I GOTTA LOSE THE AIR PUMPS! HOW?! Plus my awesome mini DWC :)

Sorry...I realized that on my last reply & switched to Airwalker. I sand the bucket, along the side of that top lip.

For draining, I’ll attach another picture. There’s a cap about 10” above the pump & just right of the ball valve (circled in red). To drain, I just remove the cap & connect a garden hose. Then I shut off the ball valve so water cannot re-enter the system, so the the entire flow is redirected to the garden hose & drains the system in 2-1/2 minutes. This is an older picture...I’ve since switched the male fitting that the garden hose connects to from plastic to brass because the plastic fitting strips out fairly quickly with routine flushes.

I also just added a cool new feature today. I have a new batch of seedlings that won’t be ready for RDWC for several weeks because the roots won’t reach the water unless I fill the system so high that the waterfall spigots are then sunken below surface, rendering them ineffective. So I removed the waterfall spigots & added sprinkler heads so the mesh pots & young roots are getting sprayed like an aeroponics system. Instead of filling the system to the top & sinking the entire root system & waterfall spigots below surface, this new approach only requires 4” of water in each bucket, so I’ll waste minimal water & need minimal nutes to reach optimal PPM. I can easily switch it back to an RDWC waterfall system in 5 minutes, once the roots take off. This should work well for cuttings too since they don’t have tap roots.

I’m going to try it out this week & compare growth head-to-head against the Ebb & Flow System I’ve always used for seedlings & cuttings.

Airwalker16 said:

Not sure I understand the slip elbows. My system pumps from the res, to a manifold, to a waterfall in each of 8 5gal bucket sites. So I don't see how that works?
Also is the sanding work done on that lid or the bucket itself? I can't really see what's been done....

P.S. my username isn't "COB", lol...

Click to expand...

...and here’s a pic of the slip elbows inside each bucket. So, instead of the system’s water pump taking in air & failing as soon as the water level reaches the top of the bulkhead, with this addition attachment it will keep draining until it’s almost empty. And since it’s a slip fitting, I can easily turn it to where it almost flush with bottom of the bucket when draining. When I’m finished, I turn the fitting away from the bottom of the bucket just about an inch for improved flow.

...just figured out a way to have the aerponics spray from both sides of each mesh pot for a more balanced application, so now it’s time to test it out with some seedlings head-to-head against Ebb & Flow.

hey guys.. im building a setup just like airwalkers. my question is instead of haveing the water lines feed into the side of the buckets for the waterfall. can i just run them with a elbow at the end right into the mediam at the top of the buckets. thanks and great conversation on this. learning a bunch

clay32 said:

hey guys.. im building a setup just like airwalkers. my question is instead of haveing the water lines feed into the side of the buckets for the waterfall. can i just run them with a elbow at the end right into the mediam at the top of the buckets. thanks and great conversation on this. learning a bunch

Click to expand...

No, the whole point is to agitate the waters surface tension INSIDE the bucket.

thanks for the reply airwalker. i am just worried about water getting to the roots when first placed in. think ill try sdh777 ideal and put spayers in the beginning. and take them off when roots hit the water.

Airwalker16 said:

No, the whole point is to agitate the waters surface tension INSIDE the bucket.

Click to expand...

If ya don’t mind I have a question. I have 5 G buckets. Roots fill the top portion of the bucket with air stones. Seams like the air pushes the roots to the top. No fear of clogging then. So what if you were to plumb in a 1/2” line at the top of pail 90 run to the bottom 180* back up again and flume from there?

myke said:

If ya don’t mind I have a question. I have 5 G buckets. Roots fill the top portion of the bucket with air stones. Seams like the air pushes the roots to the top. No fear of clogging then. So what if you were to plumb in a 1/2” line at the top of pail 90 run to the bottom 180* back up again and flume from there?

Click to expand...

