Best setup for RDWC?

I am going to be running an RDWC with 4 plants in 5 gallon buckets with a 4x4 scrog net. I was wondering how exactly I should set up the RDWC.

Should the water in be facing at the net pot, or elbowed down towards the bottom of the bucket? Or should I use a top feed with a ring?

And do you run your pumps 24/7 or is it some sort of cycle?

I'm going to say this from the beginning, I've only done one RDWC and it was a DIY project and it was a leaky mess that i gave up on and put them in individual buckets which I'm more than familiar with. But with that said, as far as everything I have read about them is the pump is on 24/7. All though if you ask me you could most definitely save power and life on the pump the run in on a cycle or really just when you mix in nutes with out to much of a difference.

As for the elbow, could it go sideways to almost swirl in the water or even no elbow? I've always seen straight pipe slightly line from each other.

Well my googling led me to this link, which is what I think I'm gonna go with.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=26343

Hey I was just wondering what's a good meter for my reservoir? Like a PH & TDS meter where you leave the probe in the res, bonus points if it has temp readings but it's not necessary.

SmerkedOut said:

Hey I was just wondering what's a good meter for my reservoir? Like a PH & TDS meter where you leave the probe in the res, bonus points if it has temp readings but it's not necessary.

Click to expand...

BlueLab Guardian Monitor! You can't go wrong with that.

mike45214 said:

BlueLab Guardian Monitor! You can't go wrong with that.

Click to expand...

Ha, I asked the same thing in my grow journal, and 2 other people said the same thing. That's an expensive meter, but I might have to suck it up and buy it. This is my first DWC, and I REALLY don't wanna fuck it up.

SmerkedOut said:

Ha, I asked the same thing in my grow journal, and 2 other people said the same thing. That's an expensive meter, but I might have to suck it up and buy it. This is my first DWC, and I REALLY don't wanna fuck it up.

Click to expand...

The cheapest I've seen them going for is around $255 on Ebay. Once you have one you can't do without it. It's one of the best investments you can make in your grow.

mike45214 said:

The cheapest I've seen them going for is around $255 on Ebay. Once you have one you can't do without it. It's one of the best investments you can make in your grow.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's very true. I would hate to lose a grow to root rot or a PH screw up. I'll pick one of those up pretty soon for sure!

This is the video I watched when building an RDWC. Its an hour and a half long but explains everything and is a great system. Here is the link

WyoKush said:

This is the video I watched when building an RDWC. Its an hour and a half long but explains everything and is a great system. Here is the link

Click to expand...

Yeah, I stumbled on that video yesterday. It's an awesome setup for sure, it's just way too big for me. But it's still got some good tips in it too. I found a setup I like and I bought the stuff to build it. Here's a link if you wanted to see it.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=26343

Good deal. Hope your build goes well and update some photos when done

gmanguy said:

I'm going to say this from the beginning, I've only done one RDWC and it was a DIY project and it was a leaky mess that i gave up on and put them in individual buckets which I'm more than familiar with.

Click to expand...

I had the exact same experience. If rdwc is your first venture into hydro get the mop ready m8. SEAL SEAL SEAL AND SEAL AGAIN. Nothing worse than a slow leak you can't find or plug. Keeping the water flowing where, when, or how will be the absolute least of your problems. If there's moving water the plants will BEAST, its keeping that water properly contained and your tubing clean that you should be concerned with...

ActionHanks said:

I had the exact same experience. If rdwc is your first venture into hydro get the mop ready m8. SEAL SEAL SEAL AND SEAL AGAIN. Nothing worse than a slow leak you can't find or plug. Keeping the water flowing where, when, or how will be the absolute least of your problems. If there's moving water the plants will BEAST, its keeping that water properly contained and your tubing clean that you should be concerned with...

Click to expand...

I've got uniseals and I'm gonna practice on some scrap buckets first, so those shouldn't leak. But I'm definitely gonna take every precaution I can. If my water gets too warm I guess I'll get a water chiller. And I'm gonna be sure to have my buckets blacked out.