First Bubbleponic Grow

[Smootherpete]

Is it normal that i had to change my res water after only 8 days, it was starting to slime up, green shit. I keep water under 22 celcius, got lots of bubbles going on, I keep PH in check with manual color test. Still waiting for my EC and PH meter, next time I'll make sure not to order shit from China on Amazon. For now i follow directions on GH bottles but can't check my TDS. I add PH balanced water when the water level noticeably goes down, that's it. I was planing on doing this and changing water every 2 weeks until i get my meters. But like I said, 8 days, I had slime and green stains and a smell in the res.

 

[UncleReemis]

Without beneficial bacteria or some sort of chemical solution, that's normal. Invest in some Aquashield or some other bennie

 

[Smootherpete]

Will do, invested so much dough in this, don't want to fuck it up, I changed the water the second i noticed.

 

[SableZen]

Are the buckets completely light-proofed? Most times, green stuff in a reservoir is photosynthetic algae (eliminate the light getting in, it dies off). If it's really bad slime and green... then maybe not. But thought I'd mention it.

 

[Smootherpete]

Funny you say that, I thought of the same thing, I had two net pots in a large 50L tote, it was blue but not light proof. Yesterday when I changed the water, I realized that maybe it would be best to have two separate 5 gal buckets since my grow room is up in the attic and changing water in the tote was quite the task. This morning I went to the hardware store and got 3 buckets, 1 spare for prepping water ahead of time, all I could find were white buckets. Bad for light infiltration , so, i sit my buckets in black garbage bags and it blocks out the light. I also ordered some Aquaguard from the closest hydro shop, it will be here tonight. Fucking 20$ for the stuff and 20$ for shipping. I need a local hydro shop.

 

[SableZen]

Funny you say that, I thought of the same thing, I had two net pots in a large 50L tote, it was blue but not light proof. Yesterday when I changed the water, I realized that maybe it would be best to have two separate 5 gal buckets since my grow room is up in the attic and changing water in the tote was quite the task. This morning I went to the hardware store and got 3 buckets, 1 spare for prepping water ahead of time, all I could find were white buckets. Bad for light infiltration , so, i sit my buckets in black garbage bags and it blocks out the light. I also ordered some Aquaguard from the closest hydro shop, it will be here tonight. Fucking 20$ for the stuff and 20$ for shipping. I need a local hydro shop.

Try some Reflectix (HD/Lowes has it if in the US), or any radiant type of insulation that's water-proof, and some all-weather foil tape. Probably cost less than $25 dollars total for enough to insulate and light proof a few buckets and lids with some left over. It's easy to cut to size and work with and will last.