New 2 DWC/ Building bubble cloner ?s

Ok testing is underway.NO LEAKS! This unit is working great.good even distribution.Im ready to get some clones in this.got my clonex.and neoprene plugs til the net pots are here.the res indicator worked great,just need to cover it with black tape to water levels.then a pc. of black tubing or wire sleeve over the rest(that could slide up or down to check level).mark some lines for optimal water range.and were good to go! the drain emptied the res very quickly.I will have the res up on a platform so when time to empty the res comes,I just put a container under the drain, empty ,and refill without moving anything.Some testing pics

Tricho, something else you should do is use a gallon jug of water and fill it gallon by gallon or maybe every 2 and make marks on the line as you go. Then when it's time to top off you'll have a better idea of how much you need.

diggitydank420 said:

Tricho, something else you should do is use a gallon jug of water and fill it gallon by gallon or maybe every 2 and make marks on the line as you go. Then when it's time to top off you'll have a better idea of how much you need.

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Hey diggitydank, heres my black elec. tape & heater hose res indicator cover.I did 2 gallons at a time til I was in my range.
also added a temp gauge.its holding at 71 degrees with no lights yet.once i get the net pots in I might have to adjust the water height a lil.6 gallons right now.puts me 3-3 1/2" from top of net pot.
my tapwater ph was really high.at least 7.6 according to my cheap ph fish aquarium kit.I had to add a shit ton of ph down.and have it at least down around 6.0 now.I get my net pots tomorrow and should be good to go.
some pics.Thanks for the help!

That'll do, donkey. That'll do.

Alright,I finally got my shit together.I made a light hood out of aluminum trim coil,and mounted 6 cfl's(42 Watt 6500k) under it. the 2" net pots I got fell right through my holes that I drilled to 2".I should of gone 1 3/4"(duh).thats what I get for drilling the holes before I had my pots.So I wrapped the top edge of my pots with electrical tape and they fit nice.
I have high ph tapwater,so I had to ph down the shit out of it to get to around 6.I only had an aquarium test kit to start with,that only goes to 6.0 so I wasnt sure if I was below that.yesterday a friend went to the hydro store and grabbed me the kit that goes to 4.0.I rechecked my ph and im between 5.5-6.0.closer to 6.0. Sunday I put my 1st 7 clones in there.I am running clonex solution at regular strength.After a couple hours only 2 had drooped.another 2 hours later 1 of the 2 stood back up.by the next day all were looking good except 1.by the time I came home from work it was laying right down.I ousted it,cut another and put it in the same spot.It drooped for an hour or so,and by bedtime it was standing back up.
temp in the res is holding at 79-80 degrees.at the end of the week I will change the res. and refill with water and clonex.heres a couple pics.
any advice would be great.next is picking what nutes Im going to use.Im leaning towards botanicare products.

Try General Hydro's Flora 3-part series. It works very well for me and is quite flexible also. Then throw in Koolbloom during flower.

Also, you need to start getting rez temps under 75F or you could become a victim of root rot.

diggitydank420 said:

Try General Hydro's Flora 3-part series. It works very well for me and is quite flexible also. Then throw in Koolbloom during flower.

Also, you need to start getting rez temps under 75F or you could become a victim of root rot.

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Thanks diggity, what do you do to keep temps down? I changed out the res last nite,cuz I had the water in there for a week before I actually was ready for the clones.Im glad I did cuz there was some cloudy filmy looking stuff in there.I have 6 42 watt cfl's on them a few inches away.should I move the lights farther away?or less lights?
How often do you change your res? Thanks for the help diggity! I appreciate it man

For the res temp you can just fill some bottles with water and freeze them, then drop them in there as needed.

hey entropic wuz up I opened the doors more in the grow area,raised the lights a couple inches and pointed the fan towards the light.my temp is 74.5 degrees now.checked ph and it was 7.5.got it back down to 6.0.my plants looked droopy.I had the water about 1" below the bottom of the clone.I lowered another 1/2 " thinking maybe Im overwatering/drowning them!?
Im all over the frozen water bottles if needed 4 sure though,thanks for the help man Im gonna see how these young ladies look tomorrow a.m.
what kind of nutes you like entropic?

heya tricho, superb set up mate, very well done, i need to do one of those, i need one for 16 cuttings!!! also im making 8 more of those with 2 plant holes cut into each one all hooked up to a main resovoir with a stopcock to auto fill when they get low!! also im going to put a water pump in the main resovoir so i can keep the nutrient moving through each of my systems and then back into my main res, hopefully to achieve the PH and PPM of each system will be the same (IN THEORY) i think i have a lot on my hands to do! haha

The only real way to cool that rez without spending beaucoup bucks is to get some fans blowing on it.

I've been using the Technaflora 3 part and I'm happy with it.

diggitydank420 said:

The only real way to cool that rez without spending beaucoup bucks is to get some fans blowing on it.

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I never knew aquarium chillers were so expensive, I thought they would be under 100 at least!

