reservoir is getting muddy, Advanced Nutrients additives.

frustration is starting to grow using the A.N line. I've been very happy thus far but a few weeks ago I had an issue when adding big bud coco to the reservoir it was producing a slime. Well after cleaning and sanitizing all the autopots and reservoir I went back to a sterile mix with just base nutes and some calmag + bud candy/terpinator. Last couple weeks were run sterile and not any slime what so ever. Now after adding some overdrive to my res the slime has come back with vengeance.

I'm by all means learning still but am having trouble understanding what's up. Entire reservoir is disinfected weekly as well as a fresh res change. pH is solid 6.2 (autopots in coco loco medium) and before any nutes are added I'm giving them a full 24 hours to come to room temp and burn off some chlorine as my town adds lots.

Am I doing something wrong? are others having issues with slime/debris in their reservoir. having this issue with both big bud and overdrive.

Really appreciate anyones help on here.

also to note, there is a circulation pump inside 100l reservoir that's 650gph, it goes on for 3 minutes and off for 20 so by all means I'm keeping the nutrients in suspension. I guess the part I'm having a hard time understanding is that my 9-5 is a fertilizer applicator so for me to be having any issues is pretty comical on my end. appreciate the help

base nutes and cal/mg (if needed) should be all you need.

this right here:

Overdrive is an organic flower booster

I had horrible luck with AN. Too many organic components in AN line. That just feeds bio crap like crazy in hydro. What are your water temps in the rez and are you keeping light out - to include fittings, tubing etc?

Sounds to me like you need to switch to pure salts.

rkymtnman said:

base nutes and cal/mg (if needed) should be all you need.

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Correct, I'm seeing that the base are just fine with many of you. I'm going through experimenting doing a couple grows with every bit and piece of A.N snake potions mix and a couple with just base and calmag. I'm expecting my results to come out pretty damn similar as I've been suspect once I realized what was spent on essentially some Epsom salts hahah.. At that moment I started scrutinizing but have heard good things about their voodo juice, tarantula, piranha juice and have had pretty exception growth thus far, but again its a semi hydro system with the autopots so ya, things should move along a bit quicker than past soil grows any how.

appreciate the feedback

Larry3215 said:

I had horrible luck with AN. Too many organic components in AN line. That just feeds bio crap like crazy in hydro. What are your water temps in the rez and are you keeping light out - to include fittings, tubing etc?

Sounds to me like you need to switch to pure salts.

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water temp keeps around 63 right now so pretty ideal if I recall. Also I'm in agreeance with you on the org. components in AN line. I saw they where compatible with hydro so gave them a go but ya, I've only had success with sterile grows. giving it a shot since its been a long time since I've done this with a reservoir now that its finally legal where i am. Thought maybe fert game changed a bit like leds did. wishful thinking lol

aceofbase said:

Correct, I'm seeing that the base are just fine with many of you. I'm going through experimenting doing a couple grows with every bit and piece of A.N snake potions mix and a couple with just base and calmag. I'm expecting my results to come out pretty damn similar as I've been suspect once I realized what was spent on essentially some Epsom salts hahah.. At that moment I started scrutinizing but have heard good things about their voodo juice, tarantula, piranha juice and have had pretty exception growth thus far, but again its a semi hydro system with the autopots so ya, things should move along a bit quicker than past soil grows any how.

appreciate the feedback

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the only 2 additives i think that actually work are kelp/seaweed (can be foliar sprayed) and epsom (for the sulfur: most nutes don't have sulfur)

Larry3215, this is my rez so yes it should be light proof. https://www.wegrowbuds.co/products/autopot-25-gallon-flexitank-pro?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&gclid=CjwKCAiAxKv_BRBdEiwAyd40N4kxXKjwwXYJjWvg2bYvomDb_cIJQ_U-IJQRjgnx3s_HpWnrjE2kghoCFOcQAvD_BwE

I use AN big bud too, try using normal one instead . What is the water temp of the reservoir?

Are you aerating your solution? Organics plus BudCandy or CarboLoad and aeration = problems in hydro. I've run AN in RDWC systems with fairly good success; running with beneficial bacteria always produces a biofilm even if carbs are cut out. There's also that wicked pH drop in mid to late flower.

FWIW, i ran in light proof res, nutrients at 65 - 68F and heavily aerated.

water temp ranges from 60-66 degrees. I don't aerate as your introducing additional dissolved oxygen which often is a catalyst for bacterial growth in my experience. I do run a 650 gph pump 3 min on, 20 min off. it has enough gusto to move the water well but no, there is never any bubbling or aeration going on. just agitation.

aceofbase said:

I do run a 650 gph pump 3 min on, 20 min off. it has enough gusto to move the water well but no, there is never any bubbling or aeration going on. just agitation.

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Nerdy technical nit pick here - any agitation, stirring, or movement of the water surface = aeration. You dont have to have bubbles to increase DO. In fact bubbles are one of the least effective ways to aerate.

O2 dissolves in water in an odd way that many find counter intuitive. The top most, very very thin layer of water will reach 100% DO very quickly when exposed to air. BUT - it takes that O2 a long time to go deeper into the water. It doesnt travel or disperse well at all on its own.

Most people think that the bubbles directly inject O2 into the water, but thats not true. The bubbles increase the surface area of water exposed to air, so a very thin layer of water around each bubble absorbs some O2 rather quickly, but its a very very thin layer, and its not a huge area on a small bubble.

The second thing bubbles do is actually more important as far as creating more DO - fluming. As those bubbles rise up to the surface, they create a flow from deeper water to the surface. This results in the surface of the water being constantly renewed or replaced with water from below. The faster that surface water can be replaced/renewed, the faster the DO increases.

Im an old aquarium guy, and it has been proven over and over that simple flumming or even water falls are just as effective at increasing DO as bubbles. Actually better unless there is a lot of water movement from the bubbles.

So, your pump running in the rez is actually pretty darn effective at aeration - even with out bubbles. In fact, you would have to have a heck of a lot of bubbles to equal that pump.

Ive read some articles about the relatively new trend in nano-bubble pumps, but those are inefficient and often dont really work all that well. You really do need nano size bubbles or its just not very efficient. A simple cheap aquarium pump is hard to beet as far as cost vrs DO increase.

And this is why I run floraflex.