Brown Sludge and Flakes in Jack's 321 Reservoir

[GrindMind]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been running into a bit of an issue with my 55-gallon reservoir, and I’m hoping someone here might have some insight. After a few days, I start noticing this dark brown sludge on the walls of the reservoir, and when I drain it, there’s a decent amount of dark brown flakes at the bottom. I’m not sure what I might be doing wrong, so I figured I’d break down exactly what I’m doing step by step to see if anyone can spot an issue.

1. I start with RO water and add PowerSi, but I go under the recommended dose—about 0.3 ml per gallon instead of the suggested 0.5 ml.

2. Next, I mix in the Jack’s 321 nutrients, starting with part A. I mix it thoroughly with a paint stirrer on a drill until it’s fully dissolved.

3. Then I add the Epsom salts and mix until dissolved.

4. After that, I add part B from Jack’s 321 and make sure everything is fully mixed before moving to the next step.

5. Once everything’s combined, I check the TDS, which usually lands around 2.4-2.5. I dilute it with more RO water until I get it down to 1.9-2.1, which is my target range.

6. Finally, I check the pH. It’s usually low (around 4.0-4.2, probably because of the PowerSi), so I adjust it with General Hydroponics pH Up. I dilute the pH Up in RO water before adding it to avoid any issues.

Once everything looks good, I pop the air stones and irrigation pump back in, and the water stays clear for a few days. But after 3-4 days, the sludge comes back.

Any idea what might be causing this? I’d really appreciate any advice or suggestions!

 

[Wastei]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been running into a bit of an issue with my 55-gallon reservoir, and I’m hoping someone here might have some insight. After a few days, I start noticing this dark brown sludge on the walls of the reservoir, and when I drain it, there’s a decent amount of dark brown flakes at the bottom. I’m not sure what I might be doing wrong, so I figured I’d break down exactly what I’m doing step by step to see if anyone can spot an issue.

1. I start with RO water and add PowerSi, but I go under the recommended dose—about 0.3 ml per gallon instead of the suggested 0.5 ml.

2. Next, I mix in the Jack’s 321 nutrients, starting with part A. I mix it thoroughly with a paint stirrer on a drill until it’s fully dissolved.

3. Then I add the Epsom salts and mix until dissolved.

4. After that, I add part B from Jack’s 321 and make sure everything is fully mixed before moving to the next step.

5. Once everything’s combined, I check the TDS, which usually lands around 2.4-2.5. I dilute it with more RO water until I get it down to 1.9-2.1, which is my target range.

6. Finally, I check the pH. It’s usually low (around 4.0-4.2, probably because of the PowerSi), so I adjust it with General Hydroponics pH Up. I dilute the pH Up in RO water before adding it to avoid any issues.

Once everything looks good, I pop the air stones and irrigation pump back in, and the water stays clear for a few days. But after 3-4 days, the sludge comes back.

Any idea what might be causing this? I’d really appreciate any advice or suggestions!

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A few pointers. Your low pH on your final mix tells you you're using to much of a base and too little "PowerSi". In water cultures it's better to run a lighter nutrient solution for better uptake and to keep cyano bacteria and nasties at bay. That looks like typical Pythium, what causes root rot. I hardly ever went over 600ppm / 1.2 EC in flower, that's less than half your amount.

Do you use any preventatives like a oxidizer or bacteria culture to stay above it's development? I've used unscented bleach for a couple of decades at this point for sterility. Another approach is bacillus amyloliquefaciens extract like Hydro guard or SoutherAG garden Friendly fungicide, the latter being way more concentrated.

You'll find recommendations and the chlorine dilution calculator in my signature if you decide to go the oxidizer route.

Cheers!

 

[GrindMind]

A few pointers. Your low pH on your final mix tells you you're using to much of a base and too little "PowerSi". In water cultures it's better to run a lighter nutrient solution for better uptake and to keep cyano bacteria and nasties at bay. That looks like typical Pythium, what causes root rot. I hardly ever went over 600ppm / 1.2 EC in flower, that's less than half your amount.

Do you use any preventatives like a oxidizer or bacteria culture to stay above it's development? I've used unscented bleach for a couple of decades at this point for sterility. Another approach is bacillus amyloliquefaciens extract like Hydro guard or SoutherAG garden Friendly fungicide, the latter being way more concentrated.

You'll find recommendations and the chlorine dilution calculator in my signature if you decide to go the oxidizer route.

Cheers!

I did try running a lighter nutrient solution at first, but I started seeing deficiencies. That’s when I came across Jack’s recommendation of 2.4 EC, and I saw others talking about pushing it to 3.0 or higher. I never went that far, but now I’m wondering if my average EC of around 2.0 might actually be too high and contributing to this issue.

As of now, I’m not using any preventatives, oxidizers, or cultures, so it looks like I need to dive into that and learn fast. Losing an entire crop to bud or root rot that I could’ve prevented would be a tough lesson.

I’ve used Botanicare Hydroguard before, but honestly, I don’t fully understand the science behind it—even now. I’m curious, though, do you think Hydroguard would be more effective than going with the unscented bleach method? Also, is the formula in your signature based on ppm per gallon?

NVM, I just noticed it was a link.

 

[7CardBud]

This is an app that does Cal-Hypo and bleach.

The Orenda Calculator™

 

[Gemtree]

I use straight jacks and never get brown stuff. Use bleach at .2ml per gal not sure if powersi has extra bennies in it though

 

[Wastei]

I did try running a lighter nutrient solution at first, but I started seeing deficiencies. That’s when I came across Jack’s recommendation of 2.4 EC, and I saw others talking about pushing it to 3.0 or higher. I never went that far, but now I’m wondering if my average EC of around 2.0 might actually be too high and contributing to this issue.

As of now, I’m not using any preventatives, oxidizers, or cultures, so it looks like I need to dive into that and learn fast. Losing an entire crop to bud or root rot that I could’ve prevented would be a tough lesson.

I’ve used Botanicare Hydroguard before, but honestly, I don’t fully understand the science behind it—even now. I’m curious, though, do you think Hydroguard would be more effective than going with the unscented bleach method? Also, is the formula in your signature based on ppm per gallon?

NVM, I just noticed it was a link.

The most effective approach is using an oxidizer. 5% sodium hypochlorite(bleach) seems to be a global standard, just make sure it's unscented.

I never had much luck using Pool shock or granules for the intended purpose and always found regular bleach to be cleaner with less inerts(clearer solution).

 

[Wastei]

I use straight jacks and never get brown stuff. Use bleach at .2ml per gal not sure if powersi has extra bennies in it though

I just read that it's very low in Silicate and also contains phosphoric acid, that kinda defeats the purpose of balancing Jacks pH out and there's no reason to add the other minerals in PowerSI's formula.

Adding more of anything(maybe exception of cobalt) especially the micros will worsen Jacks mineral ratios. PowerSI's name is very misleading to say the least and their product not very concentrated.

Straight potassium silicate would be a much better approach, Pro-tekt is good commercial product in the US.

Cheers!