Hi everyone new to posting but have been reading for a while and have gotten some great info from this site. I'm a little wary of pic posting though..Aren't you guys ,in the USA anyways ,a little nervous at all? Maybe I'm just paranoid.! Anyways I just wanna say thanks to anyone that ever posted genuinly good advice on any subject because there is alot to this hobby and without a good source of knowledge there'd be a much higher failure rate. Anywho I wanted to put in my two cents of advice.

1. Don't be cheap. Pretty much you get what you pay for, so buy the right stuff for what your trying to do. For example using tin foil over mylar or vinegar over Hydro Ph down.

2. Do it right. Don't be lazy about anything. Always clean your equipment and make sure everything is running how its supposed to.

3. Make sure your reservoir is LIGHT PROOF!!! This is extremely important and learned my first time around the scourge of algae. They sell aluminum tape at lowell's and HD in the insullation/duct work department this works great totally light proof.

4. Control your temperatures in the reservoir. If you don't have a decently low res temp of around 68 degrees Farenheit you'll have root issues. Plus cold water dissolves oxygen better! YAY! Seriously though simple comp fans with a nice cool place to suck air from will work serious wonders.

5. The more air stones the better. Also a power head from any pet store adds beneficial water circulation to your system. These come in various models.

6. Leave the plant alone. Usually too much trimming is really bad. You wouldn't want someone cutting off your arms everyday would you? Topping is alright but leave everything else alone unless its already dead of course then remove away.

7. ** OPINION ALERT** CFL's are great for veg but HPS is the way to go for flowering.

8. My final tip is have fun and use common sense. Rememeber plants are alive.

why should i use mylar over alumanuim?

Aluminum creates hot spots and isn't as reflective

this is probaly a real novice question but what r hot spots