Originally Posted by osaka

peace, i too have been reading this thread and all the others i could find pretaining to bio buckets, and i am impressed and would consider going this route once i complete my first dwc grow, my queston is these, how noisy is the pump if ur tryin to maintain a stealth setup? is this setup feasible in 5sqft space? peace!

Originally Posted by Doctor Talc

Daltron

yes, thanks. I went through the whole album. Its pretty much as i thought, large pump feeds the water in then gravity drain through the huge central return pipe. The only thing I dont understand in that lot is the float valve... is that to cut power to the pump if for some reason the level in the res gets too high???float valve is used to maintain a constant level in the res, by constantly adding my tap water in very samll amounts I have no worries about a large amount of clorine[from the tap water] causing an inbalance within the nutes....it also aids in maintaining the pH stability ....which is a key function of the system

Also what are the red on/off valves for?? Why would you ever want to stop one except in a blockage situation???these are used to control the flow rate into the buckets.... this allows the bucket at the end of the line to run at the same rate as the bucket at the begining of the line.........also allows me to keep the flow slower in the begining of the grow when there are no roots to interfer with the flow rate........... as the plants {and roots] become large, the roots slow the flow rate....hence the control valve is used to increase the flow rate and maintain oxygen levels

I do agree with Kat person about having the drain at the bottom, i'd imagine it would equalise whats happening within each bucket at differing depths better as the root ball does take different stuff out of the water at different depths doesnt it? I'm not sure about different nutes from different depths.......but what I have done is to attach a hose to the inside input which goes to the bottom of the bucket.........now all fresh water/nutes enter at the bottom of the bucket and rise upwards to the drain, allowing for a even transfer of the nutes and causes a better mixing of the nutes and fresh oxygen....... I did this because at the end of the grow the roots are so so massive that it is hard to get a proper flow going though the whole bucket........ this correction seems to have cured the problem or at the very least ........ it helps ......

All in all, it looks like a mother of all plumbing jobs to set up, but i guess you are going for few but very large and productive plants, something that stands ANY grower in good stead if busted as the fuzz often just base things on a straight head-count...totally agree why run the risk time and trouble to grow 50 small plants when you can get the same amount or more from just 5 plants? plus I like to grow from seed , allowing for a 50% male ratio I still have enough plants to produce a nice harvest or when I grow from clones a really large harvest

Hmmm...

How many man hours would you say that lot took to get properly installed and running? Thats hard to say for I am disabled and takes me longer to do things than the average person..... I did the build in stages and recomend the same for you.......
......a weekend to build the support frame
.......a weekend to build the buckets
........a weekend to do the plumbing and hook up the res
........a weekend for testing for leaks and proper presure
I recomend hanging your lights and running electric wires, and hooking up ventilation before you start the build......are easier to do when you do not have to work around the buckets and pipes.......the size of the system also effects the time to build....longer for my 14 bucket system than to build a 4 bucket system

Cheers again for your help! U R very welcome

Doc Talc

Originally Posted by thuongchi

Hi! Daltron,
It is very good system. I am just wondering about what you mention about this. "2nd note: in case of power loss to pump….. res will fill then overflow back up the 4” pvc return line preventing spills and or a big mess J" I guess that even the pump fail, the water still in the bucket because water level never higher than the return hole of the line on the bucket. The suppy barb is higher than the hole, so there is not siphone back to reservoir. Can you explain this more clearly please because I am so worried about flooding if it happen.
Thank you for sharing a very good system to us.
H

Originally Posted by thuongchi

Thank you so much for your quick response. So I think the total volume of your system is 14 buckets + reservoir ( with float valve) is constant and some amount of volume still in the return line. So if pump fails, this volume will continue to go back to reservoir and may fill up the reservoir, is that right? Yep, right on the money

So if I use short 4 " PVC then the volume must be smaller or taller reservoir , then I am able to avoid being flooded. you have total understanding

I have few questions and wish you can help me.
1. If I use 8 fee of 4" PVC , then what is good slop I should use to get most effect for waterfall. You mention yours is 6 " but your is 18 feet.

mine just worked out to 6 inches, i think if you check the first couple of post in the comstruction journal I explain that you need a slop of one half bulbble.......place a level on the PVC pipe...set pipe so it is level .........now lower the down side until the bubble is half way out of it's level markings/window.....this will give you the slope you need for proper water/ nute movement with a 10 to 12 inch waterfall

2. Can you explain to me the difference between your organic use and GH 3 parts. What is the benefit? I never use organic so I am just having no clue. How do you use this nuts for entire grow.
good news here you don't have to use organic nutes, both Big Toke and Hurtback used GH 3 part nutes as well as several people after them , they did have to do a nute/ res change out between veg and flower.......I have always grown organic's which is why I did this in what turns out to be synthic organics [organic based] [GH flora nova] so there has been sucess with all 3 types of nutes

3. How do you control the noise of your water pump and the waterfall?
don't worry about the water pump it is quite, for the waterfall use a splash bloch in the res...this will help .....enclose the res will help some more but you will have to vent fresh air into the res and that is all the quiet tricks i know of maybe someone else might know of some more....

4. Do you reuse the lava rock? How do you wash it? Do we need to clean it completely because BB and nuts deposit there after the grow?
needs to been cleaned and sanitized then it can be reused.....remove all remaining roots [a stiff brush works best], clean and soak in a mild bleach solution, rinse well dry and reuse

These are some questions I am thinking of ,and I am very appreciated to get the answer to clear my mind. I keep thinking about this system for last few days after reading your post.
Thank in advance.
TH