Stealth NFT--critique/tips

This is my first time growing. My friend was running a large nft system so I tried to take it and shrink it. The cabinet is 25" tall x 21" wide x 18" deep. There are two channels (each with 2 holes for plants). I'm using a rubbermaid shoe box (painted black) as a resevoir. It holds about 4L of water. I've got a 130gph fountain pump and a cheap air pump/water stone from walmart. Light is supplied from 2 150w CFLs powered by cheap clamp on fixtures--they are mounted to the sides of the cabinet. I've got 1 120mm exhaust fan and 2 1in passive intake holes (routed to the side of the cabinet through pvc pipes. It seems to be working well--It's only been a week. Temp is between 85-95 F and humidity stays in the 30s. Clearly, stealth was huge.

Right now the plants' roots aren't long enough to be suspended so they are just sitting in the water flow. eventually they will be placed into suspended mesh pots. These clones are from a clinic and came in rockwool.

Simple questions/concerns I have:
Is 1 120mm enough exhaust?
How often should I add nutrients/change solution? (I got a one part nute for simplicity. I've not seen anyone with a reservoir this small)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE offer any opinions. I will not be hurt if you see a fatal flaw in this system--I'm just looking to keep a functioning, successful, and secret grow.

Thanks guys/gals

I apologize for photo quality. All I had was an iphone and a small led flashlight.

finally got the pics up.

needs more light and with cfls u can get really close n not burn your plants n u need 100 actual watts n not equivalent and lose the tinfoil it makes hot spots n its not that reflective either paint it white or get some mylar, shinny wrapping gift paper works n can be found anywhere, love ur grow box

Thanks for the tips. I have a third 150 rated cfl that I'll rig up. I had taken it down because I was having heat issues but I was able to get a better fan. I'll watch it for a day to see how it effects the temp. Any advice on how soon to change the reservoir?

I had a water emergency today. I had noticed a little foam in the reservoir yesterday and the water was a little cloudy. But everything I read on line said it was normal. Today when I came home, It looked like a bubble bath in the reservoir and the water was almost opaque and had an orange-ish tint. It smelled funky too--not exactly bad but not right. So I flushed the system with plain water (ph tested). I checked the reservoir and nothing is growing in there. The pumps look good too. I thought maybe it was too much nutes so I went with 15ml/4L rather than the recommended 20ml/4L. My reservoir is only 4L so its not really a huge difference but you never know.

If any of you know what caused this please let me know. I'll see how flushing the system works out. It's clear now (I just finished replacing the water and nutes) and the smell is starting to fade. I wish I would have taken a picture of the water but I was frantic.

Temp hasn't been off the charts...93 spike but generally 88ish w/light and about 75 w/o. I'm using a one part botanicare nutrient.

The plants look okay so hopefully there isn't too much damage. Only one is still struggling to pop through the cup (Ironically its the healthiest looking one) and I'm still top feeding all of them.







Thanks guys

-B4