Some help needed... My rez smells like frog shit!!

Ok, so ive got some grows under my belt, but ive never used resevoirs, or hydroponics in any way. So i have a flood table that im about to set up for my next big grow, and just to break in my rez, i filled it up with nutrient rich ph'd water, so i could feed my mothers with it in the meantime. So i did this about a week ago, and i open up the rez today to fill up my gallon jugs to water the moms, and i get this overwhelming scent of pondscum, frog shit, and there was a giant oil slick lookin thing at the top. I got rid of the water, needless to say, lol.

I guess the question is, HOW THE HELL DO YOU GUYS DO IT DAMNIT!?!?!
lol.

Do i use air stones to keep the water circulating so it doesnt form algae, n whatever else the hell was in there??

Any help you guys can hook it up with, id grately appreciate it. I know this is kind of an elementary question , especially for someone who is semi experienced n should know better, so im thankful for any help you guys can hook me up with.

-K1

hello yes make sure that you have an air stone in the water. what nutrients are you using.

same ones i always use, Fox Farms trio, with some BMO super plant tonic, and a couple tbsp's of flora micro. Usually works really well for the way i grow (pretty much just in soiless media -- promix, Bcuzz mix, or my last grow was in FF ocean forest), but like i said, im about to make the transition into hydro, and ive never used a rez before for anything before this. Kinda glad that i did it before i set up my flood table n put clones in there, lol....woulda been a waste of 40+ clones

water temp may have alot to do with it i think they should be around 65-70

Organics + hydro = bad idea.

Ditch the fox farms for GH 3 part. If you use only the 3 part with a dose of H2O2 from time to time, as long as you keep your res temp cool (65-6 then your res will smell like fresh water.

air stones may not necessarily help

i've found that air pumps encourage spore activity in the res. it can also fluctuate pH and EC bad


you can use powerheads at the bottom of your res to keep your nute soup from getting stagnant and keep the water flowing


as another posted said earlier in the thread, your problem may have been from the temps. heat can cause that

highpsi said:

Organics + hydro = bad idea.

Ditch the fox farms for GH 3 part. If you use only the 3 part with a dose of H2O2 from time to time, as long as you keep your res temp cool (65-6 then your res will smell like fresh water.

Click to expand...

lol, thanks for the advice, but the FF is just fine for hydro man. N temps are right around 65--70 already. Its just because the water wasnt moving for an entire week. That and also because i let some rockwool cubes sit in there for a couple days too.

LoudBlunts said:

air stones may not necessarily help

i've found that air pumps encourage spore activity in the res. it can also fluctuate pH and EC bad


you can use powerheads at the bottom of your res to keep your nute soup from getting stagnant and keep the water flowing


as another posted said earlier in the thread, your problem may have been from the temps. heat can cause that

Click to expand...

Basically what happened is this: The rez smelled like shit, the gallon of water i put in a bottle from the rez smelled like shit, but the waterfarm bucket i had full of the same mix smelled fresh, and im still using it right now. It smelled fresh because i have two 12" bubble bars inside of it moving the water around and oxygenating it. So if i were to ever use my rez again to store good water for soil growing, im gonna get a couple of those big round air stones to throw in the bottom of it. But fortunately im not gonna need those because ill be hookin up my flood table in a couple days, n flooding my table twice a day is enough to keep the water fresh and circulated. Itll be plenty oxygenated from all the movement, but if not, i still have 4 6" bubble bars that i could use if i need to.

Thanks for the help guys i was pretty sure i already knew the answer before i asked the question, i just wanted to make sure of it before i did anything.

-- n as far as you saying that air pumps cause spore activity... were you using a covered rez? clear tubing connected to the pump or your stones?

Anywhere that light can get into your water supply is a possible cause for algae or mold growth, so if you can help it make sure your rez is light tight, and if you need to use clear tubing, you can probably get away with it, but if you can pick up some green or blue tubing for your pumps.

my res is always covered. that has nothing to do with it.

its a common known fact that anytime you inject air into your res you risk the chance of bad icky stuff germinating in your res.

why do you think they dont want you to aerate hydro 'organic' nutes. it just speeds up the process and they go wild.

trust me on this one.

clear tubing has nothing to do with mold and algae grow.... inorder for that to happen it has to be some kinda water in the tubing and if its an air pump, why would water be in the tubing? mold and algae need something to attach to..... sure we have mold/algae spores in the atmosphere, but they are just attaching to air.

btw.... air pumps is an American thing, if you go overseas, you wont see too many people using air pumps let alone being sold/recommended in hydro stores