Hydroponics and a Fish Tank.

Hey everyone I have been reading through the forums and other sources for the past couple weeks. I have started to run a test run on one plant in dirt for now and I may transfer it to the hydro tank once it it is ready (That is another topic I suppose.) But any ways here is what I want to work with and my idea. This will be my first... well second attempt at this. (Yeah the dirt one looks like it may fail hard because it was not planned out)

All I want is just a small set up to grow for my own personal use. I've been looking through the forums and other sources such as The Cannabis Grow Bible. My plan is to take two fish tanks one for male + female and one for female only. Here is the run down on how I will set it up...

The light source will just be a CFL and a fish tank light. They will both have different watts since I've been reading you should have a cooler light and a stronger light. For air flow I was going to use one of those lids that are open to the air and mount some 80mm case fans (One intake, one out take) on them for good airflow on the plants.

Setting up the fish tank for the hydroponic system I am a bit conflicted by, my plan is to line the outside of the tank with aluminum foil to reflect the light and keep the roots dark in the water. Then to keep the plants afloat put them on a sheet of styrofoam that is 1/4 inch the size of the tank. But here is the part where I am confused about I've been looking at other hydro set ups is that the roots are in contact with the air... But in a fish tank I wouldn't beable to do that. So I was thinking of getting two of those air compressor things that pump air into the water for the oxygen (I've seen this done in a similar set up.)

The enviroment/room they will be in is my closet or possibly in my room. I' going to go with the closet most likely because I can conceal the hydro tank (New name for it ) I will also be placing just a standard box fan into my attic which is right above the closet to keep the smell out of my room and into a place that isn't really visted ever. In the closet I will also be able to raise the lights for when the plants get taller ect.

The next part for the plants I will be planting them in rockwoll and placing them in plastic cups and cutting 1/4inch holes in the bottom for the roots to go through. I will be using general hydroponics nuterients for the plants and using the "Lucas Formula". I will be using 12/12 ratio for the lights during the germination and vegative state of the plant. I'm a bit foggy on what to use for pre-flowering and flowering stages I've heard 16/8 ect ect.

I think that is about all the information I've formed so far for my set up plan. I also have some questions that would be amazing if you guys/gals could answer for me. Thanks a million if you do read my long ass post. Sorry But I wanted to be exact as possible I just dont want to fuck up to hard.

1. Will I really need to use different wattage lights for the lighting period? What wattage of CFL should I use?

2. Will I have any problems not using a 'true' growing light?

3. Should I think about lining the closet with mylar for better light refletion?

4. I may use one of those fish tank filters with out the filter and just put the nuterient mix in the filter to spread into the resevoir, is this a good idea?

5. Should I be spraying the plants with just water or mix it with the nutes as well?

6. Tap water or Distilled?

Any other suggestions and tips would really be great! I'm looking for some good sources on setting this up and from reading I know people here seem to have a lot of knowledge. Also anyother DVD's and Books to take a look at would be great as well.

Thanks a lot guys... First time poster, first time grower.
twisty

hey twisty,
i will pitch in on this one.
good idea there I think it should work great, but I do foresee some issues
first off cfl lights should work fine use daylight for veg, but if you get a 150 watt swithable hid you will get a much better product.
depending on the strain you will end up needing a suport system to hold up the mature plants.
you will also need to oxygenate the nute solution with an airpump and bubbler stone or they will not do well.
its always a good idea to use a good reflective material I find white to be best as mylar creates hot spots flat white is best.
at 75 degrees your res will need to be changed and cleaned weekly with a good plant suport system you could even syphen or pump it out, so its best to mix and ph your new batch and then just replace the old with the new, lots of oxygen and a clean nute solution will provide you with the best chances for succes.
keep the tops of the plants dry as well spraying should be reserved for emergengy situations only.
tap water let sit for 24 hours.
I would also encourage you to try the pure blend line of nutes its more organic and only 1 part per cycle its a complete plant food and gives astounding results.
well hope this helped and best of luck to you
420

My friend is currently enrolled in an aquaculture program and we have been discussing the possibilities of creating a complete ecosystem using floating rockwool in a tank of talapia. So far our biggest concerns have been controlling the nutrients determined by fish waste. It'll take us a few more weeks to crunch the numbers but I'll post again when I have more info.

If anybody else is experimenting with the same ideas I could use all the feedback I can get, thanks.

-marked