How Do I get rid of Algae build up in my flood table and reservoir?

C

CARLOS BLANCO

Member
I noticed a alot of algae build up on my flood table mostly. It was like brown tanish color. The hydro rocks also have some white stuff on them. When the water drains sum of the water sits still on the table and it sits still for about 5hrs. Then the table floods again but more algae is built up and cloggs the water intake. THe lights stay on 24hrs. and the temps are always at 70-75f. I think that the water that doesnt go back down to the reservoir is creating the algae on the table due to the lights being on all day and I know that algae needs light to grows. I cleaned the table ready good with hot water and the pumps and drain worked normally again. I just want to know how to prevent this from happening. Plz help and always Thanx u For Reading..
 
Heisenberg

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
Algae has a very hard time living in darkness. Cover the as much of the tray and res as you can. No light = no algae. The white stuff you see is most likely salt deposits, which is normal. Read up a bit about flushing.

You could also try to use a chemical algaecide, there are many options there. SM-90, bleach, h202, Zone root conditioner ect. Or, the other thing you can do is populate your water with beneficial microbes which will act as a natural algaecide.

Water that sits and pools for any length of time may become stagnant, which is the perfect habitat for harmful microbes to breed. Be watchful for root problems.
 
Heisenberg

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
CARLOS BLANCO said:
Thats funny, I do have and add h202 and sm-90.. maybe I didnt add as much as recommened.
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Could be, or you could be mistaking what you see. Are you sure it's algae? What sort of h2o2 are you using? Would your set up allow you to spray a stronger h2o2 mix directly onto the drain/intake holes? If so you could give it a quick spray once a day.
 
C

CARLOS BLANCO

Member
yea im pretty sure its algae. And it grows slowly on the table because the light stays on 24hrs. This the first time this has ever happend I shud of taken a picture right before I cleaned the table. I have covered the drain and intake holes with leg stockings to prevent hair,dust,etc back down into the reservoir and it seemed to work but then the stocking where covered completely in the algae. I simply just cleaned the stockings and the table and it seemed like it got rid of all the algae. Shud I maybe flood the table more often so the water doesnt sit still on the table or get an airstone inside the res.? I dont know what kind of h202 i got i just got it from a hydro store.
 
Heisenberg

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
Flood and drain times vary depending on the setup and environment, but you mentioned having a 5 hour gap, and that sounds a bit long to me. You should definitely have an air stone in the res, two is even better. If your h202 came from the hydro shop then it is probably 28% or stronger, which is great. How big is your res though and how much do you add?
 
S

SwiftGrow

Active Member
I use styrofoam and cut holes the size of my net cups. Styrofoam is sterile anti mold anti fungis and works great for covering my 2x2 flood table. I also use panda film over my power growers etc to avoid any algae build up. Check out my set up for pictureshttps://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/384835-swiftgrow-journal.html

Best of Luck
 
C

CARLOS BLANCO

Member
zem said:
yeah man, all you have to do is cover the table, H2O2 serves other purposes
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Im thinking bout covering the table with white plastic and cut holes into to slide the plant inside. THat way the nutrients will be fully covered from the lights. What is the H202 purpose then?
 
C

CARLOS BLANCO

Member
Heisenberg said:
Flood and drain times vary depending on the setup and environment, but you mentioned having a 5 hour gap, and that sounds a bit long to me. You should definitely have an air stone in the res, two is even better. If your h202 came from the hydro shop then it is probably 28% or stronger, which is great. How big is your res though and how much do you add?
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Yea I think its 28% and my res. is 55gallons. Shud I run the pumps every 2 Hrs.? or what is a good time to turn them on? How big of an airstone do I need?
 
Smoke Screen

Smoke Screen

Active Member
Alge will continue to grow unless you cut off the light to that area. airstones will only help algae grow faster if the light situation is not fixed. algae grows just like plants, meaning they neeed o2, h,n,p,k all that good stuff. if the environment is good for you plants it will def be good for algae growth kill that light or suffer...
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
CARLOS BLANCO said:
Im thinking bout covering the table with white plastic and cut holes into to slide the plant inside. THat way the nutrients will be fully covered from the lights. What is the H202 purpose then?
Click to expand...
white plastic emits light, i got white pvc boards with foam layer beneath, no light emission, but thats for DWC, when i flood/drain, i just fill the whole tray with rocks. h2o2 i use it to prevent larvae in res, and to clean up dead roots from medium and all types of cleaning and hygiene, i even clean groroom with it
 
D

Dirty Harry

Well-Known Member
I use black painters plastic on my trays. Cut to fit, duct tape it in place, and cut Xs in the plastic large enough to set in your pots and pull the plastic over the top around the plant. I would of used white on top of the black, but that isn't available locally. Only black and clear.
DON'T try and spray paint the black plastic white. It won't stick and will flake off making a hell of a mess.
 
choempi

choempi

Well-Known Member
6 - 8 drops a gallon, unscented household bleach. it will eliminate the need to cover up the table because it kills everything in the water. It dissipates though after about 24 hours, but the water will be sterile so you add back the same amount every 4 or 5 days. It is cheap and 100% effective. Just make sure your nutes are not organic, if they are you can't use it.

All the technical info is on the link I gave you.
 
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