Building a UCDWC System, help appreciated.

Hey guys, i am going to be building a UCDWC system for 4 plants. have a fairly good understanding of UCDWC but would really appreciate some feedback or help in designing this.

I am going to use an air pump and air stones for all the plants as well as the res. Heres what i got so far.






Now, i am currently looking at This page and am wondering how to pick the size of pump, so lets say i have a 20-30 gallon res, each plant (if they are in buckets and not storage boxes..)
would be 5 gallons. that is only 50 gallons maximum of water in them. So does that mean i only need a 50 GPH Pump?


How large of a return pipe should i use? 1 1/2"?

How large should the res be do you think?

Buckets or Boxes for plant holders?



Sorry for all the questions but would like to get this right the first time

Sounds like you got a lot of reading to do.I don't know anything about it but I don't think you need any air stones or anything like that.You might want to read CCHO2 CURRENT CULTURE Hydroponics (I think).Best of luck & Happy growing.

nameno said:

Sounds like you got a lot of reading to do.I don't know anything about it but I don't think you need any air stones or anything like that.You might want to read CCHO2 CURRENT CULTURE Hydroponics (I think).Best of luck & Happy growing.

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Air Stones in each bucket will increase the total Dissolved Oxygen in the water and its such a small price to pay for better results.

Personally, I find UC too complex to build. Plus it requires large quantities of water/nutes. And my 3+ years of rez experience is that they go flat after 5- days.

I can grow 4 plants in less space using ~ 1/4 the nutes

So I developed My DIY 21st Century Flood & Drain.

Come take a look

You want to get a bigger water pump than just 50 GPH. You want to cycle the water more than once an hour. Try more like a 400GPH pump. Also the drawing shows the water movement gong in the oppisite direction than mine. I guess it could work that way.

PetFlora said:

Personally, I find UC too complex to build. Plus it requires large quantities of water/nutes. And my 3+ years of rez experience is that they go flat after 5- days.

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Actually IME UC is very efficient on nute usage. I'm growing some cherry pie and I don't think I will go pass 1.4ec. With a UC you can get away with changing your rez less often if you're doing add back due to the rate at which water cycles through the system I believe.

i like having the pump on the outside of the control tote and the water moving the opposite direction. i feel like you get more dissolved oxygen and and a better mix when you have your solution firing back into the control bucket. as for a pump; you want it just big enough to readily cycle the water. too big and it can be a pain in the ass with sucking roots into the pipes and uneven water levels. i always laugh when i see guys trying to do the more power thing and then flood their basement. one of my bros saw a couple of my systems and built his own with the "tim taylor more power" school of thought. now when it was running with no plants it was something to behold. he had like a 1000 gph pump and the water was just flying through that thing. add roots and a couple weeks and you got a flooded basement. long story short while 500 wouldnt kill ya 250 would probably be perfect. i routinely use 500gph's on timers and in the future im going to go smaller. spend your money on air.

petflora you crack me up buddy!! i see you selling your diy 21st century flood and drain system all over. i checked out your thread, do you have any pics of it running well? like healthy plants in flower? seems like a cool enough idea and building your own unique design can be rewarding...but im still looking for some success proving photos.

guerrilla medic said:

i like having the pump on the outside of the control tote and the water moving the opposite direction. i feel like you get more dissolved oxygen and and a better mix when you have your solution firing back into the control bucket.

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What kind of line should i run off the res? i was planning on the smaller line being a 1/2" (or 3/4") and the larger bucket to bucket being 2"



i found this 250gph pump, but its 1/2"

looks like a danner mag drive exactly what i run. i have 500's but next time i buy i'm grabbing some 250's to try. i use 1/2 to 3/4 fittings on the pump. 3/4 black hot water heater hose for the return. 1 1/2 inch abs to connect the totes. im sure there are all kinds for diy threads on here to copy from, but i can snap a couple pics if you wanna see how mine looks.

i like your setup idea ill be following this as I might copy the idea if you can get it to work rite lol

guerrilla medic said:

petflora you crack me up buddy!! i see you selling your diy 21st century flood and drain system all over. i checked out your thread, do you have any pics of it running well? like healthy plants in flower? seems like a cool enough idea and building your own unique design can be rewarding...but im still looking for some success proving photos.

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Keep in mind I am not 'selling' anything, except how simple and efficient it is. I have 2 complete grows on IC. Thought it was time to bring one to RIU. A couple photos from Dec to wet your appetite.

If you look at the background of pic 2, you can see the pvc and part of the 2G rez. Also, if you click on my sig, you can see clones in the system under leds

PetFlora said:

Keep in mind I am not 'selling' anything, except how simple and efficient it is. I have 2 complete grows on IC. Thought it was time to bring one to RIU. A couple photos from Dec to wet your appetite.

If you look at the background of pic 2, you can see the pvc and part of the 2G rez. Also, if you click on my sig, you can see clones in the system under leds

View attachment 2493020View attachment 2493021View attachment 2493022

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Nice colas, try taking a pic with flash. seems to illuminate more for me.

cosmoridez said:

i like your setup idea ill be following this as I might copy the idea if you can get it to work rite lol

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When i get everything i'll start taking pictures of every step during the build.


Heres what i got right now. I was going to leave the 1/2" T unglued so i could just pull it off and attach a line to it and the pump can drain the system for maintenance.









Similar to this guys Build, with less sites. going to put in a valve on the pump intake like this guy has to really dial it in. But i won't have the res drain tap.


http://youtu.be/6MRmZeFCwvM?t=45s

i like it just looking into how much pump we need to move water through the system with out sucking the roots through pipes i also thought of puting 90 degree elbows on the one side of the buckets so roots dont get sucked in so easy.

cosmoridez said:

i like it just looking into how much pump we need to move water through the system with out sucking the roots through pipes i also thought of puting 90 degree elbows on the one side of the buckets so roots dont get sucked in so easy.

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250gph with a Valve should beable to hit it bang on. i am thinking of using 3/4" between the two back buckets i could use 2" PVC and just run a 3/4 line off the center of the back so no roots get moved from their buckets. like this:

69Bandit said:

When i get everything i'll start taking pictures of every step during the build.


Heres what i got right now. I was going to leave the 1/2" T unglued so i could just pull it off and attach a line to it and the pump can drain the system for maintenance.

Similar to this guys Build, with less sites. going to put in a valve on the pump intake like this guy has to really dial it in. But i won't have the res drain tap.


http://youtu.be/6MRmZeFCwvM?t=45s

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You should leave your inline pump outside of your rez (keep rez cooler, simper to setup, etc.) as well as go 2" pvc on the last buckets or you will get your roots clogged.

69Bandit said:

250gph with a Valve should beable to hit it bang on. i am thinking of using 3/4" between the two back buckets i could use 2" PVC and just run a 3/4 line off the center of the back so no roots get moved from their buckets. like this:

Click to expand...

That would be a better design but I would go with a bigger pump if you want it to be UC. With the 250 gph, it's fine if rdwc is what you're going for. IMO/