Reservoir maintenance for an organics guy. :)

I posted this in the Organics section, but they seem a little lost over there about anything hydro.

I grow organically, but a lot of my friends do hydro. I have taken some stuff that they use and added it to my dirt grow. The first being my water resevoir. LSS, drum, air stones, and I filter it with a small boy.

The problem I had is that it started to smell like pond water. I am not sure if something got in and contaminated it. I normally just top it off after I use a bunch. I ran it down to the bottom and then refilled it, and then it started smelling like a pond a week later.

I cleaned it with water with a touch of bleach. Everything got soaked scrubbed and re assembled. Now, that being said, since I don't mix nutrients in my water, is there something I can put into my res that would help keep it clean? THAT being said, it has to be organic and not kill off the mycorhizzae in my soil. Thanks for the help.

What are you using for nutrients? What kind of hydro system are you talking about (drip? Flood? bubble?)?

Just a resevoir. Not a hydro system. I just have a resevoir of filtered water that keeps getting skunky. I have air stones aerating it, but there is nothing, but water in it.

By the way, read your Purple Urkle journal. Great read. I do organics, but am looking to do a small hydro set up to get some experience in it. I'll be reading through again.

NightbirdX said:

Just a resevoir. Not a hydro system. I just have a resevoir of filtered water that keeps getting skunky. I have air stones aerating it, but there is nothing, but water in it.

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So you have a res with water and airstones and at some point it starts to smell? Are you just trying to aerate your water before it's fed to the plants? I'm guess I'm trying to understand the point of the res if you're not adding anything to it.

I added the resevoir and filter for a variety of reasons. I wanted to aerate the water like you mentioned. I also wanted to dechlorinate and dechloraminate the water. After I started filtering, I didn't want to have to wait for 5 minutes to get a 5 gallon bucket of water. So I added a resevoir and the airstones. The biggest reason was that I was having to run a hose from outside into my area, or I was having to haul gallon by gallon of water from the sink, into my area, with winter coming, I didn't want my outside hose to freeze and I'd be assed out. So in the interest of my aching back, the benefit of my microbe colony, and my sanity, I put together a similar resevoir system as my buddies do with their ebb and flow system, and added a submersible pump and 8' of 3/4" hosing which I am able to pump water into whatever my heart desires.

I think some organic guys will make teas and aerate for 24 hours. These teas get used on the plants immediately following the aeration period. I guess my point is that after you've aerated and filtered your water, use all of that water instead of drawing off that batch slowly and allowing it to eventually smell like something bad is growing in it. Smaller batches perhaps?

What are you using for a reservoir? The smell could be from light getting to photosynthetic organisms like algae. keep the water cold, less than 60*f. Colder is better at preventing contaminant growth, but you dont want it TOO cold on your roots. Also, a generous dose of hydrogen peroxide when you fill the reservoir will kill anything that's living in the water, then as an added bonus will help to oxygenate your water as it degrades in a few hours. You can use drug store type, but id say go to a grow shop and get it there, as it will be more suited to what you would use it for.

homebrewer said:

I think some organic guys will make teas and aerate for 24 hours. These teas get used on the plants immediately following the aeration period. I guess my point is that after you've aerated and filtered your water, use all of that water instead of drawing off that batch slowly and allowing it to eventually smell like something bad is growing in it. Smaller batches perhaps?

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Ya I think I am going to use a barrel at a time, clean, and then refill. Was just looking for something that would help me keep it clean.