Reservoir Temp Gauge/Heater Recommendation for DWC / Please and Thanks

Greetings,

Wondering if any of you have a recommendation for a reservoir temp gauge/heater. I hear they could be helpful with reading and maintaining reservoir temps to that healthy level. There are many brands on Amazon and the hydroponic websites. Wondering if any of you have had success with any? Wondering if the 50Ws will be too hot for the plastic totes or buckets used in DWCs sometimes. Please and thanks

You can grab an aquarium heater off amazon. Some of them come with a little temp meter that you can hang the probe in your tank.

I have a few of these:


You can get the wattage that you require for your volume.

As long as you have water in there the heater won't melt your plastic. If you empty the water make sure the heater is unplugged until refilled.

Typically with DWC the air stones add enough heat (compressed air) to keep temps up. Too warm = low dissolved oxygen (DO). 68F is the perfect temperature.

If you need a heater for your water, the res of the environment is entirely too cold imo.
My tap water comes out below 50F sometimes in the winter and it's up to m 68F operating temp with the chiller running in a few hours.

Renfro said:

You can grab an aquarium heater off amazon. Some of them come with a little temp meter that you can hang the probe in your tank.

I have a few of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H2LCXY3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can get the wattage that you require for your volume.

As long as you have water in there the heater won't melt your plastic. If you empty the water make sure the heater is unplugged until refilled.

Typically with DWC the air stones add enough heat (compressed air) to keep temps up. Too warm = low dissolved oxygen (DO). 68F is the perfect temperature.

Click to expand...

Awesome. Thanks for the info. That makes sense about the air-stones and temps being up. My friend was saying that as well; water temps might be kept up in the set up. He mentioned chillers as well and I was sort of browsing some of them. Not sure if I am going overboard with those things though; not sure if they are more meant for bigger set ups.

Renfro said:

You can grab an aquarium heater off amazon. Some of them come with a little temp meter that you can hang the probe in your tank.

I have a few of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H2LCXY3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can get the wattage that you require for your volume.

As long as you have water in there the heater won't melt your plastic. If you empty the water make sure the heater is unplugged until refilled.

Typically with DWC the air stones add enough heat (compressed air) to keep temps up. Too warm = low dissolved oxygen (DO). 68F is the perfect temperature.

Click to expand...

Also. I think I am going to grab a 4 x 4 for this first grow; was thinking about the closet before. I'm hoping I can start out small, with only two plants, but grow into it. Eventually make it into a flowering ten with more plants; veg in another.

By providing proper temps in your grow space, combined with the heat from your airpump, water getting too cold shouldn't be an issue. I grow on concrete floors and even then, as long as I keep my daytime/nighttime temps at 70-75/60-65F my res temps stay within proper range. I will say that, if your airpump is very weak, it will not produce near as much heat which may also contribute to low res temps. But you're spot on wanting to be vigilant of the water temp! While amazon has dozens, or even hundreds of fairly priced temperature monitors, I use a BlueLab combination meter that monitors PH, PPM/EC, and temps and I just leave them in my res for the duration of the grow. The meter cost me 150-175$, but almost 1 year later and it is still right on point and accurate with monthly cleaning and calibration. I know that some people cheap out on their PH/PPM meters, but for me, spending a little bit more for a meter that is accurate for years and durable as hell...well, it's worth the frustration avoided alone.