First time grow setup - looking for feedback!

hey all...

i'm hoping to start a grow for the first time and wanted to get some feedback from yall on my current setup. i haven't planted anything yet but wanted to get things established first and see what i'm inevitably doing wrong before i plant. that's where yall come in.

first of all - i bought a grow tent here is the tent i'm using (milliard pretty common on here i've seen):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H2ULB86

inside i have an orange 5 gal home depot bucket with a 6 in net pot:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049XIIGC

i filled the net pot with clay pellets after i rinsed them off and placed them inside the net pot. the bucket is being aerated by two large air stones and a 126gph pump:
stones http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00564IT5S
pump http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LOWF7W
tubing http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002563MW (i've heard some people say that clear tubing can cause algae issues - is this true?)

i'm using 4x100 watt CFL lighting because this is a personal grow and i didn't have any money left in the budget right now for better lighting but will upgrade when i have some extra cash; is this sufficient?:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J7IOMCS

i bought a small 4" fan to get some airflow in the tent:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WEIJ7K

i dosed the water from my tap with general hydroponics nutrients (the flora series):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024NDVRA

and after 24 hours i dosed it with GH PH down to take some measurements before adding any plants (just want to go through this once without anything in there to see how it all works)

i measured temperature, humidity, PPM, and PH for the past several days and here's what i came up with:
11/4 - Temp 70. Humidity 80. PH 7. PPM 700
11/5 - Dosed with nutes (5 teaspoons of each in the 3 part treatment per the schedule) and PH down. Temp 66. Humidity 82. PH 6.9. PPM 637
11/6 - Dosed with PH down. Temp 66. Humidity 85. PH 6.6. PPM 787. added lights - will take measurements again in 8 hours.

Having a hard time understanding why my PPM is all over the place but that's what my readings are saying. I know my humidity is very high and i'm trying to run a dehumidifier to see if i can bring it down. what is the ideal environment for plants?

here are some pictures of my setup for you all to see. thanks for any help or feedback on what is or is not going to work.

I'm subbed up, I have same exact tent in my closet just have no beans yet. Can't wait to see how 1 plant works out in there. Not sure if I want to 1 or 2 in a scrog.

No, those CFLs are not even close to enough light. You say 4x100w, but you really have 4x23w, the 100w is it's equivalent in an incandescent bulb. You actually have 92w of light putting out just under 70 lumens per watt. You want a minimum of 5000 lumens per sqft of floor space with 6000-7500 being the preferred range.

You have enough lighting for 1 sqft with your 4 lights, you would need 20 of those to have enough light for your tent. You need to pick up a decent light or you will just be wasting your time and beans.

First post I've read for a while where somebody has actually got all the shit they need straight away which is fantastic for your plants.
first of all the clear tubing is allowing light to penetrate, so yes I would think that after some time you would start to notice some algae issues not the end of the world but if you can afford it just go and get some black tubing.
The tent is big enough to accommodate 2 plants comfortably, you could do more but its going to involve a lot of Low Stress Training or perhaps even tying them down.
those lights will be okay for flowering but you will need some 6500k rated lights aswell, and those lights are only 23W per globe not 100Watts.
The best thing you could do is save around 140 dollars up and buy 2x130W CFL light fixtures with a reflective hood, jam 6700k globes in those and that would be immaculate.
so I guess my advice on the cheaper option is buy another 2 packet of lights with a rating of 6500k, and make a tripod light fixture to put 3x6700k globes each CORNER of the tent slightly offset from the centre.
The pump you have purchased is an AIR pump, may or not not work effectively im not sure what the 120gph measurement is but if that's gallons per hour that's fucking huge, plants really only need minimal watering until the flower period that thing would run for like 10 seconds a day.
Don't be disheartened though, you have done nothing wrong just rushed a bit with the products I think.
overall fantastic start though, here to help.

Just curious.Is this your first DWC?

