And the ingredients of GH down are???

zzyx said:

And the ingredients of GH down are???

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The basic ingredients of pH DownTM are phosphoric acid, citric acid, and mono ammonium phosphate.

zzyx said:

And the ingredients of GH down are???

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google

zzyx said:

And the ingredients of GH down are???

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could you copy and paste them too plz? i'm curious.

Just to clear up the air, i would rather use GH ph down as phosphoric acid is also food for the plants vs using sulfuric acid, I only posted this info incase someone else is having issues keeping their nutrient tanks clean of bacteria.

Darknes01 said:

Just to clear up the air, i would rather use GH ph down as phosphoric acid is also food for the plants vs using sulfuric acid, I only posted this info incase someone else is having issues keeping their nutrient tanks clean of bacteria.

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i'm asking b/c i use GH down and southern ag. if it's killing them, that would be nice to know . or if it's feeding them too? an acid feeding a bacteria seems weird

TheWholeTruth said:

Your water goes weird when its still in warm conditions. The trick is to keep it moving and oxgenated . Use a separate pump with a bit of hose that comes out above the water to create a constant moving waterfall effect. Leave that pump on continuously. I used phosphoric acid in this system with no issues.

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YES! Oxygenating the rez should be priority 1.

Darknes01 said:

Just to clear up the air, i would rather use GH ph down as phosphoric acid is also food for the plants vs using sulfuric acid, I only posted this info incase someone else is having issues keeping their nutrient tanks clean of bacteria.

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I tend to avoid proprietary ratios of ingredients as in GH brand.

rkymtnman said:

i'm asking b/c i use GH down and southern ag. if it's killing them, that would be nice to know . or if it's feeding them too? an acid feeding a bacteria seems weird

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You should use ph down cuz it will turn in to food for bacteria. Batterry acid lowers ph and causes no algae if u run sterile like jack321 with no beneficials. I used both in a different watering with no side effects.

Darknes01 said:

So im back after many experiments and would like to share my findings with you guys.
I realized after many may hours of reading that the issue was with my ph down, yes ph down lol.
I was using general hydroponics ph down which contains phosphoric acid and this happens to be food for bacteria.
I am now using sulfuric acid ( aka battery acid ) it is beyond cheap vs general hydroponics or other brands of ph down and from what i read its safe as many big big agricultural places use it ( PLEASE PLEASE do your own research before using this)( i am not an expert or a chemist )
anyway after using sulfuric acid as ph down and pool shock i can maintain a rez for a few days, even up to 7 days without anything nasty starting to grow in it.
the formula i used for the pool shock is as follows.
pool shock is 73% ( calcium hypochlorite)
1 gram of pool shock for 1 gallon to make stock solution
then use 5ml per gallon. this makes basically clear rez solution, I found a video on youtube for this.
I waited for a while to come back and post to make sure my plants did not get effected long term and so far so good, they look happy and healthy.
Again, please do your own research as well or do a small test if you are going to use what i posted.

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All you need is Dutch Master Zone, 1-3 ml per gallon a couple times a week, done. I only change rez water at flush, no need to waste nutes on unnecessary rez changes, top offs only.

F_T_P! said:

All you need is Dutch Master Zone, 1-3 ml per gallon a couple times a week, done. I only change rez water at flush, no need to waste nutes on unnecessary rez changes, top offs only.

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Sounds interesting. Is it not an enzyme product? I'll research it more later.

Definitely keep your water sterile, but also jacket your res in panda film. The white outside layer reflects light and the black inside layer blocks it. Light equals heat, if not also directly growing algae. My res is in my tent due to space issues, which means it's being bombarded by a ton of light / heat. I struggled with green algae until I thought of the panda film idea. That was a few years ago and I haven't seen any since.

70's natureboy said:

Sounds interesting. Is it not an enzyme product? I'll research it more later.

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Not an enzyme, here is a link for your research.