Drain the water or not???

How's it going everyone.. Ok, sorry for the newb question, but do I drain the water in my RDWC? I was told not to drain water. I am building a 4-5 bucket undercurrent RDWC system with a Control and Res. If draining water is recommended, do i drain all the water, or just the water in the control and or res? Please, if someone can explain to me the process it would be very much appreciated. This is my first grow. I am using a 4x4 tent with 600 watt hps. Thanks!

Also, is air stone recommended in the res?

You should likely change the nutrient solution every 1 to 2 weeks.

I've gone an entire grow without changing the solution and only topping off (well, I take that back, I changed the solution once when I went to flower).. but that really only works out if you are using a large amount of water (it was a 70 gallon grow feeding only a few plants designed to let me not be there for many days at a time). The more water in your system, the larger the buffer you have for this kinda thing.

As far as the air stones, you'll need some form of aeration somewhere in the system. Agitating only the res bucket is a common and easy way to do this. Personally, I agitate every bucket with an air stone, except my res.

Hey BossHoggins, thanks for the info. I am still a bit confused. I searched the forums all morning during class and can't seem to find the answer I am needing, so i do apologize if this has been answered before.. By changing the nutrient solution, you mean draining the water from the whole system? Now, if i drain the system, what do i do with the plants? Do i put them in a temp bucket with a little water and nutes, or do i leave them in the system and just refill with the water from the res/and maybe tap water? I guess im confused in the process because the water that I'm adding will not be of the same ph and tds, right? This is bad to the plants correct? Please, someone help clear my confusion. Thank you!

Here's what I do.

I mix up my nutes, one part at a time inside a 5 gallon water jug to whatever EC/ppm the plants are taking at the time.. After that, you'd normally pH adjust it, but I use AN pH perfect nutes, so.. it's a non issue for me. I then use my water pump to evacuate all of the water that it can and then just dump the new solution in. Don't worry if you can't get every last drop of old solution out.

The plants can take sitting in the buckets without water for .. I dunno.. longer than it takes to change the nutrient solution, I know that. You can remove the plants and put them into another bucket if you must, but I wouldn't unless you have to.

I don't drain I just let them drink it down fill it back up and top it off

Your girls will be fine with their feet out of the water for a short while. Mix your solution in buckets before draining, ph balance everything, pull the plug, drain and re-fill. Your girls won't miss a beat. Good Luck