Quality solution to add to my reservoir for keeping sterile clean water and stable ph?

NugHeuser

NugHeuser

Well-Known Member
I recently switched to blumats irrigation for my setup and I noticed today that somehow the water inside my 20 gal tank is already getting cloudy with a colorful film on top, after only a handful of days.
I scrubbed the tank down before hand ofcoarse and added r.o water then mixed with tap. I've also got a water pump in there that's keeping the water moving to try to combat any bad growth building up.
I know next to nothing about hydroponics, always been in soil and am running with super soil, so now I'm seeing my next important step is to find something that is friendly with the microbial life in the soil but will keep my water clean. Detaching my tank every week and cleaning is not an option as it will screw up the settings of my blumats, I cant just detach my water line to clean the bin all the time. So I'm wondering what everyone's using for quality SS friendly H2O cleaner?

A little bit separate topic is daily my ph isrising to mid 7's after lowering the ph the day prior, is this normal and something I'll have to do daily or is there something I can do to help against that too?

And while I have you all here, eventually I'll have to start feeding a little, have never had soil last me the whole way through, and I have mega crop. I see 50% of people saying use plain water ONLY through blumats. Another chunk claims to run mega crop in their rez with NO problems. So that's got me a bit confused. If you've actually ran MC through irrigation lines, did it work fine? What problems if any did you run into?

I appreciate anybody's feedback very much!
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
NugHeuser said:
I recently switched to blumats irrigation for my setup and I noticed today that somehow the water inside my 20 gal tank is already getting cloudy with a colorful film on top, after only a handful of days.
I scrubbed the tank down before hand ofcoarse and added r.o water then mixed with tap. I've also got a water pump in there that's keeping the water moving to try to combat any bad growth building up.
I know next to nothing about hydroponics, always been in soil and am running with super soil, so now I'm seeing my next important step is to find something that is friendly with the microbial life in the soil but will keep my water clean. Detaching my tank every week and cleaning is not an option as it will screw up the settings of my blumats, I cant just detach my water line to clean the bin all the time. So I'm wondering what everyone's using for quality SS friendly H2O cleaner?

A little bit separate topic is daily my ph isrising to mid 7's after lowering the ph the day prior, is this normal and something I'll have to do daily or is there something I can do to help against that too?

And while I have you all here, eventually I'll have to start feeding a little, have never had soil last me the whole way through, and I have mega crop. I see 50% of people saying use plain water ONLY through blumats. Another chunk claims to run mega crop in their rez with NO problems. So that's got me a bit confused. If you've actually ran MC through irrigation lines, did it work fine? What problems if any did you run into?

I appreciate anybody's feedback very much!
Click to expand...
Switch to a Venturi Valve at the outlet on your pump. You can build one with basically $2. That will at least keep it oxygenated and avoid any film from showing up. The container is all light tight right? All hoses too?

Here's a link to a post i made where I showed a guy how to build a valve.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/which-pump-for-flooming.988286/#post-14855733
 
NugHeuser

NugHeuser

Well-Known Member
Airwalker16 said:
Switch to a Venturi Valve at the outlet on your pump. You can build one with basically $2. That will at least keep it oxygenated and avoid any film from showing up. The container is all light tight right? All hoses too?

Here's a link to a post i made where I showed a guy how to build a valve.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/which-pump-for-flooming.988286/#post-14855733
Click to expand...
Yeah I'll check that out. But with blumats you cant use oxygenated water because it will cause them to not work properly.

I'm mainly wondering what solution I can buy to keep the water sterile and if theres anything that can keep the ph stable rather than rising daily.
For example I've seen some people saying they mix peroxide or bleach with their water to keep it clean, but that will harm the biology in my soil so I need something that will keep water clean but won't kill microbes. I know there are products like that out there but I'm having trouble finding even a single product that claims to just keep a rez clean and sterile.

And yes all light proof tubing and container
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
NugHeuser said:
Yeah I'll check that out. But with blumats you cant use oxygenated water because it will cause them to not work properly.

