Are reservoirs supposed to stink kinda funky after a day or two?

Daithy

Active Member
When I open the lid it smells kinda like a fart or something. Is this normal, or something wrong?

Brief history:

5 days ago I used Dutch Pro A & B, and Take Root. After 2 days I noticed the smell was kinda rank. I changed the res yesterday morning, put in only A & B this time, no Take Root (I thought it to be the cause), and today when I opened the lid it stank again.

I must admit that my temps are a little on the higher side: 71–77.

Is it actually supposed to stink?
 

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Red1966

Well-Known Member
No, but its not unusual. You got stuff growing in there due to high temps/food for the little buggers. Flush the tank with bleach water or h2o2 to kill it off. There will still be some in your lines/pots/grow tray tho. Organics are prone to stinking. There are products that will help prevent this. I think Hygrozyme is one. A chiller helps.
 

Daithy

Active Member
Your reservoir (at least the one) are small. You might get by with frozen water bottles?
All the 5 of them are the same, 27 gallon. I have been using frozen bottles the past few days. It brings the temps down only for about 2-3 hours. It brings it down to 70
 

Sativied

Well-Known Member
Frozen bottles work for me during the flowering period when the canopy is closed. I do have one of those pricey chillers but it only runs like 15-20 min per several hours during veg.

Insulating the reservoirs helps too.
 

Daithy

Active Member
No, but its not unusual. You got stuff growing in there due to high temps/food for the little buggers. Flush the tank with bleach water or h2o2 to kill it off. There will still be some in your lines/pots/grow tray tho. Organics are prone to stinking. There are products that will help prevent this. I think Hygrozyme is one. A chiller helps.
Just a stupid question. I should remove the plants when running the bleech water, right?
 

Red1966

Well-Known Member
All the 5 of them are the same, 27 gallon. I have been using frozen bottles the past few days. It brings the temps down only for about 2-3 hours. It brings it down to 70
Yeah, I had the same problem. My freezer in no way could keep up, and I just had the one reservoir. I bought a chiller. Some times we get too ambitious and find we can't afford all the shit we need to do everything properly. 5 systems may be just such a instance.
 

Red1966

Well-Known Member
Just a stupid question. I should remove the plants when running the bleech water, right?
Yes. You might want to spray the roots with a DILUTE bleach/water solution. A little bleach won't kill your plants, a lot might. H2O2 is safer. Some add it to their reservoir all the time with no ill effects. But remember this is only temporary. The stink will come back as long as conditions are the same. I've never used Hygrozyme, but it may help you.
 
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Daithy

Active Member
Yes. You might want to spray the roots with a DILUTE bleach/water solution. A little bleach won't kill your plants, a lot might. H2O2 is safer. Some add it to their reservoir all the time with no ill effects. But remember this is only temporary. The stink will come back as long as conditions are the same. I've never used Hygrozyme, but it may help you.
Isn't it amazing how much hassle can just a few degrees cause.
 

Daithy

Active Member
Yeah, I had the same problem. My freezer in no way could keep up, and I just had the one reservoir. I bought a chiller. Some times we get too ambitious and find we can't afford all the shit we need to do everything properly. 5 systems may be just such a instance.
You are absolutely right! Exactly what happened. I have maxed out my budget. But when I'll get the T5 things will get a bit easier.

I bought seconds timer this week, so I can run my pumps on 1on/4off, that helps a great deal already. But with the damn 600W MH my room temp is 80. When I'll get the T5, I'll keep the temps at 73, hopefully.
 

BenFranklin

Well-Known Member
You are absolutely right! Exactly what happened. I have maxed out my budget. But when I'll get the T5 things will get a bit easier.

I bought seconds timer this week, so I can run my pumps on 1on/4off, that helps a great deal already. But with the damn 600W MH my room temp is 80. When I'll get the T5, I'll keep the temps at 73, hopefully.

They sell portable upright air conditioner/humidifiers at Walmart, or other such places. They work great for what you're looking for and aren't to expensive.
 

Red1966

Well-Known Member
You are absolutely right! Exactly what happened. I have maxed out my budget. But when I'll get the T5 things will get a bit easier.

I bought seconds timer this week, so I can run my pumps on 1on/4off, that helps a great deal already. But with the damn 600W MH my room temp is 80. When I'll get the T5, I'll keep the temps at 73, hopefully.
A little late, but you can convert a cheap regular timer to a 1 minute on-5 minute off timer. Search for "growcolt" on youtube. Shows exactly how to do it. He used to sell them on Ebay, maybe still does. I use them and they work fine. I have a 6 tube 4 ft T5. It puts out a pretty fair amount of heat. It's 254 watts.
 
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