Everything Ninjadip

[ZombieRider]

Sup bro, totally missed out on your updates but it looks like you got some cool projects going on. Those APE's especially....dayum bro Im jelly.

 

[ninjadip]

Sup bro, totally missed out on your updates but it looks like you got some cool projects going on. Those APE's especially....dayum bro Im jelly.

It's not all roses over here... At least not yet.

Having a hell of a time with water going bad. I've replaced the res twice since last week. 3 days after res change ph dropped to 5.5 in the morning, come back from work and the ph is below 5 and brown foam everywhere....

The second time I changed out air stones with extra ones I had that were cleaned. I know it's either dirty air stones, light leaks, or insufficient DO.

I'm doing my best to eliminate each reason. I've covered netpots with a black out material, and added some light blockers around a few 1/4" holes on the res that weren't covered, and changed air stones(new ones are coming in mail).

Today will be 3rd day since the last change, so my fingers are crossed when I get home.

Once new air stones come im gonna do another change(unless it is as clear as it should be), and hook up my old 8 port diaphragm air pump and remove the industrial one, and finally add one air stone to each plant site. Going from one to two 2x4" cylindrical air stones per site.

I think it's possible the industrial/commercial air pump, the big block ones, is pushing air that is too hot into the stones that probably still had some remaining organic matter in them which then led to the algae bloom.

I am leaning to possible light leaks around the net pot as the #1 culprit, but I'm trying to be as thorough as possible and cover all my bases. Fyi water is tap, but I treat it with hypochloric acid before putting in system.

Stressed but feel 90% confident I got it

 

[Neueregel]

It's not all roses over here... At least not yet.

Having a hell of a time with water going bad. I've replaced the res twice since last week. 3 days after res change ph dropped to 5.5 in the morning, come back from work and the ph is below 5 and brown foam everywhere....

The second time I changed out air stones with extra ones I had that were cleaned. I know it's either dirty air stones, light leaks, or insufficient DO.

I'm doing my best to eliminate each reason. I've covered netpots with a black out material, and added some light blockers around a few 1/4" holes on the res that weren't covered, and changed air stones(new ones are coming in mail).

Today will be 3rd day since the last change, so my fingers are crossed when I get home.

Once new air stones come im gonna do another change(unless it is as clear as it should be), and hook up my old 8 port diaphragm air pump and remove the industrial one, and finally add one air stone to each plant site. Going from one to two 2x4" cylindrical air stones per site.

I think it's possible the industrial/commercial air pump, the big block ones, is pushing air that is too hot into the stones that probably still had some remaining organic matter in them which then led to the algae bloom.

I am leaning to possible light leaks around the net pot as the #1 culprit, but I'm trying to be as thorough as possible and cover all my bases. Fyi water is tap, but I treat it with hypochloric acid before putting in system.

Stressed but feel 90% confident I got it

man sorry to hear about those issues. i thought RDWC was suppose to easier than soil? i guess both can be difficult.

 

[GrumpAzz]

Stressed but feel 90% confident I got it

You got this bro

 

[GrumpAzz]

What are you using for a buffer?

 

[ninjadip]

man sorry to hear about those issues. i thought RDWC was suppose to easier than soil? i guess both can be difficult.

It's a see saw. Soil has more challenges with pests, hydro has root rot/ algae blooms as its biggest hurdle. But once tackled, is of minimum concern.

This is still a relatively new setup for me and is diy, but a few tweaks should get it right.

The easy part of rwdc is in the automation which I got down. I'm pretty sure this is due to some light leaks. When I get home will be a big determining factor how things are going now since I blocked off any places light could leak in from.

What are you using for a buffer?

Tap water full of it's own buffers, but I did have potassium silicate in there on the first fill. I think it's an algae bloom more than a buffer issue. Ph goes down and foam and stink go way up. And the foam had brown flecks in it, another sign the water has gone foul. Replacing all that water is a bitch too.

 

[GrumpAzz]

It's a see saw. Soil has more challenges with pests, hydro has root rot/ algae blooms as its biggest hurdle. But once tackled, is of minimum concern.

This is still a relatively new setup for me and is diy, but a few tweaks should get it right.

The easy part of rwdc is in the automation which I got down. I'm pretty sure this is due to some light leaks. When I get home will be a big determining factor how things are going now since I blocked off any places light could leak in from.


Tap water full of it's own buffers, but I did have potassium silicate in there on the first fill. I think it's an algae bloom more than a buffer issue. Ph goes down and foam and stink go way up. And the foam had brown flecks in it, another sign the water has gone foul. Replacing all that water is a bitch too.

