Stinky, Cloudy Reservoir water...

Hello folks. I am trying to get a fix for a problem I have been having. Using lucas formula floranova bloom in an ebb n flow system, 70 gallon res, RO water, etc...

I will get right to the point. After adding nutes to my water, within a day or two my res stinks, and becomes kind of cloudy while ph jumps from 5.28 to 5.88 in less than 24 hours. Understand that this is NOT the first time this has happened. It happened before i had an RO system with the lucas formula flora series nutes also. So basically I have a serious problem. Last time it happened I couldn't get things figured out, so I pulled my plants from the hydroton and put them soiless. Now my second attempt is turning out the same.

I have two airstones feeding it with a large dual outlet pump on 24/7 feeding oxygen into the water. Water has never been over 72 degrees. Using RO water, after adding nutes, ph is at 4.9, add small amount of ph up to get to 5.2. Water smells normal at first and then begins to smell. Eventually, the hydroton starts to smell and I have to shut down the whole setup (it gets pretty nasty within a week or so).

I understand that this could be a bacteria, have cleaned the system with 35% h202 one time and another time with bleach. It is not "root rot" because I have tried running the system WITHOUT plants at all and it still happens. It only gets smelly when the nutes are in the water, I can leave 70 gallons of RO water sitting for weeks with no smell, but once I add some nutes, smell comes quick.

PLEASE help me, I am desperate after spending so much time and money getting things going... I keep thinking it has the be a bacteria of some sort, WHAT can get rid of it? Should I add h202 to the res every few days at a certain ml/gal ratio? Should I try hydroguard?

I know we have some brilliant minds among us, so any bits of info is appreciated. Thank you in advance for the help... I am willing to TRY ANYTHING!

do you add nutes before you add water? Cause im pretty sure that mixing the nutes in deep concentration will cause a chemical reaction of some sort. You should be adding it into the water.

it's parts per gallon not gallons per res

Some questions:
1) how much nutes are you adding per gallon? I am asking this to determine if you are adding too much.
2) does this happen using nutrients from another company? This would rule out any contamination/configuration issues with your system.
3) Are you pre-mixing your nutes and then adding them to the water? I am asking because this is bad and shouldn't be done.

"do you add nutes before you add water?"
It is a one part nutrient, no mixing needed until it hits the water...

"it's parts per gallon not gallons per res"
Don't know what you mean by this...

1) how much nutes are you adding per gallon? I am asking this to determine if you are adding too much.
5ml gallon flora nova bloom - low strength only 860ppm

2) does this happen using nutrients from another company? This would rule out any contamination/configuration issues with your system.
I haven't tried anything but GH flora series and flora nova series. But I will...

3) Are you pre-mixing your nutes and then adding them to the water? I am asking because this is bad and shouldn't be done.
Flora nova bloom is a one part nutrient, no mixing necessary. As for GH flora series it is a 3 part, and no, I mixed as it was labled (micro, bloom) I don't use the grow.


**I added some 35% h202 from advanced nutrients last night at the recommended strength on the bottle and I think the smell is gone for now...But I still want to know what is causing it...

Well LumpStatus I am stumped. I use both G.H. Flora Nova and the regular Flora series and have never experienced what you are describing. Oh wait - one other thing i just thought of - is any light hitting your reservoir at all? That could be causing what you describe...

Yep, not only the light hitiing the res. You can get algae or other pathogen growth in the growing medium as well. H2O2, 35% is 1ml/ltr. I think. I am suprized you have a problem with the airstones in use though. VV

Well, my res is pretty much light tight except for the fact that it is WHITE. I was told that the light isn't causing my problem... The guy at my hydroshop uses all white res's in the showroom and his water sits in there forever without getting cloudy/smelly... But yes, I imagine there is some light getting into it, but not a lot.

So is using 35% h2o2 ok to do constantly? How often should I add it?

I always thought light caused algea. I didn't think that algea smelled or clouded up water. But if you really think this could be the cause, I will try to completely light proof it... I just never seen anyone completely light proof a e&f res before (there is always some areas where small amounts of light can get in).

I'm fresh out of ideas. Do nutrients go bad/spoil, maybe?

How about water temp? if its to high it can be a breeding ground for bacteria... especially if any light is hitting it.

Good one pincher! water temp in the reservoir could be a factor.

do you keep your nutrients in your grow room or in a cool dark place? Did you run the bleach and H2o2 mixture through your water pump and submerge your airstones in the solution?

I don't blame you for not reading the long first post... but "Water has never been over 72 degrees". Well, I have run h202 through the res and the smell has completely gone away which is good.... The water is still a bit cloudy. What does water look like when it has flora nova in it? Anyone got a pic of a res mixed with flora nova so I can compare? I will submit my pic here in a few..

