Should I ditch a subpump

What's up guys I recently upgrade to an 18gal res. I have an air pump with 4 outlets 2 feeding air stones and 2 tee'd together feeding a submersible pump.

My question: the sub pump deff moves the water around and causes lots of bubbles especially with the air pump feeding it. But is it over kill? My res temp is at 74 and the hottest my closet gets with the 400w hps on no exhaust fan yet is 73 with the thermo sitting on top of the res so I believe my res temp is higher due to the sub pump will I get the same results just using the air pump and air stones? Or ditch the sub pump and get another air pump? I saw videos of guys rigging up the sub pump to make like a water fall effect and create massive bubbles. My pump isn't powerful enough the water kind just gently poured out so I ditched the piping and just have it shooting straight up which causes it to bubble at the top of the res. my roots look ok but there's deff a little brown starting

Oh and incase lights on 73F 31%humidity.
Lights off 68F 53%humidity

If the pump runs 24/7 it's certainly going to heat up the water.
Personally I don't see a thing wrong with the old air pump and stone solution and wonder why people even use this technique with water pumps to provide o2.
If you must use a water pump you should probably cycle the pump or run a chiller to avoid high water temps.

The browning roots could be water temp, but could also be not enough beneficial bacteria, too much nutes, ph problems, or critters making a home in your roots. If you're doing everything else right and adding the pump helps go with it. If your roots get funky, drop it.

Dont need a submersible pump in a stand alone system bruh. Its just overkill. Add two air stones and only turn the pump on to drain old nutes.

hydroMD said:

Dont need a submersible pump in a stand alone system bruh. Its just overkill. Add two air stones and only turn the pump on to drain old nutes.

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Exactly the reply I was looking for.

And thanks everyone else for input. Gonna grab 2 more big stones.

The browning is super minor and I'm not using any bennies. I could throw in frozen water bottles but if the pump isn't helping in just gonna ditch it

BongboyMMA said:

Exactly the reply I was looking for.

And thanks everyone else for input. Gonna grab 2 more big stones.

The browning is super minor and I'm not using any bennies. I could throw in frozen water bottles but if the pump isn't helping in just gonna ditch it

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Glad I could help.

If your nutrients have any organics in them it can stain your roots. If not I would recommend adding an enzyme brotha. I use hygrozyme, but there are a few cheaper alternatives. I've heard of people using pondzyme with acceptable results.

Happy farming

BongboyMMA said:

Exactly the reply I was looking for.

And thanks everyone else for input. Gonna grab 2 more big stones.

The browning is super minor and I'm not using any bennies. I could throw in frozen water bottles but if the pump isn't helping in just gonna ditch it

Click to expand...

The browning will continue and get worse until you either sterilize your res (H2O2+SM90) or use a beneficial like botanicare Hydroguard (bacillus bacteria). IMO, you Must use one or the other, otherwise you will be inundated with pythium (root rot), not to mention, the more there is, the quicker it spreads.

I had mine running at 65 deg through a chiller and they started to brown. I decided to go the hydroguard route and it cleared up the issue and roots are booming! You need to fix it asap in my humble opinion.

An initial inoculation of beneficial bacteria coupled with good water mixing, aeration and chilling is the optimal situation.

The closer you get to this combination the better your outcomes with DWC, recirculating or otherwise.

Thanks guys. I actually just did a res change and ditched the sub pump and I'm just using air stones and seems to be bubbling more so... The brown on the roots stopped once a light proofed the container so it seems but I'm going to order hydrogaurd still to be safe. The root ball also tripled in size in 8 days since I flipped them.

How much regular h202 should I added to the res? I'm in 10.5 gal of h2O. Pretty sure I read using 1ml/gal but wanna check

blackforest said:

The browning will continue and get worse until you either sterilize your res (H2O2+SM90) or use a beneficial like botanicare Hydroguard (bacillus bacteria). IMO, you Must use one or the other, otherwise you will be inundated with pythium (root rot), not to mention, the more there is, the quicker it spreads.

I had mine running at 65 deg through a chiller and they started to brown. I decided to go the hydroguard route and it cleared up the issue and roots are booming! You need to fix it asap in my humble opinion.

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Enzyme is the way to go. Dont want to completely level any biology you might have working for ya if you can help it.

Peroxide should almost always be a last resort

hydroMD said:

Enzyme is the way to go. Dont want to completely level any biology you might have working for ya if you can help it.

Peroxide should almost always be a last resort

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From everything I've read, zymes are not as effective as a beneficial solution or sterilization in a hydro setup. I've used hygrozyme in my soil/coco grows, but I have not heard of crazy successful grows with zymes alone, especially in hydro. Not saying it's not possible, but I've never really seen anything stand out. Please link me if you can.....I'm a reader, I read everything I can. I simply use hydroguard which is bacillus bacteria, which basically out competes the bad bacteria (pythium) which is going to occur if you are not sterilizing or using some sort of benny. Not to mention, something like hydroguard is about $25/L and you use 2ml/gallon so it lasts a long time. (I use 58 ml in a 28gal rdwc sys). Gotta love the journey to bigger growth!

blackforest said:

From everything I've read, zymes are not as effective as a beneficial solution or sterilization in a hydro setup. I've used hygrozyme in my soil/coco grows, but I have not heard of crazy successful grows with zymes alone, especially in hydro. Not saying it's not possible, but I've never really seen anything stand out. Please link me if you can.....I'm a reader, I read everything I can. I simply use hydroguard which is bacillus bacteria, which basically out competes the bad bacteria (pythium) which is going to occur if you are not sterilizing or using some sort of benny. Not to mention, something like hydroguard is about $25/L and you use 2ml/gallon so it lasts a long time. (I use 58 ml in a 28gal rdwc sys). Gotta love the journey to bigger growth!

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I agree 100%. If we are talking full regiment absolutely, but if you if you a quick fix without waiting for your inoculation to produce a working ecosystem, jumpstart things with an enzyme (just advice for this specific thread). If im not mistaken its the enzymes that your Bennies are producing thatl is the essential link in the chain of the symbiotic root:media relationship.

Layman's: Bacterial Inoculation is a long term exponential investment while enzymes are a shorter term with faster fruition