Gotcha. I just know I have a few days of adjusting the pH after a res change. Not sure why exactly but I saw 5.3 the first day after on this last batch. Couple days of UP and I'm steady on 5.9 with potassium silicate as my base.

Nice to learn some early warning signs of an algea bloom, though, so I appreciate that little tidbit

 

[ninjadip]

Gotcha. I just know I have a few days of adjusting the pH after a res change. Not sure why exactly but I saw 5.3 the first day after on this last batch. Couple days of UP and I'm steady on 5.9 with potassium silicate as my base.

Nice to learn some early warning signs of an algea bloom, though, so I appreciate that little tidbit

Yeah, I was sitting in the corner over here holding it in. Then figured I should share because it might help someone, some way lol.

There's a good ph chart I saw someone post here, but basically usually when the ph starts go down instead of up it's a bad sign. If it is very small it is usually ok, and just sign that you need to do a res change. But If ph drops fast it is usually a very bad sign, the foam, water cloudiness, and foul smell are also other indicators something is wrong.

 

[ninjadip]

Bye bye clones. Only one left now. Clone business is hit or miss. Sometimes you are holding them and then someone wants them all. Going to run autos in the cloner now that space is free. Why not lol

Note: this is a local carry box, not going in mail with Ziploc bags of nutes

Autos dropped, using water so I can get tap roots and stick right in cloner, no media.


The one in the middle is my first auto and the other is the last clone for a long while.
Now that the other clones are gone and these two are well established so I can finally empty the res and fill it with grow nutes without holding back. the auto is showing signs of needing food, and I will have to reevaluate the DLI now that I'm ready to really grow and not babying snips/clones anymore.

 

[ninjadip]

Good news!!!! Or at least not terrible news. I think I have gone from bad bacteria to good bacteria.

Here are two pictures, one from last night, one from this morning.

Ph is stable, there is no foul smell, and I have white foam instead of yellow.

The foam did not blow up over night, and I have a feeling will subside naturally in the next day or so. Once the new air stones get here I'm going to do another change anyway before I put new stones in, just to be on the safe side.

Am I right that this white foam, that does not smell, is a sign of healthy biological activity? Note, this foam showed up yesterday on its own, this is not from bleach, yucca, or soap.




Ph drifted up, and ec went down/stable. Both good signs. The foam has not grown and looks the same as last night. You guys think this is a bloom of healthy bacteria?

 

[steamroller]

Foam is just organic proteins.
They bind to air molecules.

 

[ninjadip]

Finally Amazon delivered. Got some phosphoric acid instead of buying it in its diluted form, pH down. Idk how dangerous it is but I will use dishwashing gloves when handling to make the diluted version. Crazy that most pH down is 20-30% phosphoric acid, but you can get 80% for near the same price.

Got new air stones, new hose (going to run them differently than before), and those grommets are the size I need to make some bongs! Awesome

And then a replacement impeller, I don't think I'm getting 100% out of my pump, so it's getting a small rebuild lol

 

[Pipecarver]

Finally Amazon delivered. Got some phosphoric acid instead of buying it in its diluted form, pH down. Idk how dangerous it is but I will use dishwashing gloves when handling to make the diluted version. Crazy that most pH down is 20-30% phosphoric acid, but you can get 80% for near the same price.

Got new air stones, new hose (going to run them differently than before), and those grommets are the size I need to make some bongs! Awesome

And then a replacement impeller, I don't think I'm getting 100% out of my pump, so it's getting a small rebuild lol

I've a bottle @75% I count drips from a 1 ml dropper....1 drip will drop my ph .25 - .3 /gal so go very easy with it......I don't use gloves just a small 1 ml glass dropper

 

[ninjadip]

Ok, did a little restart. I did have some organic matter floating around in res. I think from some gunk that was stuck in PVC pipes that came free after I thought it was clean... Ugh.

But I should be heading towards blue skies now. Did another change, dropped EC significantly to 720 atm, threw away old air stones, took out the industrial air pump and replaced it with my big boy active aqua 8 outlet pump, added one air stone to reach plant site.

Funny how a pump that is 1/4 the wattage of the commercial pump, and split 8 ways instead of 4, is outperforming the higher wattage one by my visibility bubble check from stones.

The one on the left is 58 watts the one on the right 12 watts. Idk if it's the new air stones or the change in pumps, but the air columns from the stones are much better than they were before. Now I have two stones in each plant res, placed in the opposite corners of the return and supply.

View attachment PXL_20230723_022147886.mp4

What air pumps do you guys prefer?
I have 13 gal buckets fyi.