Here's my setup with same tent. My t5 fixture is 8 bulbs at 23~ watts a bulb. I still need to cut hole in closet ceiling to get warm air out and it will be way more stealthy.

thank you for the feedback guys! can someone provide me with some CFL bulbs you think would work? i did some shopping around and i could only find "100watt equivalent" not actual 100 watt.

dopeleader - for the air pump running to the air stones 126GPH is 126 gallons per hour. i saw a few other grows which were using a similar setup but it sounds like from what you're saying running 2 air stones is overkill. based on that would you recommend reducing it to 1 air stone? i can also adjust the speed that the pump works at to half. since there are two outputs to the pump i would end up with 63GPH per output and if i ran that at half strength i would end up with roughly 30 GPH to 1 air stone. what do you think? since this is a deep water culture setup i was initially thinking that the more aeration the better but that doesn't sound like the case!

raymont said:

Just curious.Is this your first DWC?

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yes it is

sixspeedv said:

Here's my setup with same tent. My t5 fixture is 8 bulbs at 23~ watts a bulb. I still need to cut hole in closet ceiling to get warm air out and it will be way more stealthy.

Click to expand...

thanks.. would you mind sharing a link with your lighting setup? i'd like to price it out and see if i can afford it!

The reason you cant find the lights is your looking in the wrong places.
use words like hydroponic grow light and you will get a different response.
the T5 light fixture shown by six is about $120 I think, atleast my local hydro shop in aus is around that price perhaps maybe closer to 150 but there about.
upon closer inspection that pump may actually work out okay, so before you replace it try it out I completely misread that part lol.

My fixture was 95 bucks shipped with the bulbs from Amazon. I opted to get 4 3000k bulbs and 4 6500k bulbs. Wish I just got all 6500k seeing as how I'll get an LED for flowering.

bang there you go, even cheaper.
and that light fixture he explains is perfect for a small setup

raymont said:

Just wondering if you understand the starting of a grow like that. You will need to top water them until roots hit the bucket of nutes.

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i did not know that - can you give me some more info on that process?

Sorry bud missed that you asked for the link to the light. Here you go

T5 Grow Light (2ft 8lamps) DL828S HO Fluorescent Hydroponic Fixture Bloom Veg Daisy Chain with Bulb https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NMX5EGC/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_aStpwbN1H5WG4

I use a dripper system to start. They make a tiny pump used to keep mixed nutes flowing. If I mix 25 gallons and let it sit the solids fall to the bottom. So I use this same small submersible pump with a small hose to the top of the bucket. Once roots are established to nutes in 5 gal you wont need it. There about 5 or 7 bucks for the pump.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-110v-200...560335?hash=item35e7d1e94f:g:cVIAAOSwPcVVi8wt

raymont said:

I use a dripper system to start. They make a tiny pump used to keep mixed nutes flowing. If I mix 25 gallons and let it sit the solids fall to the bottom. So I use this same small submersible pump with a small hose to the top of the bucket. Once roots are established to nutes in 5 gal you wont need it. There about 5 or 7 bucks for the pump.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-110v-200...560335?hash=item35e7d1e94f:g:cVIAAOSwPcVVi8wt

Click to expand...

might need a diagram or some pics to know what you mean - have anything you can share?

cant post a picture. I'll try to explain more clearly. As you start the roots will not hit the nutrients in the bucket unless you fill all the way to the top . The small pump is submersed in the nutrients in the bucket . You put a small hose on it and run it up through the net pot and let it lay at the base of you clone or seedling. Slow flowing nutrients will keep it fed until the roots reach the nutrients in the bucket below

my seeds are en route.. sannie jack herer F8 - anyone have any experience with these? any suggestions

Dont know about Sannie. Jack Herer is a nice flower.....I grew one. Fat and thick.........F8 is that the phenotype?

yes - thats just how they have it listed on their site.. heard from someone else btw that i can water the top of the seedling instead of getting a water pump. have you ever tried that?