Idea for keeping reservoir temps cool

Copper in res is bad. You need the copper in it's own tank of water chilling that. Then a pump running the cold water threw SS tube in res wort.

my dehu-chiller

facestabber said:

Seems that the best method for harnessing the power of warmth for root growth without becoming overrun with bacteria would be aeroponics. I run flood and drain buckets so even though my REZ temp is 66F, my average ROOT ZONE temp would be closer to the ambient temp of the room (74F) which does give the roots some warmth. However, I still believe that a cool REZ is the way to go. Airstones and waterfalls are great if you have bubbles in direct contact with roots OR if your water is cold enough to absorb DO. Thanks for the in depth responses Mike, you make some valid points and seem to have alot to offer. Oh, and what do you think about replacing the 5 gallon bucket on your chiller setup with an igloo cooler for efficiency?

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For sure man, glad we made it through all that hahah. I like having these types discussions as I'm here to learn just as much as anyone else. But I dont feel I've learned anything if I'm too busy arguing and defending to really want to hear the other persons points and counter or improve upon them. Its hard not to get personal even though we're only disagreeing about mostly technical things, not moral or opinionated. And I think by the time we're having these kinds of debates we've gotten beyond the basics, which is what 99% of the forum is.

I only used that 5gal bucket for the picture, I keep it in a cooler otherwise. So definitely yes more efficient.

yeah, there is always someone that is going to disagree with you on the forum. problem is it doesn't matter if they know what the hell they are talking about or not.

Hey face stabber.. since your all set up for it already with an ebb/flow bucket system. If you ever want to run DWC you can simply flip all the timer things on your bucket control and keep the buckets full most of the time and have them drain back to the central rez 4-5 times a day to get mixed, chilled, and adjusted for PH and what not as needed.

That is the way I am doing it. Other than an air pump and stones, you can use all the same gear. The yield is only slightly more but the veg times are greatly increased in the DWC system Beware the dreaded brown slime though!!!

cheers.

You can utilize a stainless steel coil on geothermal systems.

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Actually I have never seen a SS heat exchanger on any geo heat pumps I have installed, always coopernickle or copper. I would think that is due to cost and the conductivity. I probably will use a closed loop attached to tube in tube exchanger. But just imagine all the stuff leaching out of all the plastic used in hydro under those bright lights......lol.

no need to really research it bud, passing nutrient solution at the proper PH for growing will leach copper into the solution and your plants will die.

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I have no doubt what you say is true being acidic, but with all the different opinions on this and other sites I typically do a bit of reading before deciding what is best for my particular setup. No offence!!! Just look around and you'll find 100 different responses to a question....lol........ I was totally fucking confused when started to dwell into the world of hydro....LOL..... I took the answer that seemed to be the most consistent and then read some more!! As my plants are doing OK I guess I picked the right ones...... I hope.......I'll let you know in about 5 weeks . No chiller till spring so no worries yet.

Opps sorry about the F@#$ing I lost my head!!!

mike91sr said:

I think you meant 86 . If your res is any cooler, you're getting less than optimal growth. With the benefit of not having bacteria outbreaks every other day of course, but still not optimal growth.

http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/73/1/46.abstract

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This should be deleted as it is such bad advice telling ppl 86 is where it should be and less is bad. 86 is only for seedlings. When they are ready for dwc I'd say anything above 74 would give u problems in the rootzone. Please read carefully and don't listen to advice like this without research

Personally I wouldn't want my res temps to go above 70

PotHead3 said:

This should be deleted as it is such bad advice telling ppl 86 is where it should be and less is bad. 86 is only for seedlings. When they are ready for dwc I'd say anything above 74 would give u problems in the rootzone. Please read carefully and don't listen to advice like this without research

Personally I wouldn't want my res temps to go above 70

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What problems are you talking about getting in the rootzone there PotHead? Bacteria-related, am I right? Ok, now re-read the second half of the post you quoted. Then read everything I said from that point on. Feeling pretty stupid huh

Oh no!!! not again......lol.

Sigh.

Just keep the res below 74, don't put copper in contact with your nutes, and try not to burn your plants. If your above 1400ppm..EVER...then you better be pretty damn sure why your doing that.

If you don't have a chiller then you better be using ewc tea. I'm not going to explain why, of you don't you may just find out the hard way.

This is my first hydro grow and after a bunch of filling, refilling, adding, diluting, and stressing out....lol. I finally got it sorted but again I read a pile of stuff on many different forums and took the good and used what was relevent for my setup and strain. The thing I found was it took time to figure out what made the girls happy and took lots of notes so can replicate it all next tray (I hope). And yes I did learn copper not a good thing with acidic water.....lol. I actually kinda knew that as we r not allowed to use copper for furnace drains as it eats the crap out of them in a year or two....

66-70F + airstones + DM Zone + moderate ppm = Thriving roots.

This is as simple as I can make it for you guys that are still having problems. It's a 4 step recipe for success for crying out loud, use it. I would use the term "foolproof" to describe this method but I know fools who can screw ANYTHING up.




How was everyone's Halloween? My gf and I passed out candy to the little monsters in the rain, I miss being a kid.......

Just a thought, I'm dealing with the same issue. How to cool my reservoir in dwc? Has anyone tried this? I'm considering getting one of those 1.7ft dorm room type fridges and putting my air pumps in there, that way the air pumps are always pumping cool air into the reservoir. Any thoughts on my idea? Any possible issues I might run into with it? Looking for feedback b4 I drop another $50 on one of those fridgerators.

facestabber said:

66-70F + airstones + DM Zone + moderate ppm = Thriving roots.

This is as simple as I can make it for you guys that are still having problems. It's a 4 step recipe for success for crying out loud, use it. I would use the term "foolproof" to describe this method but I know fools who can screw ANYTHING up.




How was everyone's Halloween? My gf and I passed out candy to the little monsters in the rain, I miss being a kid.......

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This right here!!!!!!!!

Keep your reservoir under 70 degrees and you should be fine.. Let it get to warm then you will get the slime.

Shroomfarmer said:

Just a thought, I'm dealing with the same issue. How to cool my reservoir in dwc? Has anyone tried this? I'm considering getting one of those 1.7ft dorm room type fridges and putting my air pumps in there, that way the air pumps are always pumping cool air into the reservoir. Any thoughts on my idea? Any possible issues I might run into with it? Looking for feedback b4 I drop another $50 on one of those fridgerators.

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I never had to do any of that.. you can easily keep your reservoir cool by adding frozen water bottles daily. Hydroponics isnt for the lazy grower..

Do it right. Get a chiller and wort coil. NOT copper though.