Fragile's Flowers Rnd 2! New veg room RDWC from first clones.

Big Perm said:

Looking good. I've broken so much stuff....
I was going to suggest that you could buy the 10' pvc sticks and cut them in half at the store to get them home. If you know your longest measurement you can cut it to that, I do it for wood sometimes.

What determines your water level in the buckets, the amount of water in the system?
Do you have a reservoir?

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The pipe valve is to replace the control res. I will set the system level with that valve and it will keep it there from a top off tank. I wanted to eliminate using both a control res AND top off tank like I did with the big system. With what I've experienced with water temps down there so far, the pump not being in the water plus the waterfall sprayers with such a high rate of circulation should keep the water temp in the system right around 70F. Goal is bennies and no chiller, well see how that goes.

That is what I did today, i went and got a 10ft pipe and cut it in half in the parking lot. Only to get home and go to start cutting it to size and realize it's the wrong size so I had to go back and do it again and then was 3" short.

Little update for tonight.
I at least got to leak test today. It went better than I expected it to at first, but I did not improve it at all.
I was running out of pvc cement and went a bit lighter than I should have on one of the connections off of the pump. going to have another go at it tomorrow I guess.
All of the connections at the buckets seem to be holding well though. I just had to get a bit creative on the feed side because I could only find 1 fitting that actually threaded on to the output of my pump properly.
On the bright side, ive already rinse everything out with RO water a couple times and theres no debris left in the system! LOL
Im a little irritated that im several days behind where I wanted to be, but some things you just cant rush. Not putting plants in it until its perfect.

fragileassassin said:

Im a little irritated that im several days behind where I wanted to be, but some things you just cant rush. Not putting plants in it until its perfect.

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Been there man. It sucks, but it sucks more running them when you aren't ready. Been there, too. You'll get it, and be able to sleep at night, that's what makes it worth it.

Big Perm said:

Been there man. It sucks, but it sucks more running them when you aren't ready. Been there, too. You'll get it, and be able to sleep at night, that's what makes it worth it.

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The leaks are small drips, but something I want to correct for sure. 1 more trip to the store and everything should be good to transplant tomorrow.
Since I have to cut my bottom feed line anyway, I think im going to add a bypass valve of some sort right off of the pump so I can drain the system easier. I learned a lot in the 4 or 5 times I had to drain several gallons out of it lol.

I was able to get enough water in it to fire up the pump and test out the sprayers and everything. Im pretty sure i giggled when it first came on.
I will have to figure out a way to post a video of it in action without using youtube.

The cool thing about the pump is the motor part disconnects from a head portion that has the intake and output ports on it and it fits a bunch of pumps ranging in size. I have a 1400 on it now but have a 1200 I can swap it down to if its too much which I think it might be just a little too high.

looking good. but why are you putting that many in there? it's gonna get way too crammed. I have 4 in 1/3 of my 9x6x8 and it was too much. need at least a few feet of space between buckets. imo. from experience.

It's just a veg tent and I'm keeping them pretty small and very trained from now on. When they start to outgrow the small tent theyll get flipped to flower in my big tent. Going for overall smaller crops but with faster turn around times.

i seeeee

Thanks for making me feel unworthy!

shawnery said:

Thanks for making me feel unworthy!

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lol!
I learned a lot from the big system so I was able to sit down and think about exactly what I wanted in my veg setup.
I really need to get off of my ass and go to the store, but ill probably put it off for a another hour or two.

I had 3 small drips to take care of. I fixed one last night and attempted to fix another, wont know about that one until I test again tonight. The third was a joint in my feed lines that I forgot to cement and im completely out so I need to grab more for that.

Hoping to get a video of it up tonight.

Purpsmagurps said:

i seeeee

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I have a few weeks left on my current crop in the big setup. Once that's done and I start getting everything cleaned and prepped for these plants I'll do an overview of that system and how it works too.
Would like to keep this constantly updated until harvest. I considered the first one an experiment and learning experience. This is really my first real one where I have some idea of what to expect and now that I have the method mostly dialed in, so I want to keep good track of it.

Annnndddd were done!
All I need to do is get a different piece of 1/2" tubing for my top off tank, adjust my top off valve, and change out my bulbs for my new 6500k ones.

One of my main goals with this system was to make it semi-permanent but also be able to disassemble it if I really want to, so I took a bit of a risk. Some of the bottom joints that have the the silver tape on them are sealed with an industrial aquarium silicone sealant that's used to make fish tanks. The tape was to told hold them in place for the first few minutes of set time. The joints are strong and take some effort to break free and none are leaking so I'm hopeful. With the holes in my table, I'll be able to remove the connecting pipes from each bucket so I can take them all out.
This is also the reasons for the connections on the bottom feed line.

Since I had to cut apart the bottom, I decided to add a bypass valve to drain the system easier. So now I just open that valve and itll drain the system completely minus the inch that'll stay in the buckets above the bulkheads. I've had this poly tubing and didnt know what to do with it so I grabbed a barb fitting for it and I'll use it drain to the trap on the house plumbing. The end piece is threaded so I can swap it out for a 3/4" fitting I got so I can use a bigger hose if I want to.

The barrel was just an extra one I have that I don't have a use for, so for now its a stand for my 17 gal top off tank.

Well here it is at water level and running.
I took some measurements of the system and where id want the water level to be in it when I made my float valve pipe so I could get it kinda close and then just adjust the size of the float. Amazingly enough it was dead on where I wanted it, I didnt have to adjust it at all.

at water level id say theres around 25 gallons in it? i wasnt really paying attention when I was filling it.
I had not run the water level up to full before this and found 2 more small drips in the process. So ill get those taken care of tonight and should be good to go tomorrow. i hope

sorry i have no idea whats going on with the weird sounds.

What's going to happen with flow once the buckets fill with roots? It seems as if you might end up backing up solution in your epi. I assume you have worked that out though with this stellar design and build.

shawnery said:

What's going to happen with flow once the buckets fill with roots? It seems as if you might end up backing up solution in your epi. I assume you have worked that out though with this stellar design and build.

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shouldnt be an issue with how long theyll be in this tent.
In the big boxes they seemed to grow and try to gather around where the sprayer was hitting the water, thats why the drains are on the opposite side from there and not in the middle. Theyll be getting lots of attention so keeping them out of the drains shouldnt be an issue either.

So I needed a break from this for a few days. I have to replace the hole elbow and bulkhead on two of my corner buclets.
The leak frustration and how much pain I was in from the work built up and needed to step back and come back at it refreshed.

The clones were starting to look pretty hungry so I went ahead and gave them some megacrop a few days ago to hold them over. The color has come back and they're starting to push out some nice new growth. The skywalker plants in the back are really putting on nodes.

Going to try to finish up today.

this is very cool!! Gonna take me a few days to absorb this. I’m sure I’ll have some questions. Cheers

Not much to say but I got it done!
Here's some pics

I think my pump is too big and its getting everything too warm.
My smaller ones will be here on friday. They just gotta hold out until then.
Its gotten to 75F so far and seems to have stopped there. Will report back if it keeps going.

Pump also sounds kind like its sucking air too even though that shouldnt be possible?
I am thinking that its not able to take in as much water as its trying to put out?

My top off barrel stays 70-72 and I have a pump on a 15 minute timer inside the barrel so I was hoping id be able to stay in that range.

What are your guys thoughts?