I'm mainly wondering what solution I can buy to keep the water sterile and if theres anything that can keep the ph stable rather than rising daily.
For example I've seen some people saying they mix peroxide or bleach with their water to keep it clean, but that will harm the biology in my soil so I need something that will keep water clean but won't kill microbes. I know there are products like that out there but I'm having trouble finding even a single product that claims to just keep a rez clean and sterile.

And yes all light proof tubing and container
Click to expand...
I think you're thinking of HydroGuard and Pool Shock. Orca and Great White are others.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I run blumats in 100% coco. But my reservoir has nutrient solution not plain water. Do you have a small pond pump to circulate the water? I've never heard that you can't use oxygenated water with blumats. Of course you have to oxygenate a reservoir or else it will get stagnant like you are experiencing. You need to circulate the water. A small pump on the bottom pointing up is better than airstones. I've been using blumats for years. I think some people think that if you have an airstone in the reservoir that an air bubble will get in the line. I suppose it's possible but highly unlikely.

Also, while I don't run Megacrop I run VitaGrow which is close to the same thing. I've been using it for years with no problems. I've never bought any of those products that are supposed to keep the lines clean. It depends on what nutrients you use. Chemical salts run clean. Add anything organic and you may have problems with buildup in the lines to the blumats.
 
NugHeuser

NugHeuser

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I run blumats in 100% coco. But my reservoir has nutrient solution not plain water. Do you have a small pond pump to circulate the water? I've never heard that you can't use oxygenated water with blumats. Of course you have to oxygenate a reservoir or else it will get stagnant like you are experiencing. You need to circulate the water. A small pump on the bottom pointing up is better than airstones. I've been using blumats for years. I think some people think that if you have an airstone in the reservoir that an air bubble will get in the line. I suppose it's possible but highly unlikely.

Also, while I don't run Megacrop I run VitaGrow which is close to the same thing. I've been using it for years with no problems. I've never bought any of those products that are supposed to keep the lines clean. It depends on what nutrients you use. Chemical salts run clean. Add anything organic and you may have problems with buildup in the lines to the blumats.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply!
Yes I have a water pump in there on the bottom facing upward. So do you use air stones in your tank for your blumats or just a water pump?

Also you mentioned salt based nutes wont cause a build up, the mega crop I'm using is organic, is the VitaGrow you use organic or salt based?
 
NugHeuser

NugHeuser

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I run blumats in 100% coco. But my reservoir has nutrient solution not plain water. Do you have a small pond pump to circulate the water? I've never heard that you can't use oxygenated water with blumats. Of course you have to oxygenate a reservoir or else it will get stagnant like you are experiencing. You need to circulate the water. A small pump on the bottom pointing up is better than airstones. I've been using blumats for years. I think some people think that if you have an airstone in the reservoir that an air bubble will get in the line. I suppose it's possible but highly unlikely.

Also, while I don't run Megacrop I run VitaGrow which is close to the same thing. I've been using it for years with no problems. I've never bought any of those products that are supposed to keep the lines clean. It depends on what nutrients you use. Chemical salts run clean. Add anything organic and you may have problems with buildup in the lines to the blumats.
Click to expand...
You said that I have to oxygenate the water or it will get stagnant, but you also said that a water pump works better than air stones, does that mean I can use just the water pump? It doesnt produce much for air bubbles that I can see..
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
NugHeuser said:
You said that I have to oxygenate the water or it will get stagnant, but you also said that a water pump works better than air stones, does that mean I can use just the water pump? It doesnt produce much for air bubbles that I can see..
Click to expand...
Yeah. Pointing it up from the bottom of the res pushing the water towards the water surface is called flooming. I would build that venturi valve though because the amount of oxygen it creates is fuckin nuts.
 
NugHeuser

NugHeuser

Well-Known Member
Would hydroguard clog up 3mm drip lines? Might be a stupid question but I want to make sure before I go adding it to my tank. I should've already looked into this because I already bought some
 
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