Some extreme problems. Need some help!

So I've started my first SH grow. It's been insane. First I add nutes to early, then I had jumping PH, now I'm having some crazy stink coming from the tank.

My plants are four weeks old.

First I noticed some algae and some goo on the roots so I gave my plants some fresh ph balanced water plus h2o2 and then replenished the water after letting that sit for about a half hour. Same thing happened two days later. I figured too much light was getting in the tank so I completely light proofed the tank. I also rinsed off the roots with fresh water and took out two plants that died (most likely caused by the algae). I took out the pump as all the plants have roots established. Did the replenish with new water and h2o2 and then replenished again. Came home today and my house smelt terrible. I knew it was the plants and I nearly shit bricks. I looked in the tank and there is a foam on the sides of the tank and under my plant in the top left.

Please please tell me what I can do to save these ladys.

once you let the ph get out of whack, bacteria can grow...and then it will make your ph fluctuate...and getting rid of the bacteria is a pain. then it sounds like your have decomposing roots and new bacteria for that and etc

maybe cut off the dead parts of the roots, clean everything with h202 extremely well even the roots, make sure your setup is light-proof, if you can get that hydroyzyme or whatever its called you should add that.

This just happened to a friend of mine. He had six large plants going, and his nute level was way high (we guess since the roots can't convert it well, they require more).

He ended up doing exactly what DTP said, and cutting off all the decaying roots. You'll have a lot of work, but new root growth will be fairly rapid. Then he kept changing his water every day, and using a fairly heavy mix of H2O2 (be careful) every day. In between flushes, he would try to pull more of the decayed roots off. After everything cleared up, he went back to his normal routine, and the roots came along quickly. All in all, not as much production loss as you might think.

By the way, the Botanicare product "AquaShield" really works well. I used it since the start of my grow (5 weeks in), and the water is as clean as you could want. You may not believe this, but I mean that I haven't changed the water once. Oh, and more bubbles and cooler tank temps help a lot, too.

Good luck - you can save them!

My res is about 68 degrees and it's as dark as i can make it. I'm trying h2o2 at the moment. How do I tell which roots are dead? Each plant only has a few long roots in the water.

how many gallon res and how much air you got pumping into it?

i move my clones straight to flower and i flush twice during the 8-9 weeks they are in there. shouldn't have to do it more than once a month

Perhaps you don't have too much root rot, if you can't tell; they're much browner than usual, and usually a bit slimy/stinky. Maybe just your water is foul? If so, a full flush and clean EVERYTHING (I use bleach - diluted spray - and let it sit for a while. Kills all.) and then a little H2O2 in the mix?

After re-reading your first post, I have to wonder what could cause that mess. Is it possible you're using something weird in the water?

sounds very much like you've got stagnant water and light penetrating the rez. Get an air pump and an airstone if you don't already and start that immediately. Continue with the H2O2 and see where that takes you. Lots of Rez changes as well until your ph balances. Best of luck to you.

yeah hopefully hes got bubbles in there haha!

I've got two long airstones not sure how much air they are pushing. I'm only using h2o2, ph balancer, and stealth hydro nutes in my res. It's a 6 gallon res I've got.

I believe you have an Algae or cyanobacteria problem.

"Algae problems will make the ph go up. "Root Rot" meaning caused by bad bacteria or fungi will make your ph go down. Both types of problems will make your roots brown and dead."

Google "Physan 20" and see if you need to use it, 1ml per 10 gallons.

You may need to put them in soil to save them.