Rdwc water change questions!

ddeck96

ddeck96

Well-Known Member
I’m about to start my first RDWC waterfall grow. Hydro noob here, so I figure I’m bound to run into some problems which will require some complete res changes (system holds about 30 gallons). So my questions are: How the hell do I drain my system in case of root rot? Also, i use a separate tote to mix my nutes in before adding them to the res, how do I transfer water from my mixing tote into my actual reservoir? Any help is appreciated!!!!
 
Failmore

Failmore

Well-Known Member
Oh boy. You should be removing the water every 1 or 2 weeks Ideally.

Buy a small pond pump and use that to transfer from 1 bucket to another.

These are things you gotta think about before buying or building a system.

Also...Ideally you will never have rot if you do things correct.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
So the key is just use an A and B nutes add calmag keep around 1 ec..NO OTHER SHIT!! ph ......you know that already,i hope.
You already have a pump? simple valve and a T garden hose done.
Dont make it complicated rdwc is easier then soil...
 
ddeck96

ddeck96

Well-Known Member
Failmore said:
Oh boy. You should be removing the water every 1 or 2 weeks Ideally.

Buy a small pond pump and use that to transfer from 1 bucket to another.

These are things you gotta think about before buying or building a system.

Also...Ideally you will never have rot if you do things correct.
Click to expand...
I actually haven’t even built the system yet. Just want to get it all planned out so I don’t run into problems I’m unprepared for. And yeah I know I need to change water every 1-2 weeks.
Yeah I thought about using my spare pump to do changes and refills. But I won’t be able to get all of the water out with it, does that matter?
 
Last edited:
Failmore

Failmore

Well-Known Member
ddeck96 said:
I actually haven’t even built the system yet. Just want to get it all planned out so I don’t run into problems I’m unprepared for. And yeah I know I need to change water every 1-2 weeks.
Yeah I thought about using my spare pump to do changes and refills. But I won’t be able to get all of the water out with it, does that matter?
Click to expand...
If everything is going well...no...if you have issues and got rot..yes.

What are your plans for water temps? You got a chiller or going sterile?
 
ddeck96

ddeck96

Well-Known Member
Failmore said:
If everything is going well...no...if you have issues and got rot..yes.

What are your plans for water temps? You got a chiller or going sterile?
Click to expand...
Getting a chiller around Christmas time when I can afford it. In the meantime, it’s winter and the ambient temps in my grow room stay at between 60-70 where the res will be. The tent is about 75 ish with the lights on. I’ll be using HydroGuard in hopes that it will help my plants tolerate a little bit higher temps until I can get a chiller.
 
ddeck96

ddeck96

Well-Known Member
Failmore said:
If everything is going well...no...if you have issues and got rot..yes.

What are your plans for water temps? You got a chiller or going sterile?
Click to expand...
so root rot is a definite possibility. So I may need a way to fully empty the system If that problem occurs.
 
ddeck96

ddeck96

Well-Known Member
myke said:
So the key is just use an A and B nutes add calmag keep around 1 ec..NO OTHER SHIT!! ph ......you know that already,i hope.
You already have a pump? simple valve and a T garden hose done.
Dont make it complicated rdwc is easier then soil...
Click to expand...
mind showing me a picture of the valve and T drainage system you’re talking about?
 
ddeck96

ddeck96

Well-Known Member
myke said:
I need a pic of your pump ,inline or in your res submerged?
Click to expand...
I have two, one Danner mag drive inline, and a Hydrofarm active aqua 800gph which is also inline
One is just a back up for redundancy. The pump pulls from the res and splits off into each of the 4 buckets for a waterfall in each one. The return to the reservoir is gravity fed.

1604450219478.jpeg 1604450298807.jpeg
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
then your back up pump is your drain pump hooked to a garden hose.
Where in your house is this that you dont have a drain close by?
 
J232

J232

Well-Known Member
ddeck96 said:
But I won’t be able to get all of the water out with it, does that matter?
Click to expand...
You have to plan like you need to get all the water out, just a sub pump for the bulk and a shop vac for the rest. Not saying it has to be right drained, but at some point you will or will need to so be prepared.
 
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