Keeping PH steady?

Is it possible in a hydro set up? Mine has a bad fluctuation if left for a day, jumps to 8. I have one idea why this might happen, I'm using hydro rocks and I'm thinking that it might be puttion akaloids in the water. Im using PHed water with nutes and hygrozyme. I use vinegar to level it out. I pretty much having to check it every hour and it changes. any help?

same problem here with an aero setup ;-(
I am using an airstone and I suspect it to give me part of the problems.
I have also been using tap water but now I am planning to change to a distilled water - I'll let you know if it helped.

are you having any issues with root rot??? this will raise the ph dramatically like this, thats all i can think of bro... but according to al b fuct thats most likely your issue...
have you tried reading through his stickied threads??? lots of reading but def worth the read, i learned so much...

I grow aero also and my tap water ph is @ 7.5.I use general hydro ph down.It works great ,but it is strong.Depending on the size of your res use an eye droper.If your water temp is above 70 degrees for a long period of time this will cause Root rot & your ph to rise.You want your water temp at 68 degrees and ph to be about 5.8.
I dont think air stones would be your problem and have been told that in an aero system air stone are no good since your pump runs 24/7.It's alredy oxygenated.If you want to add more O2 use H2O2 in your res and for using vinager in my res never heard of it and would be afraid to use it in my res.Good luck

Luke said:

I grow aero also and my tap water ph is @ 7.5.I use general hydro ph down.It works great ,but it is strong.Depending on the size of your res use an eye droper.If your water temp is above 70 degrees for a long period of time this will cause Root rot & your ph to rise.You want your water temp at 68 degrees and ph to be about 5.8.
I dont think air stones would be your problem and have been told that in an aero system air stone are no good since your pump runs 24/7.It's alredy oxygenated.If you want to add more O2 use H2O2 in your res and for using vinager in my res never heard of it and would be afraid to use it in my res.Good luck

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Vinegar is a natural acid so it works to bring the PH down for a time. I hope to god it's not root rot because they are brand new clones from a Club . I removed the rocks because I thought it was putting minerals back into the water to make it hard. Unfortunatly I can't cool the water unless I put ice in there or around it but it stays cool.

I dont believe vinegar is the thing to use. I've known it to cause problems with killing roots in soil

Microracer87 said:

I dont believe vinegar is the thing to use. I've known it to cause problems with killing roots in soil

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know of a better acidic?

Go to your local grow store and ask for ph up and ph down.

The key to mastering ph in hydroponics is the mixture of R/O water and tap water. You need to establish a "buffer" in the water.

Well I mix my tap water which ph is 8, with the water that I added vinegar to, it just becomes akaline again. There is no point in a "buffer" it's not like oil and water. What I'm really confused about is if the vinegar is being let out of the water, making it acidic. I'm going to go to my hydro store on Friday but, does ph down stay that way over time or do you need to add it ever day or so?

Yes, you can have a balanced pH in Hydro. I don't have to do anything to my setup except for every 5-6 days and the pH is always right on. I use the flood & drain method, so this may not work for you. I have a 5 gal bucket hooked up to my main res (10-12 gal) via a float valve. As water is needed in the main res, it flows in from the 5 gal res always adding perfectly pH balanced water into the main res. See pic. Hope this helps.

For the record, a gradual PH drift in your reservoir is a healthy thing and keeps all your micronutrients available to you
However, this sounds like an unhealthy PH fluctuation. Firstly, make sure there is no light getting to your roots or reservoir. A food filled oxygenated tub is a fine place for algae and other nasties to grow, and they'll throw a serious wrench in your PH to be sure.
Secondly, consider using a PH down specifically for plants. I dont actually have any reason for this, i've just always been told to avoid vinnegar/lemon juice/other household acids.
To be honest, usually if you try to do things the cheap way, you end up doing them twice, if you know what i'm saying.
Best of luck!

are you using hydroton for you medium??? if so, make sure you wash it really good or else you'll have a problem with the ph rising everyday, i had that problem with hydroton the first time i used it and you just gotta make sure you keep rinsing it until the water runs clear...

when i do rez changes once a week i set my ph to 5.7, i usually check it everyday but if it wanders beyond 6.0 i'll adjust it back down to 5.7... my rez is slightly to small for my setup right now so i also have to add a couple gal of ph'd water halfway through the week or my tds rises too much...

if i were you i'd get a couple 20oz bottles of water and freeze them, put one in the rez when lights come on and switch them out halfway through the 12... definately a pain in the ass but better than root rot, temps above 72 or so will do tht to ya... GL

The store bought PH up and down by General Hyponics have buffers added to prevent wild ph fluctuations.

There isn't any light that see could get in the res, but I use hygrozyme to kill algae. What I'm using as medium since I took out the hydro rocks is just rockwool. I will do that with the ice bottles to lower water temp. I have a ph tester, and I check it more than 4 times a day in it changes a good amount. So I'll be buying ph down this friday to see if that works if not it's fucking root rot. Damn I hope not.

Your ph will flux daily. It shouldnt move to much in one day maybe a little if you have many plants. What size res as you do not want to small of a res holding to little solution or evaporation and high chlorine will raise ph quickly. As plants grow and depedning on your atmostsperic conditions ie temps and humidity they will take more water making whats left more concentrated with nutes which raises both ppm and the ph. I run straight tap water my ph untouched is 7 from the faucet. I use good old pool ph crystals from wal mart for up and down.. Like right now I have a 3x3 table plants 2 weeks into flower and they drink about 5 gallons of water a day so I have to top off daily and then add some ph down to balance back to 5.5. The hydroton clay pellets dont effect the ph assuming you pre washed them before using as you are supposed to. This is why you watch and monitor the ph and the ppm. It tells you if your plants are drinking more, eating more , or in perfect balance and if not you can adjust and correct to balance. I personally wouldnt us vinager as I dont trust it and it smells foul. For 8 lb of ph up or down its under $10 at wally world. For a 3x3 flood table use at minmal a 20-25 gallon res filled to max or you will have flux. Aero tub setups are little different situation but thats another topic

Make sure your checking your ppms daily also as if you dont you can not control the grow or levels and you might as well just guess. I was gonna say toss frozen bottle of water in the res to cool it want that water around 65-68 F max so when it hits the roots from the pump its right around 70.Your not running the hydrozyme everyday right? just intermediatly as that will cause issues if you use it everyday for all stages.. The rock wool is more likely to cause ph flux then the hydroton pellets but as long as you presoaked the cubes and the pellets before using in ph 5 water your good.

These plants in this 3x3 table( there are 20 in there) drink 5 gallons a day and the ph may go from 5.5 to 6 in a day but the ppm moves in equal proportions so its expected.The res is 25 gallon size. Also if your using organics for nutes the hydrozyme is attacking the bios in the organics so your killing your nutes which can flux the ph and ppm...and I use 4x4 rockwool cubes in 6x6 square pots filled with hydrton pellets up to the stalks

Damn...... damn damn damn. It smells like an aqurium in the res, and the tips of the roots of the clones are turning brownis. you know what that means. Unfortunaltly shit just hit the fan for me so, I have to get another clone from the club after I've got my crap straightened out.