Bought a chiller, 2 air pumps, And still having root issues

Nodgman

Active Member
I got a 7 bucket recirculating deep water culture setup, buckets have all been insulated using reflective material.
So I have 35 gallons total. I'm using a 1/3hp chiller. I'm using Maxi series nutrients( although Im not totally satisfied). Im also running 2 18watt Eco plus commercial air pumps, and still I keep seeing a slimy coat of goo covering my roots. I've also been changing my resivoir almost every week. While the plants aren't dieing they just aren't blooming the way id expect them too.
Water temp never goes over 70 degrees. All the plants in the system are clones.
 

Malevolence

New Member
You could try go to petco and get a tub of pondzyme. If you use tap water get api tap water conditioner too. Drain system, rinse roots in bath tub with tap water using fingers to clean them and pull out dead roots. Wipe down inside of system with hot bleach water. Refill your system, dechlorinate with tap water conditikner if necessary, mix nutes, ph, then add half scoop of pondzyme. Add a quarter scoop every week or two.
 

tallen

Well-Known Member
For me the pondzyme by itself never worked that great, but pondzyme+aquashield=winner (was able to stop brewing EWC tea all the time with that combo)
 

Nodgman

Active Member
You could try go to petco and get a tub of pondzyme. If you use tap water get api tap water conditioner too. Drain system, rinse roots in bath tub with tap water using fingers to clean them and pull out dead roots. Wipe down inside of system with hot bleach water. Refill your system, dechlorinate with tap water conditikner if necessary, mix nutes, ph, then add half scoop of pondzyme. Add a quarter scoop every week or two.
Hey tanks for the tips. I actually use zero TDS (ppm) water from my reverse osmosis deionization filter. Also after every res change I've taken some 1 cup/ gallon bleach solution to clean them out but I guess I need to do so more frequently. So the product is called pondzyme? What exactly does it do? also is it okay to trim off some roots? I always thought one you cut the roots they never grow back? Or do I Have bad info?

thanks again.
 

Nodgman

Active Member
Also another question to add, with the maxi series nutrients, can I use just the maxi bloom and maxi grow, along with fox farms dry trio(the beastie bloom, open sesame, and cha Ching)? I'm currently using GH's whole line up but I hate having 10 different things to add/buy. I liked using FF's whole line up but they made their gallon size containers so expensive I had to try something a little cheaper.

And to the guy with the 240g res., how much are you spending each month on nutrients alone!?! What type of nutrients do u use?
 

superstoner1

Well-Known Member
I also use aqua shield with the pondzyme. Pondzyme is a beneficial bacteria additive available at garden centers, it runs around $20 and treats thousands of gallons.
Its not a question of how much i spend in nutes every month, and I use a full botanicare line, but how much do I spend in nutes from clone to harvest per dried ounce? And that is about $1.25 per ounce. Not a bad return.
 

Nodgman

Active Member
Hey how do I dose pond zyme , just dose according to package? Went and bought some at lunch today so....
 

Malevolence

New Member
Depends on size of your res... you can just follow the recommendation, don't be afraid to use a little more it shouldn't hurt anything. Make sure your entire system is 100% light proof.
 

waterdawg

Well-Known Member
Why is op getting slime in the first place? I have never had to deal with any issues re: res. so I have no experience in this but it seems to me that there must be an underlying cause. I read lots of post and have come to realize that I do many things wrong like light leaks, higher than normal temps on occasion, etc.and still no issues yet. Am I just lucky?
 

Nodgman

Active Member
Agreed theres definitely a reason, but i have no clue what reason that might be. just wish i had not spend the past month build my rdwc... I'd be smoking right now instead of problem solving... anyhow too far along to turn back.
 

Malevolence

New Member
You are probably getting slimed because it sounds like you aren't running bennies or sterilizers. Some people are lucky and don't have to, but most of us need to do run bennies or h2o2 to keep slime blooms suppressed... maybe has to do with microbes in your local environment/community, and even if your house is clean or you have pets... who knows. I get slimed every time I don't use bennies... even if temps are perfect and no light leak. That is why I brought up the whole use pond-zyme thing.

Also I'm talking about DWC, other hydro doesn't seem to have this prob.
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
Do you have good air stones in each bucket? That should help

I use individual Air Pots on a tray. Medium is a combination of base lava rock the rest polished ornamental river rock (The Dollar Store)

The lava holds enough moisture between feed cycles, which varies depending on size and age of plant, ~ 95% of the runoff goes back to rez in a matter of one minute.

Rez has 160 gph pump flooming 24/7. ZERO slime/algae

Oh, I use Hydroponic Research V + B RO formula
 

twistedwords

Well-Known Member
Also another question to add, with the maxi series nutrients, can I use just the maxi bloom and maxi grow, along with fox farms dry trio(the beastie bloom, open sesame, and cha Ching)? I'm currently using GH's whole line up but I hate having 10 different things to add/buy. I liked using FF's whole line up but they made their gallon size containers so expensive I had to try something a little cheaper.

And to the guy with the 240g res., how much are you spending each month on nutrients alone!?! What type of nutrients do u use?

All you need is Maxi Grow, Maxi Bloom, GH Micro and Botanicaire Silica Blast. Then it is all covered in the reservoir.
 

twistedwords

Well-Known Member
Why is op getting slime in the first place? I have never had to deal with any issues re: res. so I have no experience in this but it seems to me that there must be an underlying cause. I read lots of post and have come to realize that I do many things wrong like light leaks, higher than normal temps on occasion, etc.and still no issues yet. Am I just lucky?

Algae causes the slime. I wonder if this OP has a DWC bucket system with the clear lines on the side to see how the water level is. Big mistake as algae will grow.
 

Aeroknow

Well-Known Member
Also another question to add, with the maxi series nutrients, can I use just the maxi bloom and maxi grow, along with fox farms dry trio(the beastie bloom, open sesame, and cha Ching)? I'm currently using GH's whole line up but I hate having 10 different things to add/buy. I liked using FF's whole line up but they made their gallon size containers so expensive I had to try something a little cheaper.

And to the guy with the 240g res., how much are you spending each month on nutrients alone!?! What type of nutrients do u use?
Yeah, ditch all that extra shit you got there. As said, all you need is the maxigro and the maxibloom. Maybe cal-mag if your water has none and/or if your plants show deficiencies.
Me and my buddies grew in tubes(homemade,pre-aeroflo)for about ten years without a thought of root issues. And then, all of a sudden, devestating root rot set in. Couldn't figure it out for shit. Gave up on the tubes for about 5 yrs. then people started talking about it online. I built a new set of tubes, bought a chiller, and added enzymes. Cannazyme being the best, i think. No more root issues.
I don't rock the tubes anymore because of plant counts, but I still have buddies growing in tubes and
DWC, they use chillers, hygrozyme and h202(yes you can use those two together)and none of them have had the pleasure of fighting root rot.
 

Aeroknow

Well-Known Member
Btw..,the root problems your experiencing might be the result from the cocktail of additives your using. Keep it simple. Its cheaper to!
 
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