Reservoir Help

ok so I'm sick of hand watering. I want something automated.

First I grow in coco.

I'm thinking using a 32gal black trash can as a res.


(The estimations on amount of plants might not be correct at this point, might only run 6. But will always fill 27gal. of water)

I will possibly run 9 plants in 3 gal bags @ 1.25-1.5 gal of water for each, every other day. so 13.5 gal of water every other day tops.

so I would have to fill my 32gal trashcan every 5th day with 27gal of water.

Ok if this sounds good....what do I need other then a 32 gal trashcan? I know I need a pump but what size? do I need another type of pump to circulate the water? what size line should I run?

I've never ran a reservoir so I don't know much about them.

you are thinking about running a drip?
or a recirculating system?

if i was going to run a recirculating, I'd just use hydroton instead of coco.
The reservoir is just a tank of water with your nutrients. keep an air stone in there to keep DO up.

Look up different methods of water delivery to see what you want to do.
It'd really be ebb n flow vs drip vs a recirculating DWC.


do some research

non recirculating. Coco has a tendency to have low ph run off and salt build ups and would be messy in a recirculating system. I drain to waste usually about 20%.

My last run in 3gal bags I fed every other day about 1.25gal of water each to achieve 20% run off.

This would be top feed. Pump>manifold> drip emitters with stakes to each plant. I'll time the pump to run for X amount to achieve 1.25gals per plant every 48 hours.

I just don't know what size pump or equipment I need. Cause I've never ran a reservoir as I said.

you could try a 400 to 800 gph pump and adjust timing according to flowrate through your drippers.

Clown Baby said:

you could try a 400 to 800 gph pump and adjust timing according to flowrate through your drippers.

Click to expand...

cool this is what I'm looking for.

I remember reading the old stickbud aero unit thing, and he used 396gph. When I looked up 396gph pumps it said 6.5ft max, So I assumed I need something a it stronger.

I'd imagine I'll be pumping over a total of 10ft?

Thanks

something like this work?

http://www.amazon.com/Beckett-G535AG20-535-Submersible-Pump/dp/B00002N8GU/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1314908240&sr=8-13

Clown Baby said:

you could try a 400 to 800 gph pump and adjust timing according to flowrate through your drippers.

Click to expand...

I'm using a 500 GPH pump to top drip feed my 12 plants works really well I am doing recirculating top drip using a 30 gallon reservoir watering 3 times a day for one hour at a time using coco chips as the medium. go to home depot and buy a 12 port drip manifold and connect it to your hose attached to your pump and you can basically drip feed 12 plants very easy another option is to just get some pipe and make a manifold.

Here are some pics of my set up.
I have a manifold set up basically a 1/2 tube that I punched holes in. Insert you barbed fitting and connect to hose its pretty easy. I empty my res and re fill every 7-10 days.

Looks good beaverhunter... What kind of pots are those I've never seen them...

BeaverHuntr said:

Here are some pics of my set up.
I have a manifold set up basically a 1/2 tube that I punched holes in. Insert you barbed fitting and connect to hose its pretty easy. I empty my res and re fill every 7-10 days.

Click to expand...

Fucking sick man, this is exactly what I'm looking to do.

I use coir, not chips. think this would still work? Or should I go the chip route If I want a recirculating system?

Your feeding three times a day? how much each time?

I'd LOVE to have a recirculating system, I just figure it isnt possible with coir

recirculating is the way to go bro...switch to hydroton or sure2gro...that stuff rocks

http://www.suretogrow.com/

boodadood said:

recirculating is the way to go bro...switch to hydroton or sure2gro...that stuff rocks

http://www.suretogrow.com/

Click to expand...

Have you used that sure2gro? I pulled that link up and they are selling first bag for 50% off 2cu ft is $28... I'm lookin to get away from hydroton and was wanting to get into coco but wanting to see some grows with sure2gro now... Just curious

lambofgod said:

Fucking sick man, this is exactly what I'm looking to do.

I use coir, not chips. think this would still work? Or should I go the chip route If I want a recirculating system?

Your feeding three times a day? how much each time?

I'd LOVE to have a recirculating system, I just figure it isnt possible with coir

Click to expand...

You can do coir or coir and chips I'm pretty sure you can go the recirculating route as long as you get a "sock" for your pump so none of the coir clogs up the pump. If you dont have a hydro store in your town that sells a sock for your pump then just go buy a nylon pantyhose and use that.

Feeding times are up to you and your plants I'm able to feed 3 times a day for 1 hour at a time because I use the chips, with the coir you will probably only be able to feed once a day because that stuff absorbs so much water.

BigFatFatty said:

Looks good beaverhunter... What kind of pots are those I've never seen them...

Click to expand...

5 gallon air pots - they sale for about 4.00 - 5.00 dollars a piece.

i used it twice n i ran out...shit is expensive...lol...i got a big bag of it free when i bought a bunch of hydro shit...its really the shit tho...my local hydro store doesnt carry it

We run a 550gph out of a res and it feeds about 1/2 gal per day. .25 gal twice a day basically. Drip system designed to have very little runoff so we don't have to deal with the drainage issue