There are a few others things you can do to drop it a few degrees without spending the big bucks.

1. Freeze some bottles of water and throw a few in. Not ideal but it works.
2. Cover the bucket/res with something that reflects heat better like foil or foil tape. Or if your bucket is black you can paint white over it and it'll absorb less heat.
3. A stronger air pump/more bubbles will mean more heat exchange and a lower res temp.
4. You could put position a fan (pc case fan or something) to blow on the surface of the water. Maybe cut a piece of PVC and put it through the lid and then mount the fan up a little higher to make sure it doesn't get splashed.

That's all I can think of so far.

diggitydank420 said:

The only real way to cool that rez without spending beaucoup bucks is to get some fans blowing on it.

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yeah Im doing that now to keep it cooler 71-73 degrees.Im going to move my lights a little farther away also.Id like to get to 67-68 degrees.

entropic said:

I've been using the Technaflora 3 part and I'm happy with it.

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thats cool,Im just getting ideas of what people like.I was told to use no nutes for three weeks.only useing clonex right now at recomended strength.

entropic said:

I never knew aquarium chillers were so expensive, I thought they would be under 100 at least!

There are a few others things you can do to drop it a few degrees without spending the big bucks.

1. Freeze some bottles of water and throw a few in. Not ideal but it works.
2. Cover the bucket/res with something that reflects heat better like foil or foil tape. Or if your bucket is black you can paint white over it and it'll absorb less heat.
3. A stronger air pump/more bubbles will mean more heat exchange and a lower res temp.
4. You could put position a fan (pc case fan or something) to blow on the surface of the water. Maybe cut a piece of PVC and put it through the lid and then mount the fan up a little higher to make sure it doesn't get splashed.

That's all I can think of so far.

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Yeah I started looking into water chillers $499. Whoa!thats crazy Thanks for the great ideas man.So far I like the freezing water bottles.or freezing small leakproof containers.I read last nite where a guy freezes ph'd water with nutes in it,into small blocks,like ice cubes only bigger.And drop them in and let them melt.but im sure theres a fine line between too cold and too warm.Im eventually going to have them in the basement on the concrete floor where its much cooler and control with light distance and fans.
I appreciate you guys helping me! right now this is a test period/learning curve for me.My lil girls are not happy still.2 days ago i checked ph and it was 8.0,got it back to 6.0.yesterday it was back up to 6.5 adjusted again.1 plant has roots starting although they all look droopy.and some leaves are yellowing.I started with the water level an inch below the cutting thats sticking 3/4" through net pot.yesterday I tried lowering the level a lil more(1")to see how they would respond.no difference.I have 2 mothers loaded with clones.so if I need to start over,I will.I know that when I changed out the res,there was a lil funk in there,so I might of already damaged them.When I originally did the 1st clones(in soil)I cut half the leaf amount off.and foliar fed 3-4 times a day.and had a moistened clear dome over them.My understanding is you dont have to do that with this setup.but my humidity level is low here 35-40%
heres some pics of them today

tricho, what are those black things called that ur stem groes out of to keep the light out???? can i get them in any hydro place?

ste147 said:

tricho, what are those black things called that ur stem groes out of to keep the light out???? can i get them in any hydro place?

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2" neoprene plugs. net pots and plugs are cheap 2.you can get them on ebay or online hydro store.variety of sizes.if your using medium you may want bigger,3"-5" net pots.And also with rockwool and medium,you dont need the plugs then.they are for holding the stem when you dont use medium.

Trichopathic1 said:

Thanks for the help Entropic! Good info. Kool, so I dont need to mess with boiling them.I will definately invest in a battery backup pump.Just in case.Do you know how long the plants can go without the pump on?
Heres a couple pics of what I have so far.Just need to glue my stones down and hook up the air lines.air lines will run through the 2 holes near the handles they already had there for me.Im going to mount the pump on the end of the bubbler opposite the drain on a (stick on) hook,so if I need to move it all I do is unplug and carry away.I decided to install a drain to make changing res easier.Just put it up on top of another container and drain.Refill.This is too easy! I am also putting thin weatherstripping around top edge of container to help keep light out and water in. Thanks again! I'll keep updating with pics.

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I picked up some tips from this thread on changes i can make to my tubs.. as im a newb and i found i can improve a few things on my own tubs. I might even try to make a cloner like you.. but

Quick questions though.

1- what did u use the silicone for
2- does the watersafe glue work holding down the stones?
3- did you mean you had ph'd ur water already and the next day you tested it and the ph was incresaed itself?
4- how are your clones holding up right now?

oh and most importantly forgot 2 more questions... how did you make the drain hole.. and what parts did you buy? So you drain easily by putting on top of a duplicate spare res.. and then use that res to refill water/nutes and then go back to pour into cloner res?

And another question is how did you cut the 2" holes so perfectly? Holesaw?

What did you use to glue down the airstones and where did you get it? Have you had any roots yet? Also arent you supposed to have a dome over your clones to raise RH?