ARGH! Res water keeps turning cloudy

Hey All,

Ive been battling this issue for WEEKS now - wasting tons of nutes and water and time.

Whenever i mix up a batch of nutes for my DTW system, my reservoir experiences the following symptoms 1-2 days after mixing. PH also rises considerably.

-Water has a milky looky skin on it
-water turns a bit cloudy

My setup for water is as follows:
-10 gallon res
-2x180GPH pumps, one to feed the plants, the other to mix water around
-Water comes from an RO water setup.
-Water temp is 60-65~

Nutes are as follows:
-Canna Coco a/b
-Drip clean
-Atami Bloombastic
-CalMg

Even when i was running my veg formula, it was the same as above minus the Bloombastic.

below is a pic..could really use some help!

not sure of the nute types but you need to start running h202 at 7ml per gal every three days
the ph rising is due to the bactiria/pathegins living in your res. id due a res change clean shit
and start the h202 formula.

hey man i aint no pro at growing but do you run a air pump and what is dtw just trying to help

Looks like my tub after I exit.

nope no air stones in res. tried with one in and same result.

i guess i have no choice but to try out h202

You need alot of Bubbles moving the water around..

Wow no airstones that's honestly ridiculous man. You need to have THREE LINES WITH BUBBLE BARS ON them for a res that big....... Its 100% without a doubt because you don't have oxygen in the mix.

yea thats what i was thinking my nute mix that sits in the gallon for two days looks like that with that film over the top i just spill it out but i know if the was lots of air it shouldnt do that but if h202 dont work try like four airstones.happy growing peace

if i use straight tap without letting it sit for a couple of days an start running air pump it turns cloudy by the morning , i cant remember where but i read somewhere that cold an i mean in 40 degree cold chlorinated water straight out the tap when warmish air is pumped through the solution it can cause the water to turn cloudy due to releasing gases or something like this could be just a mythh or some sort, but after ph ing it after the 3 rd day the water is crystal clear, do you give time to settle or do change straight away??
another thing when you mix your soup do allow time between adding each nute ie if you use 2 part nute you add part a leave it to run round your system for 30 mins then add part b do the same let it go round for 30 mins, it supposed to give the buffers etc time to work then you start adding ph down i take a jug of water out the res put about 10ml ph down in the jug (depending on how much water in your system) of water i just took out res then tip it back in system leave it work round check in about 30-45mins if you need to add more do it again,cant remember what its called now but adding straight undiluted ph down to your nute mix can cause problems cant think what its called but i am sure one the experts will tell you an never add ph down or up in the same soloution one or the other jus my 2 pennies

sorry one more thing you dont run airstones that water looks stagnent i would get an air pump in there just to get some D.O going just get a cheap pump an try it

oh i forget exact names, but that is a very common aquarium "problem"
these are bacteria that live on a certain kind of nitrogen (fishshit and piss)

whenever there is too much of that nitrogen, the bacteria multiply like crazy and form that cloud in the water. its not a problem, except for it doesnt look good.
because what the bacteria do, is actually convert that type of nitrogen (harmful to fish) into another less harmful type of nitrogen (to fish)
and actually a nitrogentype that plants have an easier time of digesting.

the bloom is probably quicker to go away in an aquarium because of all the rough surfaces available for the bacteria to settle on, and thats how filters work, by giving the bacteria a rough place to settle on (the filter) and a continous flow of water there through, feeding the bacteria. (actually essential to an aquarium)

judging by that, i cant really see the harm of those bacteria. and yes id add airstones, cant have too much oxygen in hydro.

though, might as well get an aquarium pump (with an filter perhaps for the bacteria to get rid of the bloom)

as its not the bubbles from the airstones that add oxygen to the mix (minute)
its the movement of the surface water and how much surface is available to the water.

though probably a shitload of airstones would be better, really bubbling up the surface (moving the water and with all those bubbles, increasing the air to water ratio, by a huge factor)

but also since its that certain type of nitrogen that is so inviting to these bacteria,you might simply try different fertilizers.

yeah just buy a dual out cheap aquarium pump an two 12-16" long airstones an bobs your uncle as sso said its not the bubbles that produce D.O well it is an its not its when they rise to the surface break the water capturing air, i thought it was stagnet at first but then started thinking it could be cyanobacteria aka the slime monster as long as you dont have jelly looking shit on your roots you should be ok the signs of this bacteria are res turning cloudy an funky smelling an huge ph drifts an the jell on roots this bacteria is food in itself it does not need light oxygen does not matter how much h202 you throw at it or how cold your water is this stuff thrives in low D.O water an if you add any type of zymes shit this thing explodes the only thing that has worked for me is to use DM zone clean every thing down with straight bleach replace all things like net pots airstones etc so far so good heinsberg has a ewc tea thread going an that seems to work for these little monsters the threads called how to brew your own microbes i think

Make sure you mix your bloom nutes first and mix well, and always pre-dilute your ph adjusts before adding them to your res, if you dont it precipitates out of the solution fairly quickly causing a milky cloud on the water. NEVER EVER use hydrogen peroxide around living plants, it is an indiscriminate killer of bacteria both good and bad and roots also, try using hygrozyme or adding beneficial bacteria, both will be of multiple benefits in a grow like this.

Yep, air stones...oxygen...air pump (need at least 1 watt per gallon)

xochilives said:

Make sure you mix your bloom nutes first and mix well, and always pre-dilute your ph adjusts before adding them to your res, if you dont it precipitates out of the solution fairly quickly causing a milky cloud on the water. NEVER EVER use hydrogen peroxide around living plants, it is an indiscriminate killer of bacteria both good and bad and roots also, try using hygrozyme or adding beneficial bacteria, both will be of multiple benefits in a grow like this.

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your right about never using H202 when bennys are present but you are very rong about this statment about never using H202 around living plant lol

Some updates,

picked up a 4 port pump with 4 air stones, maybe a littler overboard but im sick of this issue


well a little update..

So heres how things went since i added air stones.
Day1 8pm - Added 4 air stones to fresh batch of nutes, 1200~ ppm, 5.8Ph

Day2 8am - Clear waters, 5.8ph
Day2 9pm - Clear waters, 5.8ph

Day3(today) 9am - Water is cloudier but not chunky, ph at 6.8-7.
Day3(right now) - about to slit my wrists because this is drivnig me NUTS.

thinking about dropping all together and just going for a modified coco lucas formula..

lucas isnt going to solve your res issue niether is coco
you need to switch to a 100% inorganic nutes add lots
of air and h202 and you should get better results