Upgrading from CFL to HID grow. Need help on grow tent setup

Apologies in advance for the long post .Ok so I have now got 3 successful cfl grows under my belt. I have been running a cfl 600w actual watts not equiv. grow box with great success. I grow 4 plants at a time and have gone from 2oz a plant to now 2.5-3 oz a plant. But the buds just dont compare to hid lights growing same seeds. so now that I know a bit about growing I am wanting to step up to a 400w hps/mh grow tent setup. I want to still grow 4 plants at a time but only have 70 inches of height in my basement room where tent will be setup. I was looking at a 32x32x63 grow tent with 400w apollo digi. ballast, and venting with 6 inch carbon filter and inline fan. gonna be venting into my existing duct work for chimney which terminates to open air through roof. Now my question is with the setup i have in mind is it doable. and how should i be venting the grow tent? im used to passive air with pc fans at top of box and cutout in bottom but i know that aint working here. PLZ HELP ASAP sorry for the long read.

also im wondering what light setup to go with. was thinking of AIR COOLED HOOD. have heard cool tubes are good and air cool tubes the ones that have the reflective casing around the cool tube. dont know about heat with hid lights so i would like some help to make best decision since i dont have 6ft+ of grow space. plese help and any suggestions on products will help as well

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apollo-400-Watt-400w-MH-HPS-Grow-Light-Lamp-System-Set-for-Plant-Growing-/190843921052?pt=US_Hydroponics&var=&hash=item2c6f2f229c


thats a link to the light setup im thinking of . be open and honest

Some people would suck through the carbon filter and have that go through their air cooled hood and then exhaust outside the tent. This takes care of exhausting the room and cooling your light at the same time. You will also need air intake to the tent. You can use a 4" or 6" inline fan with flexible hosing for that.

My setup is a little bigger, but I have a carbon filter/6" fan for exhaust (going outside) a 240cfm 6" inline for my 2x 600w setups and another 240cfm 6" inline for fresh air intake. the fresh air and exhaust are on speed controllers so I can maintain negative pressure (tent sucking in). Seems like there are a lot of factors to get it just right!

One other thing I've noticed about HID lighting and yields is that the ultimate goal would be 1g/watt. So under a 400w, 400g would be ideal, 600w, 1000w, etc.

Good Luck!

I have the same setup in a 600w x 2. I elected to go with the cool tube setup mainly because I heard stories of some of the larger hoods falling on plants because some can be pretty heavy and the tents they were using had plastic connectors and I guess the heat made them fail. Not to mention it's a tent! 100% reflective so I'm not looking for a big hood to broadcast over a specific area. They are very light weight and I like them, easy to use in the tent and it's plenty bright.

I like your setup looks clean

My is clunky and funky

ok so i dont think i will be able to fit my carbon filter in the tent with the light. so can i have ducting from one side of tent go to light hood then out other side and have my carbon filter with exhaust fan on the outside of tent . then for fresh air in and out what would i use ????? those small aluminum body with the blades???

illa101k2 said:

ok so i dont think i will be able to fit my carbon filter in the tent with the light. so can i have ducting from one side of tent go to light hood then out other side and have my carbon filter with exhaust fan on the outside of tent . then for fresh air in and out what would i use ????? those small aluminum body with the blades???

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Yes, you can have your carbon filter outside the tent. leave one end of the hood open and it will suck through the hood out the tent and blow out through the carbon filter (vs. sucking through the filter when it's inside the tent). Then a separate inline fan for intake. Yes you can use a small inline fan for intake. I direct my intake air to the bottom of the tent and suck out of the top.

OK I get it now. Couple more issues . What size fan do I need for a setup that size . 6 inch 440 cfm with speed controller ? And what about light hood . Cool tube . Or air cooled hood ? Which is better in terms of lower heat and light output

That is more fan than you will need, but will work great with a controller. It is a good idea to get the most adaptable components now, you never know when you may be upgrading your setup. It is nice not to have to buy all new gear.

Make sure you seal all the cracks in the ducting and all the seams on the fan if you will be pushing rather than pulling air through it.

OK yea going with that setup because that is what I have found when looking for 6 inch carbon filter n fan combo ,nothing with lower cfm ... lastly what light setup .... cool tube or air cooled hood ? And I'm gonna be pulling the air through light and filter then into chimney

I can't help with the cool tube/air cooled tube, I use an open hood. Hopefully someone else will give you some suggestions. Good Luck!

illa101k2 said:

OK yea going with that setup because that is what I have found when looking for 6 inch carbon filter n fan combo ,nothing with lower cfm ... lastly what light setup .... cool tube or air cooled hood ? And I'm gonna be pulling the air through light and filter then into chimney

Click to expand...

You know me, I run dual 600w cool tubes in a 8x4 tent. I pull in fresh air from outside (-1 deg today!) and run them through both and vent the warm air into the main room in the basement. Mainly went w/ cool tube cause they are light and I don't want a large hood to somehow collapse my tent while I'm not there because of the extra weight (avoid tents that use plastic connectors). And it's a tent, so it's already 100% reflective. My buddy has mega hoods, but not in a tent. I also like it because if I have to go into the tent I can stand up next to them.

From a heating and cooling contractors perspective, you DO NOT want to use your chimney for anything other than a gas or wood fired appliance. You will throw off the balance of the vent system and have possible carbon monoxide pouring into your home. DO NOT vent any lights or anything into the chimney. Use a carbon scrubber and vent it independently somewhere else

OK thanks spl8r I was wondering about that and now that u have given me a better understanding I will not be venting into mychimney duct . I'm going to go into a bathroom that is just a powder room not in use all the time. Thanks again spl8r