Oh, but if for some reason I have to keep using 35% h2o2 to keep it going without the smell....What effect will this have on my plants and how often should I add h2o2? Advanced bottle says every 3-4 days.

h202 will keep that res in check... you should be adding it already if you already have it...

You may want to look at the hydro shop for things like flora shield or hydroguard if the problem persists...

For the h2o2 I add 1 ml for every gallon in the res... everyday... and my plants couldnt be happier, there is still some algae-ish growths, and some smelliness, however, the plants show no signs of it being negative.

h2o2 is basically a dam-buster when it comes to how much uptake your plants can have, supposedly it increases their uptake capacities, which will of course make them grow faster, I add as much as I mentioned into a 2 plant Shallow water culture and I havent seen plants grow faster.

you shouldn't settle with a temperary fix of h202, there's something wrong there i've never used flora nova before but have flora series and my res is really clean. the h202 might be killing off some bacteria that can cause that smell so your plan of action is to find out what is causing it. Do you think maybe your 1part nutrient is contaminated?

Exactly! There seems to be a problem. I would say it's something in the FloraNova, but I'm not sure, so why not call GH? Their tech support guys are great. It sounds like something living in there is dying and stinking it up. But isn't that a powdered nute?

You've cleaned it up with the peroxide, and H2O2 breaks down quickly, so that's why you should add it regularly.

That's typical pH rebound, especially with RO water. With experience, you'll get used to how your water reacts with your nutes. You might try mixing the nutes, and then letting sit for 24 hours and then adjust pH and feed to plants.

Wow, a 70 gallon res! Yee-hah! Just out of curiousity, how much of it is required to irrigate your system? IOW, how much of the res is used to flood, or keep the system running?

HTH

dude, check your airstones. in time, the nutrient salts will clog the pores in your airstones causing a dramatic decrease in the level of oxygen. either that, or you need a more powerful air pump.

you are answering your own question here, because by adding the H2O2, you are introducing more oxygen into your reservoir, which is what is fixing your problem. water with a low oxygen content becomes stagnant which allows your nutrients to break down causing cloudy/smelly water.

Well my thoughts would be to use the grotek H2o2 2-5 drops per gallon every 3 days.Thats what I use in my 50 gallon res.Lower your res temps closer to 65 degrees.Are you RO ing your home water and if so is it well water there?Do you use rockwool cubes or other medium?

JohnnyPotSeed1969 said:

dude, check your airstones. in time, the nutrient salts will clog the pores in your airstones causing a dramatic decrease in the level of oxygen. either that, or you need a more powerful air pump.

you are answering your own question here, because by adding the H2O2, you are introducing more oxygen into your reservoir, which is what is fixing your problem. water with a low oxygen content becomes stagnant which allows your nutrients to break down causing cloudy/smelly water.

Click to expand...

I second this idea as well, give more natural oxygen through air pumps and you will need less h2o2 everyday, especially for such a big res

wafflehouselover
>Do you think maybe your 1part nutrient is contaminated?
This is my second attempt at the ebb n flow, first time I used GH flora series micro/bloom and the SAME thing happened. This is why I purchased an RO filter etc...


potroast
>isn't that a powdered nute?
No, it is a liquid nutrient, one part. This nutrient is highly recommended from lucas, a very well known forum goer...

>how much of the res is used to flood, or keep the system running?
well, I was using a 40 gallon before (filled to about 35 gals) and it would pull the water below the pump and start sucking air. This is why I went to the 70 gal (filled to about 60 gal) now the pump always stays under some water.

johnnypotseed1969
>dude, check your airstones.
Brand new. I have been told I am putting MORE air into my res than I need to. Four outlet pump with four stones pumping a LOT of air in there... I can't imagine I am not putting enough oxygen in there...but anything is possible...

>water with a low oxygen content becomes stagnant which allows your nutrients to break down causing cloudy/smelly water.
So what effect is this "break down" of nutrients having on the plants? Does this mean that they cannot absorb the nutes? Or what does this mean exactly?


filthyfletch
>is it well water there?Do you use rockwool cubes or other medium?
No, municipal water only, no well. In fact, my ppm is only 200 ish from the tap, but ph is high at 8.1. I use hydroton clay balls with only the 1" cubes of rockwool that my clones come in, nothing more.



KEEP in mind that I DO NOT HAVE PLANTS in the system at all right now. I am only doing a test run before I add them into the mix...

Please tell me this. To ensure that I don't continue to have this problem, what do you recommend? If I dump the res and run a high concentration of h2o2 through EVERYTHING and clean it out, get rid of the GH flora nova series and use the 3 part flora series ONLY, I should have no problem keeping the system clean WITHOUT any h2o2 right? Or should I ALWAYS use the h2o2?