First Ebb & Flow

PopeyeSpinach · Dec 27, 2019

Renfro said:
With flood and drain using hydroton I flood just long enough to reach full depth, no longer. I wait 4 hours before flooding again. I do NOT flood when the lights are off.

Pretty much what i do too, i havent ran hydro since last year and am just gettin ready to fire up my ebb and flow for the 2020 spring run.

If i remember right I run my pumps for 2 minutes every 4 hours.
It takes 60 seconds for my trays to fill, i let em run another minute to mix up the solution. Then about a minute to drain.

When they go in as clones I run my pumps every 2 hours until im satisfied it has enough root structure has formed, then go to every 4 hours.

I Dont flood at all during lights off.

midaryl · Feb 4, 2020

Keesje said:
"why' would have been my 2nd question

But you are right indeed: Totally useless to have an airstone in another hydro-system like waterfall, ebb & flow, drain to waste.
The movement of the water is the reason that the water absorbs oxygen.
(The same with an airstone btw: It are not the tiny bubbles that bring the oxygen in the water. It is the movement of the surface once the bubbles get there)

Do the nutrients stay suspended in the water or does it settle to the bottom? I'm setting up a ebb and flow and want to get it right the first time. I was considering an air stone or a pump to recycle the reservoir, perhaps I don't need either one?
Thanks

SuperiorBuds · Feb 4, 2020

midaryl said:
Do the nutrients stay suspended in the water or does it settle to the bottom? I'm setting up a ebb and flow and want to get it right the first time. I was considering an air stone or a pump to recycle the reservoir, perhaps I don't need either one?
Thanks

I have two large air stones in my nutrient reservoir just to keep the water moving. I also incorporated a bypass after my pump that returns to the res. By keeping the bypass open slightly it creates a waterfall that helps churn up all parts of the res.

For me they are not there to add O2 to the water, they are there to keep the water moving.

Overkill? Possibly. But every thing I've added has been after having a failure of one type or another in previous iterations of the system.

midaryl · Feb 4, 2020

SuperiorBuds said:
I have two large air stones in my nutrient reservoir just to keep the water moving. I also incorporated a bypass after my pump that returns to the res. By keeping the bypass open slightly it creates a waterfall that helps churn up all parts of the res.

View attachment 4471588

For me they are not there to add O2 to the water, they are there to keep the water moving.

Overkill? Possibly. But every thing I've added has been after having a failure of one type or another in previous iterations of the system.

My concern with an air stone is PH fluctuation. I use RO water. I have my system up and running (with no plant in it yet) and have seen my PH all over the map. Currently I have an air stone running on a timer for 3 minutes just before the flood pump turns on and will check PH daily. I have some seedling that will be going into it within the next week or two, I'm trying to dial it in before going live. Thanks

SuperiorBuds · Feb 4, 2020

midaryl said:
My concern with an air stone is PH fluctuation. I use RO water. I have my system up and running (with no plant in it yet) and have seen my PH all over the map

Do you have nutrients in the system or just plain RO?

midaryl · Feb 4, 2020

Plain RO at the moment. I plan to add nutrients and do a test run for a couple days prior to putting my plants in it. It's been running for nearly 2 weeks just to figure out what it's going to do.
So far I had 2 floods, operator/timer error, lol.
Thanks

JohnDee · Feb 4, 2020

midaryl said:
Plain RO at the moment. I plan to add nutrients and do a test run for a couple days prior to putting my plants in it. It's been running for nearly 2 weeks just to figure out what it's going to do.
So far I had 2 floods, operator/timer error, lol.
Thanks

Hi Daryl,
In response to your question above...nutrients dissolve in the res. It's not a "suspension" and will not settle out. Not saying there can't be interactions when nutrients conflict with each other. Then you can get precipitation.

And airstones and waterfalls...that's mostly about oxygen. I don't use any myself.
JD

SuperiorBuds · Feb 4, 2020

midaryl said:
Plain RO at the moment.

That's why your pH is all over the place. RO water will become acidic whenever you introduce air -- and with no nutrients there is no pH buffering ability. You also need to be careful since prolonged exposure to RO can wear your pH probe out faster.

