RDWC w/ Chiller vs Bubbler, Why is bubbler (apparently) winning?

dakilla187

Well-Known Member
Hmmm..I read this after I just ordered a chiller on black friday, in hawaii temps go over 90. I assume in my case a chiller is adequate also to the fact that I will flower outdoors under the sun and I can imagine the water temp would increase even more outside...

Amazon wont even ship it to hawaii so i shipped it to my brothers in cali and have him ship to me, im just contemplating if this was a bad move as I can still refuse delivery..

I plan on a single bubble bucket to start, coming from 24 years doing soil..
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Hmmm..I read this after I just ordered a chiller on black friday, in hawaii temps go over 90. I assume in my case a chiller is adequate also to the fact that I will flower outdoors under the sun and I can imagine the water temp would increase even more outside...

Amazon wont even ship it to hawaii so i shipped it to my brothers in cali and have him ship to me, im just contemplating if this was a bad move as I can still refuse delivery..

I plan on a single bubble bucket to start, coming from 24 years doing soil..
No you will HAVE TO use one of your setup is outside. What'd Ya pay?
 

PhatNuggz

Well-Known Member
All he's doing is pulling the water through the system on the RDwc. If he had a manifold teeing off to each bucket for a waterfall, I bet you'd see a large improvement.
WORD

when I use a bubbler to start seedlings/clones I use a 4 head large pump/air stones and keep the water line close to he bottom of the net pots. The combination makes for a high volume of moist air above the water line which is great for root development.
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Hello!

I am currently running 2 grow tents at the moment:
  • one RDWC System with Chiller (water temperature: 19-20ºC):

  • and one DWC Bubbler System (water temperature: 27-28ºC):


The interesting is that the bubblers actually have a better root system so far:
  • RDWC System with Chiller:

  • DWC Bubbler System:


Both tents have the same ambient temperatures (they are in the same room), have the same nutrient feeding, same strain, same water level (distance from netpot) and same light.
They also have the same air pump but the RDWC system should have more oxygenation in the water.

The only variables I see in both systems is water volume, temperature, and oxygenation. Everything else is basically the same.

Why is the bubbler (apparently) winning?
I bet the higher temp setup roots are brown as hell by now and the chilled ones are still ghost white.
 

Sparty82

Active Member
In my envirment where the air temp is 78-80F (with c02 burner running) the water temperatures in my 50 gallon insullated recirculating DWC sytem will quickly get to 76F. If my water gets above 72f for any lenght of time I'll get root rot. If i get root rot I loose a harvest and months of work. So for me, I must run a chiller, which was cheaper then lossing a harvest.

I forgot to mention I also run an Air Force Pro 40 air pump with 2 stones in each bucket, the water rolls. I'm not taking any chances (again) wiith pythium!
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
In my envirment where the air temp is 78-80F (with c02 burner running) the water temperatures in my 50 gallon insullated recirculating DWC sytem will quickly get to 76F. If my water gets above 72f for any lenght of time I'll get root rot. If i get root rot I loose a harvest and months of work. So for me, I must run a chiller, which was cheaper then lossing a harvest.

I forgot to mention I also run an Air Force Pro 40 air pump with 2 stones in each bucket, the water rolls. I'm not taking any chances (again) wiith pythium!
How quiet are the air force pumps?
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Perhaps that is your experience, but why do commercial hydro growers never use a chiller then?
They don't care that the water heats up.
Even during hot summers they do not use anything to cool it down.
On the contrary; during winter time they make sure that the bassins in their greenhouses have a higher temperature. At least 70 degrees.
It's because they've got 100's if not 1,000s of gallons of water being used. The temperature is almost hard to change.
 

fragileassassin

Well-Known Member
Yep, once you get that huge water volume things are different. Even my 55 gallon top off barrel stays at 70F. I keep it 75-76 down there, the heater vent blows directly down on it, and I have a 1200gph pump "stir" it for 15 mins every few hours.
 
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