8 place UC DIY build - parts/price list

zypheruk

zypheruk

Well-Known Member
@rayuki look for retail outlets for garden ponds they do all sizes and are cheaper, I think my 2" bulkheads hear in uk cost me £3.45 each from pond shops.
 
Porkymcchops

Porkymcchops

Active Member
OneHitDone said:
Uniseals suck ass. Especially on soft walled round containers. I would avoid if you can come up with a bulkhead option.
They (uniseals) seal great to the pipe but you will be gooping up between the seal and container wall unless you have a flat and very rigid container
Plus the larger sizes take huge strength to get the pipe in. Something that may be an issue for some.
Yes, I have used them - you can see them in my vertical grow linked in my sig
Click to expand...
This right here is EXACTLY what I've heard about the uniseals. And is why I didn't use them.
 
rayuki

rayuki

Well-Known Member
OneHitDone said:
Uniseals suck ass. Especially on soft walled round containers. I would avoid if you can come up with a bulkhead option.
They (uniseals) seal great to the pipe but you will be gooping up between the seal and container wall unless you have a flat and very rigid container
Plus the larger sizes take huge strength to get the pipe in. Something that may be an issue for some.
Yes, I have used them - you can see them in my vertical grow linked in my sig
Click to expand...
sounds like not worth the risk then, will just spend the money if i have to on bulkheads.


zypheruk said:
@rayuki look for retail outlets for garden ponds they do all sizes and are cheaper, I think my 2" bulkheads hear in uk cost me £3.45 each from pond shops.
Click to expand...
thanks for the info i'll have a look around. however if its anything like my experience looking at pond/aquarium shops around aus it will be closer to this:

https://www.aquascapesupplies.com.au/50mm-Bulkhead-Fitting.html

edit:
would these do the trick? at this price and the fact they ship to australia im better off just buying overseas lol

https://www.amazon.com/Lifegard-Aquatics-Standard-Threaded-Bulkhead/dp/B0006JLTO6/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1505133807&sr=8-4-fkmr0&keywords=50mm+bulkhead

or i can get these in a 4 pack and just buy like 20

https://www.amazon.com/CPR-Aquatic-BHCPR200SSx4-Quality-Bulkheads/dp/B01IVCS4A6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1505134092&sr=1-1&keywords=2"+slip+x+thread+bulkhead+fittings
 
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zypheruk

zypheruk

Well-Known Member
@rayuki the first amazon link is what I got here, but either of the amazon linked connectors will work fine. Just make sure and get the straight pipes to match up correctly.
 
S

Stickyicky247

Active Member
And for easier draining, I built a t on my return pipe after the pump so I can hook up a drain line to one side and a top drip manifold for my seedlings/clones on the other side
 

Attachments

ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Boy I wish I'd seen this when you started, I'd have saved you a lot of brain damage.

I looked carefully at the under current system and found that it was full of flaws, so I did a complete redesign. The first thing I did was notice that the best bucket to grow plants in, due to aeration and churning the water, was the only one they didn't want you to put a plant in! Yep, the epicenter itself... Go figure?

So I built a control bucket from a standard 5 gallon bucket and for holes with 1" bulkhead fittings. 1" bulkhead fittings are used throughout the whole system, with 1" lines. The pump hours in the control bucket. Instead of sending water to one end and having it passively flow back, I built a manifold off the circulation pump and then stuck a half inch elbow fitting in the lid of each tubsite, in my case 27 gallon tuffboxes. Now every tubsite gets its own waterfall for aeration and churning. The water returns to the control bucket via the 1"bulkhead fittings and lines. The cold coil for cooling the system goes in the control bucket so water is cooled just before returning to every tubsite.

I threw away the entire air injection system; no air pump, no lines, no stones. Fuck that useless, noisy shit.

The system works and it's very reliable. My best is 2 pounds per plant and that's nowhere near the upper limit.

Draining the system is simple; unplug the supply manifold from the circulation pump and hook up the drain line. Done.
 
stickyicky_247

stickyicky_247

Active Member
Nice! I'm trying to picture your setup, the only thing I could see wrong with that design, if I'm correct, is that if roots clog one bucket, then it won't drain even tho your pump is still filling it from the waterfall?
 
stickyicky_247

stickyicky_247

Active Member
ttystikk said:
Boy I wish I'd seen this when you started, I'd have saved you a lot of brain damage.

I looked carefully at the under current system and found that it was full of flaws, so I did a complete redesign. The first thing I did was notice that the best bucket to grow plants in, due to aeration and churning the water, was the only one they didn't want you to put a plant in! Yep, the epicenter itself... Go figure?

So I built a control bucket from a standard 5 gallon bucket and for holes with 1" bulkhead fittings. 1" bulkhead fittings are used throughout the whole system, with 1" lines. The pump hours in the control bucket. Instead of sending water to one end and having it passively flow back, I built a manifold off the circulation pump and then stuck a half inch elbow fitting in the lid of each tubsite, in my case 27 gallon tuffboxes. Now every tubsite gets its own waterfall for aeration and churning. The water returns to the control bucket via the 1"bulkhead fittings and lines. The cold coil for cooling the system goes in the control bucket so water is cooled just before returning to every tubsite.

I threw away the entire air injection system; no air pump, no lines, no stones. Fuck that useless, noisy shit.

The system works and it's very reliable. My best is 2 pounds per plant and that's nowhere near the upper limit.

Draining the system is simple; unplug the supply manifold from the circulation pump and hook up the drain line. Done.
Click to expand...
Did you have any issues with the bulkheads leaking? I just finished my build and haven't filled it yet. I used 5 gal buckets and 1" bulkheads as well. Just worried about leaks from the curved surface. Thanks
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
stickyicky_247 said:
Nice! I'm trying to picture your setup, the only thing I could see wrong with that design, if I'm correct, is that if roots clog one bucket, then it won't drain even tho your pump is still filling it from the waterfall?
Click to expand...
27 gallon tubs with 4 outlets each, specifically so that there's always at least one that doesn't clog.

I also reached down every few weeks and pulled out any roots going down the outlets and tore them off.
20160816_111719.jpg

The orange ring is a spacer cut from a Homer bucket, which fits in the hole cut in the lid of the 27 gallon tub. I use netpot bucket lids which fit nicely on the spacer. Not in the pic is the lightproof cover, because the yellow lids will let in enough light to fuck with the roots.
 
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ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
stickyicky_247 said:
Did you have any issues with the bulkheads leaking? I just finished my build and haven't filled it yet. I used 5 gal buckets and 1" bulkheads as well. Just worried about leaks from the curved surface. Thanks
Click to expand...
As long as the drilled hole isn't too big and the mating surfaces are clean there's never been a problem. Occasionally one would seep and I'd wiggle it or twist the hose on the barbs and that would fix it. Only needs one rubber seal, it goes inside.
 
rayuki

rayuki

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
27 gallon tubs with 4 outlets each, specifically so that there's always at least one that doesn't clog.

I also reached down every few weeks and pulled out any roots going down the outlets and tore them off.
View attachment 4010027

The orange ring is a spacer cut from a Homer bucket, which fits in the hole cut in the lid of the 27 gallon tub. I use netpot bucket lids which fit nicely on the spacer. Not in the pic is the lightproof cover, because the yellow lids will let in enough light to fuck with the roots.
Click to expand...
holy sweet jesus put a NSFW tag on that root porn lol

do you have a build log for that setup?
 
Organic Miner

Organic Miner

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
27 gallon tubs with 4 outlets each, specifically so that there's always at least one that doesn't clog.

I also reached down every few weeks and pulled out any roots going down the outlets and tore them off.
View attachment 4010027

The orange ring is a spacer cut from a Homer bucket, which fits in the hole cut in the lid of the 27 gallon tub. I use netpot bucket lids which fit nicely on the spacer. Not in the pic is the lightproof cover, because the yellow lids will let in enough light to fuck with the roots.
Click to expand...
Your buckets look a lot like mine, except I used 2" drains and insulated the buckets. But damn, roots looked jus like that! Great minds think a like.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Organic Miner said:
Your buckets look a lot like mine, except I used 2" drains and insulated the buckets. But damn, roots looked jus like that! Great minds think a like.
Click to expand...
The tub covers are made of 1" foil covered foam insulation board, which definitely kept the heat off the tubs.

One could wrap the tubs too, but I noticed that I had a daily temperature fluctuation from about 65f right before lights on to 68-70f at lights off. I feel that this swing is beneficial as it keeps things cold enough to keep the root at bay- even when I intentionally dosed my system with putrid water once, it was a non-event- and allows for warmer temperatures to accelerate plant growth.
 
Porkymcchops

Porkymcchops

Active Member
ttystikk said:
Boy I wish I'd seen this when you started, I'd have saved you a lot of brain damage.

I looked carefully at the under current system and found that it was full of flaws, so I did a complete redesign. The first thing I did was notice that the best bucket to grow plants in, due to aeration and churning the water, was the only one they didn't want you to put a plant in! Yep, the epicenter itself... Go figure?

So I built a control bucket from a standard 5 gallon bucket and for holes with 1" bulkhead fittings. 1" bulkhead fittings are used throughout the whole system, with 1" lines. The pump hours in the control bucket. Instead of sending water to one end and having it passively flow back, I built a manifold off the circulation pump and then stuck a half inch elbow fitting in the lid of each tubsite, in my case 27 gallon tuffboxes. Now every tubsite gets its own waterfall for aeration and churning. The water returns to the control bucket via the 1"bulkhead fittings and lines. The cold coil for cooling the system goes in the control bucket so water is cooled just before returning to every tubsite.

I threw away the entire air injection system; no air pump, no lines, no stones. Fuck that useless, noisy shit.

The system works and it's very reliable. My best is 2 pounds per plant and that's nowhere near the upper limit.

Draining the system is simple; unplug the supply manifold from the circulation pump and hook up the drain line. Done.
Click to expand...
You've basically got a badass recirc it sounds like. Holy fuck. THAT is a gnarly root ball. Whatever you've got going on there its clearly working well for you. All the info/input is greatly appreciated. I want to come up with a design where it's 100% water agitation for a source of DO. I also hate the loud commercial air pumps. Eventually, I will invest in a DO monitor and start playing around with water fall type designs. I like the idea of a dedicated pump drawing in res water AND some air through a Venturi and then being split off via some sort of manifold to each bucket.. aerate the water before it even gets to the root zone.
 
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