res temps

th3bigbad

Well-Known Member
ok so lets have it. any1 use chillers that didnt in the past? or any1 not using chillers now that have in the past? any cheap DYI chillers links, info, or whatever ya got post it up.

and remember this is a debate not a pissy name calling venue.
 

th3bigbad

Well-Known Member
ok ill start. ive been growing 13ish years, alil more than 2 of that hydro. ive done ebb-n-flow, NFT, and the biggest part of that time DWCs. ive done 20 or so complete start to finish hydro grows so far. i have used chillers and i have not used them. personally im a huge fan of'em. ive seen for myself that as little as 10 degrees to high or too low will make major changes in the plants growth and overall happiness.
i use a homemade chiller that cost about 20.00 to make to keep my res at 66 +/-2. my rooms temps are at low to mid 90's in late flowering. i keep my room temps high because i use alot of CO2 for some monster colas, and i live in a humid climate.
heres a few links to some useful info. this is what i could find in a hurry. there are a ton more links on this subject out there.

Nutrient Temp
Dissolved Oxygen - The Garden's Cure
Text
 

Serotonin

Well-Known Member
I know this may sound stupid but is it possible to attempt some sort of wicking method?

Putting an absorbent media around the reservoir and having (maybe even an automated setup) it get misted or lightly saturated while having a fan blow on it?

I can't afford the chiller yet and my res temps hang at 70-73...
 

wafflehouselover

Well-Known Member
its not going to kill your plants serotonin. plants may die if co2 levels go under 200ppm or something like that, same as your res temp, if its boiling hot then yes your plants will die, if its freezing cold then yes they'll probably die also, but if its in between your ok, chiller will just make it better like adding co2 thats all.
 

Serotonin

Well-Known Member
Well, I'm not worried about the plants surviving the temp but the other shit that will grow in the res as a result of the higher temp. Since the day my res shot up to 80 (i had no AC in my house and the outside temp was around 80 ish) there is kind of a musty smell. I'm using hydroguard so I think that any fungi won't be a problem... I have a lot of airstones too but with this being my first grow and not knowing what to expect i'm paranoid. ;p
 

wafflehouselover

Well-Known Member
@ serotonin, my res was about that temp and it was clean. The only thing that was dirty about my res is maybe a few hydroton fell in there because i made my netpot holes a lil bit too big and when they lean over it opened up a gap.
 

Serotonin

Well-Known Member
Yea, I think I'll be ok. It seems that root rot is really the biggest negative to DWC... at least for newbs like me. I freaked out yesterday because my roots were covered in an amber slime but after a phonecall to one of the lead techs at botanicare, he informed me that it was normal for that slime to appear after the initial innoculation of hydroguard. The amber color is typical of using GH Micro nutes... Anyways, today they're back to their bright white for the most part so it was just a false alarm I guess.

Thanks for the info waffle!
 

juanagrow

Member

Coolworks Ice Probe
http://www.marinedepot.com/CoolWorks_Ice_Probe_with_Power_Supply_Micro_Nano_Aquarium_Chillers-CoolWorks-CW1111-FICHMC-vi.html

6-8degree drop from average room temp per probe per ten gallons of water.

Check it out.. The above DIY chiller is said to have costed 175$. I've seen the Ice probe for as little as 119$. So you could easily cool a 20gallon system for around 250$ give or take and have a very compact setup. The fridge idea just seems a bit bulky for such a small difference in price.
 

redirasta

Well-Known Member
I just added air stones to my res, and it dropped the temps a lot. the more air the better. also drill ed vent holes in the sides near the top
 
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