Roots submerged in water, please help

my girlfriend and I are growing hydroponically for the first time and we have 4 plants in a 20 gallon aquarium tank. Each plant is in a pot with small holes cut in the bottom so that the air stones will flow air into the plants. We are using perlite as the fertilizer in the pots. Today I noticed that all of our plants roots are poking out from the holes and are just submerged completely in water. There are not that many holes in each pot, just 3 in each and the roots are completely coming out. We know this is bad but we cant find any suggestions online and we really dont want them to die. Does anyone know of any remedies or advice on how to move the roots so the plants dont die or go into shock? Any advice is REALLY appreciated. I posted some pictures so everyone can get an idea of exactly what im describing. Thanks for the help, and if anyone sees anything else we should do feel free to help, this is our first time and we could use advice from experienced growers.

small pic dude!

You obviously haven't done your homework young grasshopper. There is much more to hydroponics than simply submerging your roots in tapwater. If you want to get serious about growing, read the faq front to back, and then some. =]

Your roots are fine in the water. Your main problem is that light is getting to the water. It needs to be light proof in the water and no light on the roots. It also looks like you may have some algae growing in the tank. This is because light is getting to the water. Change the water out. Clean the tank out with hydrogen peroxide and cover it with something that wont let light through. The top part of your roots will be taking in air and the roots in the water will uptake nutrients. It looks like you may be using CFL bulbs for light. If you are, you better get a few more. The more the marrier. They may be stretched a little. CFL's do not get to hot, so they should be 1-2" above the plants.

what should i use to cover the open areas of the tank so that light cant get through? Aluminum foil?

On the sides aluminum foil is fine. On the top try to think of something that wont reflect the light, but it will work there too.

im a moron... any suggestions as to what to use on top?

Black construction paper? SOmething black?

So, what I would do in your shoes if I wanted to take it hydroponic is go grab some of the expanded clay pellets (um, hydroton is the brand at my store) at the hydro store (after covering the outside of the tank in plastic or something like above mentioned) and fill in the tank around pots with those. Then grab yourself some nutes (i'd go organic) and water them like anyother plant. try to keep the medium moist below surface but not standing water for too long.

the root growth sounds great! just make sure they aren't getting light and don't just let them sit in old tap water.
It would be a good ebb and flow if only you had a way to drain it. maybe deep-water culture or something actually but I've never tried that method and know little more than the principles.

Good luck!

after a second look at those pictures...it will definetly pay off to upgrade your lighting. I tried plenty of CFLs on my last and it was crap until I got a 400W HPS on top. I'll never go CFL again after those results!

The roots in the water is fine just watch the ph and the ppm of the water keep the ph between 5.5 and 5.8.With such small amount of water your ph and ppm will be more then liekly going nuts every few hours so you have your hands full on this grow.Yes lots of stretching figure if you use cfls you want 6 per plant minimal and that 6 blue for veg then 6 red for flower so 12 cfls per plant soyou got what 4 x 12 so 48 cfls total which is pointless and exspensive just get a 250 watt hps from homedepot for aroun $60-85.Spary paint the outside of the tank black cost about $2 for paint and then make a simple heavy cardboar cover for the top with slits for the plants stalks to slid in il you get it to the middle where you can make 1/2 inch holes for the stalks