Changing Res Advice

mrmpbls

Member
Hi there, first run with dwc 4x10gal bins filling 5 gal/bin going great so far. My question comes to what is the best method for changing out res water? So far I have been taking lid/plant out of the res and dumping res into a work sink and spraying out. I am now at the end of week 4 of flower and with the trellis's set (2x) it is becoming difficult. I have an electric water pump that I can use empty the res and refill with nutes but I am concerned about not being able to fully spray out my res. Let me know what you have done in the past or any advice.
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Best way is to upgrade from single individual DWC sites, and connect them all with 2" abs pipe and bulkheads, to a remote reservoir outside the tent. Then from your res, an inline pump is plumbed to the bottom and supplies a manifold for waterfalls in them. @J232 just had a great thread on it.
But this way, you can just drain your res and fill it back up.
 
I am about to go through this as well with a weird hybrid experiment. I was thinking about pumping out old water like you said, then trying to spray some fresh water around the reservoir the best i can to rinse it out, then pump out again before filling.
 

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mrmpbls

Member
Best way is to upgrade from single individual DWC sites, and connect them all with 2" abs pipe and bulkheads, to a remote reservoir outside the tent. Then from your res, an inline pump is plumbed to the bottom and supplies a manifold for waterfalls in them. @J232 just had a great thread on it.
But this way, you can just drain your res and fill it back up.
Yeah that looks awesome! Figured that would take some planning and definitely the route I would go if I don't go the ebb/flow direction.
 

mrmpbls

Member
I am about to go through this as well with a weird hybrid experiment. I was thinking about pumping out old water like you said, then trying to spray some fresh water around the reservoir the best i can to rinse it out, then pump out again before filling.
That was my thought as well. Makes me wish I cut larger holes in the top... but hey maybe that a v2 design
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Whatever you do, get away from single site DWC. It's a nightmare of pH swings, ppm problems. Root rot, temperature control issues, filling and draining complications, and other negatives.
 

Distortionist

Well-Known Member
Whatever you do, get away from single site DWC. It's a nightmare of pH swings, ppm problems. Root rot, temperature control issues, filling and draining complications, and other negatives.
I am planning on doing this too. I am starting with 1 GH waterfarm, I have a second coming and maybe a 3rd once all the equipment comes in and I get an idea of how much space I have left, its a 3x3 room. Should I plumb in my res before my second grow on monday before I start flower? Is it worth it? Or should I just wait till my harvest then plumb everything in at once. I was only planning on plumbing my pump in for now for easy drainage to the water level tube but I can just do the res right now as well if it would help like you say.

My second question is was there an optimal gallon per plant number? my waterfarms hold 2 gallons of water each. I was just going to put an extra 2 gallons for what will be 2 or 3 waterfarms. 4 if my ac fits in with my crap nicely. Should I aim for a bigger res and how big?
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
I am planning on doing this too. I am starting with 1 GH waterfarm, I have a second coming and maybe a 3rd once all the equipment comes in and I get an idea of how much space I have left, its a 3x3 room. Should I plumb in my res before my second grow on monday before I start flower? Is it worth it? Or should I just wait till my harvest then plumb everything in at once. I was only planning on plumbing my pump in for now for easy drainage to the water level tube but I can just do the res right now as well if it would help like you say.

My second question is was there an optimal gallon per plant number? my waterfarms hold 2 gallons of water each. I was just going to put an extra 2 gallons for what will be 2 or 3 waterfarms. 4 if my ac fits in with my crap nicely. Should I aim for a bigger res and how big?
I don't Know if you can use a waterfarm for RDwC. Anyone know? @Axion42 @fragileassassin @rkymtnman @5BY5LEC
 

mrmpbls

Member
Whatever you do, get away from single site DWC. It's a nightmare of pH swings, ppm problems. Root rot, temperature control issues, filling and draining complications, and other negatives.

Really? I mean its not the best system in the world but I wouldn't call it a nightmare. So far, it has been fairly easy to maintain stable conditions. With 5 gallons in the res ph swings have been gradual and easy to correct. Temps in the res never exceed 68 degrees, room is in a cold corner of my house and I keep my air pump external to the tent which helps keep temps down. Draining/Filling I totally agree, not an ideal scenario but not too bad to manage.
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
Really? I mean its not the best system in the world but I wouldn't call it a nightmare. So far, it has been fairly easy to maintain stable conditions. With 5 gallons in the res ph swings have been gradual and easy to correct. Temps in the res never exceed 68 degrees, room is in a cold corner of my house and I keep my air pump external to the tent which helps keep temps down. Draining/Filling I totally agree, not an ideal scenario but not too bad to manage.
single buckets are nice in that it's easier to grow different strains. and if you get rot in one plant, all your plants dont' get it.
 

mrmpbls

Member
While there are some people in the thread, has anyone tried running flora flex nutes with dwc? Think I am going to grab some and Power SI for next run. Few people I know have had some great results.
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
While there are some people in the thread, has anyone tried running flora flex nutes with dwc? Think I am going to grab some and Power SI for next run. Few people I know have had some great results.
it's really hard to beat any of the GH stuff. i've never run the flora flex though.
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
Is root rot really that common? Running with some hydroguard I haven't had any issues so far
if you are in the US, i'll save you a bunch of money. get some Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide instead. same bacteria but a million X more concentrated and cheaper
 

mrmpbls

Member
if you are in the US, i'll save you a bunch of money. get some Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide instead. same bacteria but a million X more concentrated and cheaper
Good looks! I was surprised at how expensive hydro guard is but that will help I ran through almost my whole bottle so far on this run
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Oooohhhh I thought you meant the OP from here.
 
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