Grow Mediums Hippy Fish's Stone Dragon - The Insomnia Slayer in RDWC

[TxOld Dude]

Folks, this journey started a little over a month ago, but with false starts and failures and do-overs. You know...Murphy shit. And then a "certain individual", ain't sayin' no names "cough auntie cough hack hack..." made a boo boo and all went bye-bye.
:no:
:hug:
But FINALLY got two Dragons to sprout and stay vertical (previous fungus issues).
So without further ado...
---------------------------------------

Howdy All!

Big thanks to Stone for the opportunity, though it's been long in coming back to him! Sorry for the delay, but heeeerrre we go...
Ok, slow getting going here due to refitting the tent for RDWC with a Peltier based res chiller.
First up - the tent and hardware.
1ea - 4'x4'x7' Lighthouse tent
2ea - 400w MH/HPS HID lights
2ea - PowerGrow 5 gal DWC buckets converted to RDWC
1ea - 5 gal reservoir chilled using a DIY peltier water cooling system
2ea - 100 cfm fans
2ea - air pumps and 2"x2" stones
Plus various meters, testers, and displays.
The nutes...
General Hydroponics Flora Series
GH Kool Bloom
GH CALiMAGic
Bio Bizz Root Juice
Dutch Master Zone Gold
Epsom Salts
Here are some pics of the tent to get started. Not quite ready to drop the beans yet. I'm still recovering from the first 2 stillborn/unhatched eggs!
Not really. Just kidding! The beans will drop as soon as I'm happy that the system is stable and leak free.
The "hatchery"!!!





Can't keep my feet out of anything these days. Always steppin' in it!




Here is the Peltier res in mockup testing. Best temp is 58.3F. The temp display is a controller for the Peltier to switch it on and off based on programmable temp ranges. Cost$15 bucks. Gotta love those Chinese!
Here's the link for my DIY thread. DIY Peltier Res Cooler (based on anothers idea).





I know it's a bit underwhelming, but security has become an issue in this un-cool state I live in, so bear with me as this is my first run of Dragons and the strength of the smell MAY be an issue, so only 2.
I thought this run would be Stone's Stone Dragon F2 auto-fems, but it seems they are...ummm...different. But definitely auto-fems.

Next time...Moonstone...maybe!



More to come!
Fish

 

[eggmansky]

Old Dude,
Good Luck with it! Will this be your ongoing journal?

 

[TxOld Dude]

TYTY! Yep it is!

012115
day 3

Still in the cups in rockwool plugs. As soon as the ph settles out in the system, the transplant will begin. Both babies doing wonderfully in the cups.

water = 10 gallons total in 2 bubblers and reservoir.
ph = 5.9 (target ph)
water temp = 76.8F
air temp = 84F
Additives:
Dutch Master Gold Zone = 10ml (1ml pg)
epsom salt = 1 tablespoon

 

[jackmc]

Hi TxOld Dude, Are you finding that the 2nd res, with the Peltier cooler is staying cleaner with the RDWC? I am thinking about converting my system from DWC to RDWC. I've been wondering if the algae in my secondary res is unbalancing my nute mixture by eating some of the nutes. I don't have any proof that this is happening but I worry about it. Also are you using the Peltier chip and the fan to cool the air or the water in the bucket? Thanks! :tiphat:

 

[TxOld Dude]

Day 5
Temp: 77F
Water Temp: 75.2F
Rh: 29%
pH: 6.0

The children are all tucked in their beds now and Betty and Bertha look very healthy. Bertha already had a long root wrapping into the cup when I moved her. Bertha is the triaxle and I expect her to be burly. With the extra limbs and nodes, I'm expecting a burly bitch at harvest time.
...as long as she doesn't go from bitch to butch!

The nest...


Betty...


Bertha...





Fish
ragonMasters:

 

[TxOld Dude]

Hi TxOld Dude, Are you finding that the 2nd res, with the Peltier cooler is staying cleaner with the RDWC? I am thinking about converting my system from DWC to RDWC. I've been wondering if the algae in my secondary res is unbalancing my nute mixture by eating some of the nutes. I don't have any proof that this is happening but I worry about it. Also are you using the Peltier chip and the fan to cool the air or the water in the bucket? Thanks! :tiphat:

As this is my first RDWC, I find it's a whole different dynamic. Everything becomes more problematic than with individual bubblers. If something's jacked up, you can't just drain and refill without literally "pumping out" nor can you just disconnect without making a mess. To clean you have to fill, clean, drain, refill, rinse, drain, refill, rinse, drain, refill, rinse, drain, etc...etc...ad nauseum.

The previous fungal issue was in the sprouting, not in the system. I still had not done a full bleach out of the system since converting them to RDWC and that had to be done before transplanting. The peltier is backed with an aluminum water manifold that's connected to the pump. Take a look at the DIY link in my signature and there's an image of the underside of the lid with it attached.

:Sharing One:

Fish

 

[pop22]

Are those ballast still inside your tent? each of those is adding about 342 BTU/hr of heat to your tent.

 

[pop22]

Also wrapping your buckets with Reflectix insulation will help a lot in maintaining res temps at optimum for a longer period. It lowered the temperature rise time in my 22 gallon res from 4-6 hours to almost 30 hours. A curve from 64F to 70F with a 75F room temp, was almost 30 hours. I also insulated the top and rested the res on a section of foil faced foam insulation it stop the upward migration of heat from the floor.

 

[TxOld Dude]

Hey Pop!
Yeah the ballasts are still in there but the res is outside. They add very little heat compared to bulbs themselves. Temps are averaging 70-80F and are right where I want them at the moment, though, no matter what I still have to leave the tent open due to poor circulation. The fans I have are not enough, but I can't afford larger ones right now. I could lower the res temp by changing out the peltier, but it'll have to wait also. This one has started to "go open" and needs changing out. I'd like the res back around 65F, but...shit happens.
:dunno:

 

[TxOld Dude]

Day 10
Temp: 84F
RH: 22%
pH: 5.9
ppm: 323

Very slow growth. Bertha is showing a manganese deficiency, but Betty looks ok. Added 10ml of BioBizz Root Juice to the mix and gave a minor direct flood-feed to Bertha. We'll see what happens.
Saturday I'll remove them, reflush the system and change out the hydroton. This batch was used on Miz Dubya, but was soaked and rinsed for a week prior to use. I suspect the old hydroton is still leeching fertilizer salts and are hindering growth. Notice the ppm? That was before feeding. The RO water has a ppm of 20. The rest had to come from somewhere...
:Grow & Show..: