Aero/DWC Design w/ PICS! Please comment!

Okay, so what do you guys think....other than the sloppy artwork.

4 plant site
External Pump - Mag drive - 300-500 gph?
30-40 gal lower res - 20-25 gal water level
8 sprayers
two large air stones
Auto top-off system

Do you see any potential flaws, such as accessing the lower rez for whatever reason, or missing key components, etc.

Note: I am not quite sure what to do about about a drain for the bottom rez...The res will most likely be sitting on the ground because of overall height issues...total of 7 ft from floor to ceiling.

Possible solution -- getting a sump pump to pump water out, then using the sump to pump new mixture back in rez?

Be sure not to run the pump on the aero portion constantly, the roots will need a chance to breath. Switch pimp to submersible to simplify things, then run the tube straight up through the bottom of your top unit and never worry about a leak. Replicate the water level indicator used on a waterfarm with a 1/2" grommet, 1/2" 90 degree elbow and a small length of blue poly line to be double sure that the res is good and be careful with the roots sharing a space with a float valve as it could become a problem not sure i would do that one yet. Have fun and Stay Safe, good luck

BTW, how can you check or adjust your ph with a sealed bottom res like that?

Switch pimp to submersible to simplify things, then run the tube straight up through the bottom of your top unit and never worry about a leak.

Click to expand...

The main reason I wanted an external pump was to keep the res temps down, and easier access if something happens to it.

be careful with the roots sharing a space with a float valve as it could become a problem not sure i would do that one yet. Have fun and Stay Safe, good luck

Click to expand...

Great point...never really thought of that. I have seen electronic float divices you can by on ebay. there is a youtube video that shoes how it works...not sure how i would install that to the rez wall...

BTW, how can you check or adjust your ph with a sealed bottom res like that?

Click to expand...

I was hoping to get a ph meter than could have the sensor in the water constantly monitoring it.

The reason I went with this idea is because I wanted to maximize the root zone space and have as much room for the roots to grow in O2. At first I thought well i'll just look for 1 Huge rez. Then I thought... well what if I have to get to the bottom of it some how...

I'm not really 100% sold on this design. But not really sure how to make it better for what I want to do.

astriz said:

Okay, so what do

Possible solution -- getting a sump pump to pump water out, then using the sump to pump new mixture back in rez?

Click to expand...

That's exactly how I do it. I pump the old nutes out. While they are pumping out, I am mixing up a new batch in a spare tote. Once I'm done pumping out the old nutes, I switch it over and pump the new nutes in. Simple simple.

-S

Looks good to me.

I use two float valves.
One on the RO rez
and one on the nutrient rez

The Float valve on the RO rez
is hooked up to the 1/4" line directly from the RO machine.