Hydro system maintenance

As I'm going through the process of cleaning my hydro system after summer downtime by pumping a dose of pool shock through my reservoir, plumbing and chiller, and doing a bit of scrubbing of whatever surfaces I can touch, I'm wondering what else I should be doing. What do the rest of you hydro growers do when you clean your system? Are calcium deposits a concern?

i use Star San. most homebrew shops have it

rkymtnman said:

i use Star San. most homebrew shops have it

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Do you use it to clean surfaces or do you pump it in solution through your system?

I just use bleach and a scruff pad lol

Bucsfan80 said:

I just use bleach and a scruff pad lol

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Yeah, that's pretty much what I do to clean the bio material, but don't know if I should be concerned with calcium buildup in my chiller as well.

graying.geek said:

Yeah, that's pretty much what I do to clean the bio material, but don't know if I should be concerned with calcium buildup in my chiller as well.

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Not sure about that. Maybe a de scaler or something

White vinegar works well for mineral scale.

graying.geek said:

Do you use it to clean surfaces or do you pump it in solution through your system?

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it's a self foaming, no rinse acid based cleaner so it gets rid of any Ca buildup too. and being self foaming, it gets in every nook and cranny unlike using bleach etc.

so yes, for both parts of your question

I used to run CLR through mine,about 12 hrs and the calcium build up would scrub off pretty easy.
It was what I had at home so I used it.Not sure about your chiller though.

I just used bleach for years when I was doing flood and drain.