Fluming is a hot topic. I just have had such great runs with waterfalls alone I haven't cared to try it.

myke said:

If ya don’t mind I have a question. I have 5 G buckets. Roots fill the top portion of the bucket with air stones. Seams like the air pushes the roots to the top. No fear of clogging then. So what if you were to plumb in a 1/2” line at the top of pail 90 run to the bottom 180* back up again and flume from there?

Click to expand...

I’ve used a combination fluming & waterfall set-up...using fluming in the control station & then the grow sites have waterfalls, plus the undercurrent pipes have a 90° elbow coming from the bulkheads outlets inside each bucket to help push the roots upwards. The current’s not strong enough to flume from 10” below the surface.

In my opinion, your fluming outlet needs to be fairly close to the surface & at an angle to be effective unless your using a big-ass pump! I have my fuming set-up in my control station where the flow outlet is just a few inches below the surface and at a 30°- 40° angle, so it’s more like a strong river flow, not a geyser. One reason for that is, if the water level recedes an inch or 2, you would then have a major geyser spewing out & when you open the buckets & water is shooting out everywhere. I know that set-up works very well because once my system shut off for over 12 hours before I noticed and my plants were not affected at all...

Ok thx guys. I have a large plant ready to go into my flower room. Both rooms have 5 G buckets. My fear is the roots already take up all the surface area. So any attempt at waterfalls will just hit roots.Now I guess I can play with water level so roots hang down more and open up the area so water hits water. In my past experience this makes the roots that are directly under the net pot turn a light brown color. My other option is to change my bucket to a tote so plant can be off to one side allowing more area to have waterfalls. Level can be maintained this way also.

Well I ended up just getting a larger pump. 700gph. Seams to flow pretty good.Im bleeding off a lot at my res. I only have 1 1/4” return lines. So far so good. The spray kinda pushes the roots out of the way.i just used the feeder lines I had already. 3/8ID.

myke said:

Well I ended up just getting a larger pump. 700gph. Seams to flow pretty good.Im bleeding off a lot at my res. I only have 1 1/4” return lines. So far so good. The spray kinda pushes the roots out of the way.i just used the feeder lines I had already. 3/8ID.

Click to expand...

That was quick work!
And roots filling your bucket space in pre-flower is impressive. How long did you veg her?

I think its been 8~9 weeks,under 100w strip led.Roots weren't as big as i thought.

Sdh777 said:

...and here’s a pic of the slip elbows inside each bucket. So, instead of the system’s water pump taking in air & failing as soon as the water level reaches the top of the bulkhead, with this addition attachment it will keep draining until it’s almost empty. And since it’s a slip fitting, I can easily turn it to where it almost flush with bottom of the bucket when draining. When I’m finished, I turn the fitting away from the bottom of the bucket just about an inch for improved flow.
View attachment 4429460

Click to expand...

I'm trying to understand how it pulls down all the buckets, looks like it would just pull down the two on the T'd in side unless you had two turn downs per bucket in both buckets on the on the T'd side.

boybelue said:

I'm trying to understand how it pulls down all the buckets, looks like it would just pull down the two on the T'd in side unless you had two turn downs per bucket in both buckets on the on the T'd side.

Click to expand...

1. Each bucket (including control station) has this elbow, which I rotate faced down, 5mm from the bottom while draining
2. The undercurrent pipes are only 1-1/2” so they stay full longer while draining with higher velocity than larger pipes
3. I built the system with the undercurrent pipes as low as possible...just enough room to screw on the bulkhead nuts
4. 1000gph pump for a 5 bucket system creates substantial flow, so by the time the pump starts sucking air, the water left in each buckets is about 1/2”, plus any water still in the undercurrent pipes then drains into each bucket leaving a total of maybe 1” of water left in each bucket. Maybe I’ll make a short video the next time I drain it.

