White stuff floating
- Thread starter Tigerpaws
- Start date
Tigerpaws
Well-Known Member
Uggg! The whole reason I chose drain to waste was for the ease and less maintenance. I cleaned and bleached everything and the rez is filling back up as I write. It takes forever to get 40 gal. of ro water. If it happens again I may just quit. This is ALOT of work! The plants are looking great so I don't think there is a root problem. The room does get up to 80 so maybe the water is too warm?
ruwtz
Well-Known Member
When I went RO I put in a separate drum with a float valve so that I always have 40gal RO water on hand as needed. I just flip a switch to top off the res, and the RO drum fills back to the float line before switching the filter off. My waste line runs outside to planter beds.
Tigerpaws
Well-Known Member
I tore everything apart and soaked it in bleach and scrubbed the rez with bleach. Its filling now. What temp does the water need to be below? Should I leave out the h202? The plants are in week 4 of flower and they look great. I'm just getting so discouraged.
Tigerpaws
Well-Known Member
That's a great idea. I put a float on my rez but now that think about it, it would be kinda hard to figure out how much nutes to add.
ruwtz
Well-Known Member
Make no mistake, it is a lot of work, especially with a new setup. With a new build and so many firsts I can tell you I work full time on this. Every day there is something to do or fix or something to improve. And every day there is something to learn. This is science and plant botany and understanding the how's and the why's is essential to success. I'm working on it, but its a long road. This should not be underestimated.
Tigerpaws
Well-Known Member
I hear ya! But I have a 40 hr a week job so I need to get this worked out. I dearly love this hobby but I can't be spending every free hour tending to it. I wonder if the lid to my rez being yellow might be letting light through it. Im going to try covering it up with something. Should I leave the h202 out and see what happens? What would you try?
ruwtz
Well-Known Member
I'm no expert and we have different systems so I can only say what I do.
It could be light so do cover that lid or change it. If it is light then you most likely have an algae bloom. My res isn't completely light proof and it runs fine.
Where do you drain to and can you inspect this runoff to see if you have the same gunk there? This may tell you whether your roots are infected. If so, some will tell you to dunk in a weak solution of H2O2 or bleach or similar agent, but I've not gone that far so can't speak for it.
If you are running 100% dead res then again a weak solution of chlorine / sodium hypochlorite may keep things ticking over cleaner than H2O2 which breaks down in hours anyway. Remember you have zero protection in RO unlike tap water.
Like I said, my problems went away when I stopped resisting organic beneficials and started adding them to my plants. No more root rot or related pathogens.
H2O2 I use to run through my bubble cloners when doing a changeover. I also use it when reconditioning coco for recycle. I do not add it to any of my reservoirs but some swear by it.
Good luck!
Tigerpaws
Well-Known Member
I think I figured it out! I lifted up the corner of the lid and the led was definitely penetrating the lid. Whew! I hope covering it fixes it! Ive added pics of the rez so if anyone else gets one be sure to cover the lid. Also a pic of a Chaos on day 25 of 12/12. Thank you all so much for your help!
Attachments
ruwtz
Well-Known Member
I have those exact same yellow lid bins - four of them in my flower room - and no issues. Water temps are never more than 68/69F in an 80F room. I do not run airstones in flower as the drip system sufficiently oxygenates the water upon delivery.
I run sealed with carbon scrubbers, lots of fans, and mid 40's humidity, so I expect the room to be pretty clean or at least hostile to pathogens. But you just never know.
Tigerpaws
Well-Known Member
OK. I thought the airstones were to keep it moving so nothing could grow. I'm going right now to turn them off.
BobCajun
Well-Known Member
That shit isn't even green so I doubt if light is the problem. I see stuff like that on top of the drain water if I don't remove it right away. My guess is some kind of yeast type organism. I just make the nutrient solution up right before use though, not in a res. You could put an aquarium type filter in there but without carbon, which might absorb nutes. Just a normal algae filter or whatever. I don't have fish myself so I don't know what's available. For aeration all you really need is a pump running a little stream of water like a waterfall. You could then put the filter on the intake of the pump.
BobCajun
Well-Known Member
Have you changed your RO filters lately? They do get gunked up with bacteria and shit after a while.
Forsure
Well-Known Member
Have you checked your PH? I posted earlier in your thread with a attachment for you to have a look at. Don't turn off your airstones!
Tigerpaws
Well-Known Member
I do check the pH. I think I'm going to have to get a new pen though. I looked at the attachment a little and will read some more tomorrow. My ro system is only like 6 weeks old.
Tigerpaws
Well-Known Member
Its a fairly new system. I've maybe ran 150 gallon through it.
BobCajun
Well-Known Member
Oh okay, just thought I should check. I doubt if the white stuff would cause a problem anyway. Like I said, probably a yeast type organism.
Tigerpaws
Well-Known Member
Well it was either the lime the drip clean, light through the lid or the H202 that caused it. The new rez has been crystal clear since Saturday. Someone mentioned pH being off could cause it and I did have to get a new pen. The other one was quite a bit off. So I don't know.
