suds or foam in my dwc...is this bad?

[B.C Chef]

Ok so this is my second grow but first time using a dwc...just for one plant a seedsman white widow. Now I just changed to 12/12 a few days ago and started to use Bud Candy (new from AN). It seems I have foam in my dwc sytem...plant seems to be fine....but still is this normal?

 

[RetiredToker76]

I would be concerned that there's filth in your water. If you've ever been to the beach you've seen parts where the water was very foamy while there were other parts that weren't, the foamy parts was 'natures cleaner'. I do this on purpose with my fish tank. I have what's called a Protein Skimmer, it cleans the fish shit out of the water as well as other contaminants.

An air stone will cause the same reaction in most fish tanks. There are two things I would be worried about (with exceptions.) First I would be worried that you have an excess of salt built up in your water, the action of foaming occurs much easier in salt water than it does in fresh water. Second I would worry about the water having contaminants that you might not want in your plants.

The exceptions are if you are using something like an organic nute system, it's possible that the fecal material in organics is causing the foaming. The other possibility is that you're using a strong chemical nute that uses salts to deliver the nutes to the roots. Once the water gets even a little salty it will start to foam.

I've been running a salt water tank for 5 years and a freshwater tank for almost 13 years. The protein skimmer is VITAL to the health of my salt tank, but don't use it in the fresh water as it's much less functional.

Here's an article on the reaction thats occuring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_skimmer

-RT76

 

[B.C Chef]

I would be concerned that there's filth in your water. If you've ever been to the beach you've seen parts where the water was very foamy while there were other parts that weren't, the foamy parts was 'natures cleaner'. I do this on purpose with my fish tank. I have what's called a Protein Skimmer, it cleans the fish shit out of the water as well as other contaminants.

An air stone will cause the same reaction in most fish tanks. There are two things I would be worried about (with exceptions.) First I would be worried that you have an excess of salt built up in your water, the action of foaming occurs much easier in salt water than it does in fresh water. Second I would worry about the water having contaminants that you might not want in your plants.

The exceptions are if you are using something like an organic nute system, it's possible that the fecal material in organics is causing the foaming. The other possibility is that you're using a strong chemical nute that uses salts to deliver the nutes to the roots. Once the water gets even a little salty it will start to foam.

I've been running a salt water tank for 5 years and a freshwater tank for almost 13 years. The protein skimmer is VITAL to the health of my salt tank, but don't use it in the fresh water as it's much less functional.

Here's an article on the reaction thats occuring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_skimmer

-RT76

Ya I'm an aquarium guy myself (freshwater) but am quite familiar with the p skimmers....and thats what I thought at first too....but the fact that I flush with flora clean or whatever it's called between res changes and I only changed my res two days ago (it's a single 2 gallon bucket) made me question whether it was just crap in my water. The salt thing you mentioned sounds more likely the problem...I use GH expert program so lots of chemicals including liquid cool bloom and other nasties.

How bad is this foam for my root system I wonder. Well I'm going to clean her again and see if it happens again.

By the way thanks for the awesome reply!!