I also bought a cheap hand pump from Lowe’s typically used for siphoning gas. I added a few attachments to it to make the tip of the suction end much heavier & added a 12” plastic irrigation pipe over the tubing so it will not curl up. That way it stays flush to the bottom of the bucket on its own. I’ll attach a pic or two bcuz it’s pretty handy when I want to drain the system completely. It’s difficult to get a wet-vac hose down to the bottom of the bucket in a small tent with minimal room & a Scrog net in place, restricting the lids from being removed. This low profile hand pump does the job quick & easy. I can drain the remaining water in each bucket with this hand pump into a separate 5 gallon bucket in just a few minutes.
Sorry, that was a lot of info but it’s kind of hard to explain.

myke said:

Well I ended up just getting a larger pump. 700gph. Seams to flow pretty good.Im bleeding off a lot at my res. I only have 1 1/4” return lines. So far so good. The spray kinda pushes the roots out of the way.i just used the feeder lines I had already. 3/8ID.

Click to expand...

Well after 4 days of removing my air stones and up sizing my pump I have root rot. Came home today to leaves curled up at the ends and sure enough my white roots are all brown.So back in with the air stones and some enzymes komplete. Hopefully I can turn them around. My guess is the water level was a bit high so just not enough for the waterfalls to create enough air??

myke said:

Well after 4 days of removing my air stones and up sizing my pump I have root rot. Came home today to leaves curled up at the ends and sure enough my white roots are all brown.So back in with the air stones and some enzymes komplete. Hopefully I can turn them around. My guess is the water level was a bit high so just not enough for the waterfalls to create enough air??

Click to expand...

If not positioned right and hard flow rate they can damage the roots giving an opening to pythium. Neither air stones nor water falls will prevent it. IDC what claims are made. Pythium doesn't either.

Get yourself some hydrogaurd. Enzymes will not get rid of pythium they help eliminate the food source but once roots are infected you need bacillus amyloliquefaciens to actually kill the infected tissue. That or you try to just control it with h2o2 but that won't likely get rid of it either

myke said:

Well after 4 days of removing my air stones and up sizing my pump I have root rot. Came home today to leaves curled up at the ends and sure enough my white roots are all brown.So back in with the air stones and some enzymes komplete. Hopefully I can turn them around. My guess is the water level was a bit high so just not enough for the waterfalls to create enough air??

Click to expand...

So much bullshit spread about pythium dude. Its damaged or unhealthy root system that have the biggest risk of infection. A good healthy root system in a live or sterile system are the best defence. It's not temperature or dissolved oxygen. It's root health. Yes both contribute to root health but the ideal temp for growth in hydro is actually 75-77f. The low temps are run to slow microbial metabolism lowering reproduce rates. Don't by into the bullshit of anaerobic bacteria etc. Pythium is neither a bacteria nor fungus.. it's a fungus like organism called oomycete

Ya maybe switching half way through wasn’t the best idea.i added H2o2 also a few days ago. The curled leaf could be from that not sure first time using. 3% at 3ml/l. The one pail had the roots almost floating above the water line. Weird normally there under water.
I’ve had luck with the enzymes komplete stuff. I’m in Canada so not sure what others choices I have. Pool shock is on my radar but every store I go to doesn’t have the small bag.

myke said:

Well after 4 days of removing my air stones and up sizing my pump I have root rot. Came home today to leaves curled up at the ends and sure enough my white roots are all brown.So back in with the air stones and some enzymes komplete. Hopefully I can turn them around. My guess is the water level was a bit high so just not enough for the waterfalls to create enough air??

Click to expand...

That sucks Myke! I’ve battled root rot before & its a bitch...lost a few plants in late flower, so now I go balls out to avoid it.
I added a chiller & dropped my water temps to 65°, started adding HydroGuard weekly, upgraded to a 1000gph pump & even set-up my water chiller so it creates a 2nd waterfall into my control station...& I do water exchanges every 10 days or less. I’ve had no more root issues since.

Earlier this week I exchanged my waterfall spigots to sprinkler heads in one of my RDWC systems. I set it up this way for seedlings with tiny roots that aren’t really ready for an RDWC. To test it out, I put half my seedlings in the RDWC & the other half in an Ebb & Flow and I can already tell a huge difference in just a few days. I’ll attach a few picks...