Plants are having a rough time!

I'm hoping I've got it, but this is not going to happen again lol. It's an epic struggle to get it gone. I never run air stones and had lots of issues with them in the past, it's all waterfall or fountain effect, system dependant. The bleach seems to work but still getting the H2O2 just to have as I may not be able to get it again easily. Actually I stopped using H2O2 a couple of years ago and have run beanies but since this I have started to second guess everything. This has been a pretty warm fall so temps have been an issue like never before. I covered all trays with silver bubble wrap as well, noticed the interior was pretty hot. Thanks for all the interest guys!!!!!

I think my success has something to do with cool temperatures, waterfalls, the beaching effect of running all the water over the rocks every time, allowing a culture of beneficial bacteria to take up residence (no sterilants) and natural aeration of running water as opposed to airstones.

Oh- and DARKNESS. Keep the RDWC tub well covered so it's as dark as possible.

Budley Doright said:

I'm hoping I've got it, but this is not going to happen again lol. It's an epic struggle to get it gone. I never run air stones and had lots of issues with them in the past, it's all waterfall or fountain effect, system dependant. The bleach seems to work but still getting the H2O2 just to have as I may not be able to get it again easily. Actually I stopped using H2O2 a couple of years ago and have run beanies but since this I have started to second guess everything. This has been a pretty warm fall so temps have been an issue like never before. I covered all trays with silver bubble wrap as well, noticed the interior was pretty hot. Thanks for all the interest guys!!!!!

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Thats the thing, its not gone, just under control. You need to stay on top of it, or it will come back.

H2O2 is a very strong oxidizer but it doesn't stick around very long. In a well aerated RDWC I would bet its used up in hours or less. So to keep your system clean you need to be adding it daily. It gets expensive. I was buying a case.. 4 x 1gal jugs@ 50$...almost every run.

You can buy a 18kg pail of granular chlorine (calcium hypoclorite) at Walmart for about $65 CDN. I add 2 grams to 100 gallons...I will be dead before I will need more.

redi jedi said:

Thats the thing, its not gone, just under control. You need to stay on top of it, or it will come back.

H2O2 is a very strong oxidizer but it doesn't stick around very long. In a well aerated RDWC I would bet its used up in hours or less. So to keep your system clean you need to be adding it daily. It gets expensive. I was buying a case.. 4 x 1gal jugs@ 50$...almost every run.

You can buy a 18kg pail of granular chlorine (calcium hypoclorite) at Walmart for about $65 CDN. I add 2 grams to 100 gallons...I will be dead before I will need more.

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At some point I would think things would stabilize enough that more sterilants just aren't required.

I found H2O2 on kijiji close for $120 for 55lb jug, what ever that is, 5 gallons perhaps. Going to pick it up Saturday. Again thanks guys.

ttystikk said:

At some point I would think things would stabilize enough that more sterilants just aren't required.

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Yes I would hope as well! Once all the plants roots are healthy I will start back with the bennies.

ttystikk said:

At some point I would think things would stabilize enough that more sterilants just aren't required.

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Well...you can be proactive or reactive when it comes to sterilization

Which way do you think is better?

Well if at all possible I would like to return to using bennies at some point. Is there a valid reason, not really lol. I think they do help with root development and perhaps better growth but this is all anecdotal with no quantified proof. I'm really hoping to solve this by finally controlling the res temps. I've been meaning to, and as a refrigeration mechanic it should have been the first item in the room. I was to busy building different systems that basically all did the same thing lol.

redi jedi said:

Well...you can be proactive or reactive when it comes to sterilization

Which way do you think is better?

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What worked for me was getting my water temps into the mid sixties. I didn't do anything else. If mid sixties isn't enough then it might require low sixties, at least for awhile. My municipal water quality is very good, that may be a significant factor. So... proactive.

If water quality in your area is a suspect, then use RO and then sterilize incoming water with bleach or UV before it hits the res. A UV filter would be proactive, bleach would be reactive.

In my case this is the first time since my foray into DWC many years ago that ended in root soup. I have been running this same stuff for 3 years without a hitch. Water is sterilized by uv and filtered but not RO and that's not gonna happen for a bit due to infastructer of building, no running water, I use a hose to fill res's every 5-10 days now. Well actually every 2-3 days right now .

For the first year I did run H2O2 every few days but tried beneficial bacteria and it seemed to work well, till now! I'm gonna get everything going Saturday re: chiller. It's hunting season now so kinda busy lol.

ttystikk said:

What worked for me was getting my water temps into the mid sixties. I didn't do anything else. If mid sixties isn't enough then it might require low sixties, at least for awhile. My municipal water quality is very good, that may be a significant factor. So... proactive.

If water quality in your area is a suspect, then use RO and then sterilize incoming water with bleach or UV before it hits the res. A UV filter would be proactive, bleach would be reactive.

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Water quality is the significant factor, and for most a chiller alone is not enough. Sterilizers need to be replaced like bennies need to fed.

Using bleach before you get slime is being proactive...

Using nothing and getting slime, then trying to fight it...is reactive

redi jedi said:

Water quality is the significant factor, and for most a chiller alone is not enough. Sterilizers need to be replaced like bennies need to fed.

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Bennies can either be fed or replaced the same as sterilize. Not sure if one is better than the other though.

Ok so I may be leaning towards bleach at the moment. Now that it's there it doesn't want to leave. Yes water is still high at 70.5 but I've ran that lots with no issues. I stopped using the bleach on Monday and added bennies and it's back so I have again added bleach but am shooting from the hip with amounts. I started out with a few drops per 100 L, now at 10 ml per. It's 5% so if anyone has a suggestion that would be great. Heading out tomorrow I hope to get the peroxide as it is cheap and available. I'll be glad when this grow is over . Actually gonna get a couple of more trays going.

ttystikk said:

What worked for me was getting my water temps into the mid sixties. I didn't do anything else. If mid sixties isn't enough then it might require low sixties, at least for awhile. My municipal water quality is very good, that may be a significant factor. So... proactive.

If water quality in your area is a suspect, then use RO and then sterilize incoming water with bleach or UV before it hits the res. A UV filter would be proactive, bleach would be reactive.

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So tty I have been giving this chiller thing some thought and if I'm running multiple res's I may just drop stainless steel tubing coils in each one. I guess selonoid valves to open and close each loop would work. I have a tube in tube process heat exchanger to run a closed glycol loop outside (lows of 40 and highs of 55-60 now, getting way colder next week). Or I could use pumps in each res and an open loop for the water through the heat exchanger and just dump the chilled water back in the res's, more waterfalls lol. Any thoughts, mechanical cooling is not an option due to maxed out on power feed . Here goes another few hundred. She's back outdoors next summer to finance this, thought I'd retired lol.

Budley Doright said:

Bennies can either be fed or replaced the same as sterilize. Not sure if one is better than the other though.

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Don't feed them in RDWC! Make your tea in a separate bucket, then add some on the regular.

ttystikk said:

Don't feed them in RDWC! Make your tea in a separate bucket, then add some on the regular.

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I guess I should have clarified lol. Replace in DWC! Yup I would never feed them in the res that causes brown bubbles lol.

I use pond beanies so cheap to replace but as I said I'm rethinking this whole system.