Once you get your nutrients mixed then you can really start to see how things will react.

midaryl said:
So far I had 2 floods, operator/timer error, lol.

Ouch man. Yeah it happens... That's why I run with a siphon to control the ebb and flow -- previous floods got me digging into how the aquaponics guys manage it. Mine is actually built so I can run the pump 24/7 and it'll still ebb and flow properly every 15-20 minutes.

WillieP · Feb 4, 2020

I have a E&F with two separate 5 gal totes with 2 gallon fabric pot filled with hydrotron (1plant each) that drain to a common reservoir.
My current schedule is 10 min ON, 3:50 OFF continuously, I am using an interval timer. I am not having any issues, thus far.
My question, is there a reason to not flood during light out?? Or is there just no need to flood during light out?? Did that make sense?
Just curious, as I've read several people say they do not flood when the lights are off.
Cheers,
WillieP

midaryl · Feb 4, 2020

SuperiorBuds said:
That's why your pH is all over the place. RO water will become acidic whenever you introduce air -- and with no nutrients there is no pH buffering ability. You also need to be careful since prolonged exposure to RO can wear your pH probe out faster.

Once you get your nutrients mixed then you can really start to see how things will react.

Ouch man. Yeah it happens... That's why I run with a siphon to control the ebb and flow -- previous floods got me digging into how the aquaponics guys manage it. Mine is actually built so I can run the pump 24/7 and it'll still ebb and flow properly every 15-20 minutes.

Thanks
It seems I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll put some nutrients in and see what happens.

midaryl · Feb 4, 2020

WillieP said:
I have a E&F with two separate 5 gal totes with 2 gallon fabric pot filled with hydrotron (1plant each) that drain to a common reservoir.
My current schedule is 10 min ON, 3:50 OFF continuously, I am using an interval timer. I am not having any issues, thus far.
My question, is there a reason to not flood during light out?? Or is there just no need to flood during light out?? Did that make sense?
Just curious, as I've read several people say they do not flood when the lights are off.
Cheers,
WillieP

Everything I've read says no, but I'm to new to be giving advice, I'll wait for others to chime in because thats a question I'd like to know also.

SuperiorBuds · Feb 4, 2020

midaryl said:
It seems I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll put some nutrients in and see what happens.

You'll be good man, sounds like you have a good setup.

WillieP said:
I have a E&F with two separate 5 gal totes with 2 gallon fabric pot filled with hydrotron (1plant each) that drain to a common reservoir.
My current schedule is 10 min ON, 3:50 OFF continuously, I am using an interval timer. I am not having any issues, thus far.
My question, is there a reason to not flood during light out?? Or is there just no need to flood during light out?? Did that make sense?
Just curious, as I've read several people say they do not flood when the lights are off.

I've read before that some people don't flood at night, too. I've always found it easier to run the same cycle all day. It might not be needed, but it surely doesn't hurt.

JohnDee · Feb 4, 2020

WillieP said:
My question, is there a reason to not flood during light out?? Or is there just no need to flood during light out??

Hi Guys...whether you flood at night isn't super critical. I've done it both ways and plants did just as well. What you want to avoid is root drying. So if you have a setup with exposed hydroton that will dry fast and have low RH...then by all means include a single flooding mid-lights out. That's what I do.
JD

midaryl · Feb 4, 2020

JohnDee said:
Hi Daryl,
In response to your question above...nutrients dissolve in the res. It's not a "suspension" and will not settle out. Not saying there can't be interactions when nutrients conflict with each other. Then you can get precipitation.

And airstones and waterfalls...that's mostly about oxygen. I don't use any myself.
JD

Thanks

midaryl · Feb 4, 2020

SuperiorBuds said:
You'll be good man, sounds like you have a good setup.

I've read before that some people don't flood at night, too. I've always found it easier to run the same cycle all day. It might not be needed, but it surely doesn't hurt.

Thanks

PopeyeSpinach · Feb 4, 2020

I have my mine running again w two Skywalker/Alien.

Im flooding hydroton for 1 minute every 4 hours.

It takes about 45 seconds for the tray to start draining back into the res, so they have about 15 seconds of circulation. This is how ive done it the last 2 years. I dont use airstones cuz of the PH spikes they caused me in past grows

First Ebb & Flow

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