Grow Mediums Big DWC question?

[Grow_God_Q]

Hey everyone, I had a question that id thought id ask here in the good ol hydro section..... what is the limit of pot sites per one resivouir? I might be trying something out here soon and wanted to get an opinion... basically currently I have a 6 tote setup with one resivour... I'm thinking of upping my resivour and adding an additional 12 to 18 totes lol... just wondering if anyone tried it or knows of anyone who did try it... currently I have 6 27g totes and a 27g tote as a res... thinking of going 55g tote res and sticking with the 27g totes for the pot setups.... what would be the biggest concerns?? I'm planning on having 2, 1 hp inline pumps one for inlet and one for outlet to promote flow through the system and of course a whole sh*t load of air stones... I guess what I'm looking for is if its possible?? thanks for stopping by...

 

[iampepe]

I used to run a 12 bucket system on a 35 gallon res now I just play in the dirt, I mean soil!.

That's a lot of gallons. I wouldn't think it would be much different than what you're doing now. More lights, more pumps and a bigger electric bill...

 

[Evil-Mobo]

Would be the same thing just bigger scale. Your biggest concern would and should be with leaks. Anything is possible if you can build it [emoji3]

Search the rdwc stuff on YouTube lots of vids and builds and ideas.

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[woody]

Those totes are a gret way to do a diy set up cheap and keep the plants lower to the ground but theyre nearly too big. 3-5 gallon buckets work fine and save you 5-9 times the water and nutrients- plus time filling and draining.
Whats the useable amount of volume per 27 gallon tote- lets say its 22 gallons,to go with 18 totes and a 55g res thats 451g or over 1700 litres.
If you go 24 totes and a 55g res its 583g or over 2200 litres!

Thats going to cost a lot in nutrients every time you add some.
If you need to drain the system in an emergency how long will it take to refill
It will be costly getting the right amount of aeration and movement between pumps and airstones.
Im in no way trying to put a downer on your idea just pointing a few things.
Its possible for sure and if you just want a diy project go for it- itll make a great thread.
Good luck with the build brother

 

[Grow_God_Q]

Those totes are a gret way to do a diy set up cheap and keep the plants lower to the ground but theyre nearly too big. 3-5 gallon buckets work fine and save you 5-9 times the water and nutrients- plus time filling and draining.
Whats the useable amount of volume per 27 gallon tote- lets say its 22 gallons,to go with 18 totes and a 55g res thats 451g or over 1700 litres.
If you go 24 totes and a 55g res its 583g or over 2200 litres!

Thats going to cost a lot in nutrients every time you add some.
If you need to drain the system in an emergency how long will it take to refill
It will be costly getting the right amount of aeration and movement between pumps and airstones.
Im in no way trying to put a downer on your idea just pointing a few things.
Its possible for sure and if you just want a diy project go for it- itll make a great thread.
Good luck with the build brother

I feel that statement but check out my current grow in my signature.... I'm thinking that what my stuff looks like right now at the moment is manly due to those totes lol... but I will keep that into consideration... I'm planning to add to my current system... that's why I'm reluctant to change to something smaller... as for the waste of water... I learned from this grow that in order to save water plus nutes all I needa do is not fill them up... lol I currently only run the totes about 1/3 full and the roots seem to love the space from the totes... money isn't really an issue for me.. so cost isn't that big of a factor... I'm looking at quality and yield only lol thanks for the great pointers!

 

[woody]

I feel that statement but check out my current grow in my signature.... I'm thinking that what my stuff looks like right now at the moment is manly due to those totes lol... but I will keep that into consideration... I'm planning to add to my current system... that's why I'm reluctant to change to something smaller... as for the waste of water... I learned from this grow that in order to save water plus nutes all I needa do is not fill them up... lol I currently only run the totes about 1/3 full and the roots seem to love the space from the totes... money isn't really an issue for me.. so cost isn't that big of a factor... I'm looking at quality and yield only lol thanks for the great pointers!

If your happy with them then go for it brother. I will drop by your journal for sure i love following hydro grows

 

[Corgy]

Planning to use 2 x 1 hp pumps on a system with some 2000 liters..... You'll want to stand way, way back when you turn those on..... It is wild overkill, and no way your system will be able to handle such a flow, 2 hp pumping capacity in an system with no back-pressure except for a bit of friction and turbulence, but no lift head..... will easily move more than 20. 000 GPH or 80.000 LPH.....

Better reevaluate this particular point, but if you can build it safely and trust your plumbing , it's no different in size to many of the off-the-shelf systems for sale.

You might also want to consider the value of using a "shitload" of air stones.... Like most things, dosage is key, and the water won't absorb more oxygen than what the standard laws of physics/chemistry allow, check it out and save yourself some investment and operational wonga......

 

[c@b420]

Nice pic bro. Raider Nation!

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[Muddy]

If you're running it as a recirculating system, then the size of your current rez is fine. In a true rdwc system all that extra bucket is really for is adding nutrients and monitoring the system. 27 gallon totes are way overkill unless your growing big photosensitive trees. I'm running a Current Culture UC8XL, which is nine 8 gallon pots, eight for plants and one as the epicenter, which is what you refer to as the rez. When full the whole system holds 50 gallon of solution and is driven by a single 500 gph pump. The piping between the pots is 2 1/2" diameter. Their 13 gallon systems use 3". Check them out, you might get some good ideas. http://cch2o.com/product-category/hydroponic-systems/