1st time hydro need help with chiller

Ladiesonly

Ladiesonly

Well-Known Member
I’m planning my first hydro attempt and need some assistance. I have a 4x4 flood table in 5x5 tent. Bonicare 75gallon reservoir. Do I need to chill the water?

I have another floraflex table 3x3 with 50gallon res will this need to be chilled?

thanks
 
DailyBlastin

DailyBlastin

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
No need for a chiller or air bubbles with flood and drain.
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The only reason im gonna say i dont agree with this is because when i ran F&D without a chiller i had to change my 30gal rez every 4-5 days because of bacterial growth, and yes i went through extensive measures sanitizing every bit of the system thinking that was it, but it wasnt until i added the chiller to keep temps in a range were bacteria wouldnt flourish that allowed for much longer intervals between changes, after-all whats the point of a recirculating system if you have to change the rez more frequently than you would with a non-recirculating system.. just fruit for thought.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
I run my res the whole cycle, absolutely no change outs, only top offs (float valve on a solenoid valve on a timer). Never had issues with bacterial growth. I just leave a small pump in there circulating the nutrients, make sure when the tray is flooded that the pump isn't sucking air.

Only reason for a chiller is to increase DO levels (colder water holds more O2). With flood and drain you don't have to worry about DO levels since the roots get plenty of air between floods. If using LECA the tray draining pulls fresh air into the root zone.
 
Dilago

Dilago

Well-Known Member
I never use a chiller but simply keep the lid of the barrel and make sure the lamp doesn't shine on the water to prevent algae growth.
 
Ladiesonly

Ladiesonly

Well-Known Member
DailyBlastin said:
The only reason im gonna say i dont agree with this is because when i ran F&D without a chiller i had to change my 30gal rez every 4-5 days because of bacterial growth, and yes i went through extensive measures sanitizing every bit of the system thinking that was it, but it wasnt until i added the chiller to keep temps in a range were bacteria wouldnt flourish that allowed for much longer intervals between changes, after-all whats the point of a recirculating system if you have to change the rez more frequently than you would with a non-recirculating system.. just fruit for thought.
Click to expand...
The room is 75 with lights out and 84 with lights on. Is that hot enough to put
Renfro said:
I run my res the whole cycle, absolutely no change outs, only top offs (float valve on a solenoid valve on a timer). Never had issues with bacterial growth. I just leave a small pump in there circulating the nutrients, make sure when the tray is flooded that the pump isn't sucking air.

Only reason for a chiller is to increase DO levels (colder water holds more O2). With flood and drain you don't have to worry about DO levels since the roots get plenty of air between floods. If using LECA the tray draining pulls fresh air into the root zone.
Click to expand...
Renfro said:
I run my res the whole cycle, absolutely no change outs, only top offs (float valve on a solenoid valve on a timer). Never had issues with bacterial growth. I just leave a small pump in there circulating the nutrients, make sure when the tray is flooded that the pump isn't sucking air.

Only reason for a chiller is to increase DO levels (colder water holds more O2). With flood and drain you don't have to worry about DO levels since the roots get plenty of air between floods. If using LECA the tray draining pulls fresh air into the root zone.
Click to expand...
What are your temps in the grow room? Im 75 light off 84 light on.
Dilago said:
I never use a chiller but simply keep the lid of the barrel and make sure the lamp doesn't shine on the water to prevent algae growth.
Click to expand...
Ok my temps are 84/75 hoping that isn’t too warm
 
Ladiesonly

Ladiesonly

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
I run my res the whole cycle, absolutely no change outs, only top offs (float valve on a solenoid valve on a timer). Never had issues with bacterial growth. I just leave a small pump in there circulating the nutrients, make sure when the tray is flooded that the pump isn't sucking air.

Only reason for a chiller is to increase DO levels (colder water holds more O2). With flood and drain you don't have to worry about DO levels since the roots get plenty of air between floods. If using LECA the tray draining pulls fresh air into the root zone.
Click to expand...
In your res the small pump is like a 250 gph? How often does it run? I’m assuming this is different than Res to table pump.

Thanks mang!
 
Keesje

Keesje

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
Only reason for a chiller is to increase DO levels (colder water holds more O2).
Click to expand...
And even those differences are peanuts.
9.2 mg per liter at 68 F / 20 C
8.4 mg per liter at 77 F / 25 C
For DO levels a chiller is also not necessary.
 
Ladiesonly

Ladiesonly

Well-Known Member
HydroBum said:
You should consider adding something like hydro-guard to your res to be safe just in case your water gets warmer than 75 degrees.
Click to expand...
Yeah for sure. I researched this and adding this. Im adding a small pump running 24x7 in both res. I think I will use the smallest 40GPH
 
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