 

[smoke]

Alita air pumps

 

[SiamSam]

on the alien dragon, it says " very heady smoke, it'll make you clean your house before you know what hit you" i haven't had a smoke do that that in years.

When someone invents weed that will paint your house that will be something too.

 

[steamroller]

I'll never use any pump besides Alita again.
The 6A would be a beast for you. 13 watts

Alita AL-6A Linear Air Pump + 12 Gang Manifold

Runs on 13 watts and has a air output of 10 lpm @ 1.4 psi. Supplied discharge fittings: 3/16" & 3/8" barb, 3/8" barb with 5mm ID

kensfish.com

$15 more gets you the 15A. 19 watts

Alita AL-15A Linear Air Pump + 12 Gang Manifold

Runs on 19 watts and has a air output of 15 lpm @ 1.4 psi. Supplied discharge fittings: 3/16" & 3/8" barb, 3/8" barb with 5mm ID

kensfish.com

All air pumps will run cooler and longer with a fan blowing on them.
I had many of the old style pump you have and they were very loud, underperforming and lasted about 1-2 years and significant drop off in performance was noticeable.

 

[ninjadip]

finally i get a break!!!!

things are moving in the fucking right direction now, thanks everyone for the help.

I think I wasn't getting enough DO in the water with the other air pump, and I had the EC too high. Sometimes i have an epiphany of not being an idiot. I understand the EC and the plants' relationship to it in hydro a lot better now, it wasn't rocket science or anything.. I just thought if i pump more nutes it will go bigger faster once established. feel like an idiot. That ph chart really helped me see the whole picture



If my EC isn't ever falling, than it must be way too high i finally realized. probably been in some kind of lockout this whole time since transplant. Lowered the EC significantly, and i think i could go lower. but i def think i got a better handle on it all than i ever did, and idk why it was so hard for me to understand, seems so obvious now.


so it's been 3 days since that "reset", replacing air pump, replacing/doubling air stones, res change and lowered EC from 1.1 to 0.7. I am finally seeing progress below! Root growth is finally busting through the net pots on every plant.

Rebuilt the Danner MAG inline pump today, replaced impeller and manifold. I could not feel a big difference when turning each impeller, but the visible water output has almost doubled.

I went from no visible roots through net pot 3 days ago to every net pot having root growth spurts coming through pots. finally something is right... Once the root zone is established again, then the top part of the plant will have her turn #finally lol

I also added some black out material over pots a week or so ago. i already had some of this material around so i figured black out curtain material should work great to block light, that's what its made for.


View attachment PXL_20230725_205029820.mp4

 

[smoke]

How does this chart compare ?

 

[ninjadip]

How does this chart compare ?

View attachment 15065

Looks a little more detailed, just wish I would have thought about the relationship between these 3 data sources from the beginning. It's like something clicked in my head, and now I feel reinvigorated for growing again but also an idiot for not seeing the connection. I just thought of them all independently before, but it's definitely like a trinity or trifecta or triforce if you will lol.

 

[ninjadip]

Got my little auto babies popping, just like little babies lol

Really could use one of those vertical seed propagators to get seeds started to put in foam aeroponic block. The way I did it was very slow and tedious, keeping them good until the root gets through the foam is a slow process. If I could have the root just long enough to reach other side of neoprene on first placement would be ideal

Just did all 4 rotors and brakes yesterday. Saw that my front driver side cv boot is ripped ... Ugh. Yay lol doing axles is so much fun... It ain't clicking yet but I will get the part cheap from rockauto.
View attachment PXL_20230729_014542611.mp4

 

[Neueregel]

cool.

 

[ninjadip]

Awesome, @GoodShit97 is going to help me out with a 3d printed propagator!

I got a bunch of auto seeds in I'm going to put in the aeroponic tent in a perpetual grow.

I just ordered some parts to make a DIY chiller for the aeroponic tent, estimate 10-12 gallons volume. Water is above 80 now and no slime... Yet. But figure this stuff for under $50 should work fine to get the temps down, at the very least I will learn more about peltier tech. Also have a small dc pump coming for this. After I get parts I will look for some housing at the store.





Big tent is very hungry.. roots are all looking good. Will make a future post on that down the road.

Currently I can't stop watching these guys in my new project.... I see little black pins on top this morning. Has been 3/4 days since putting in tub. Have wet perlite to maintain RH, this is my second attempt and everything looks good!! First time in this diy box.

 

[Pipecarver]

Awesome, @GoodShit97 is going to help me out with a 3d printed propagator!

I got a bunch of auto seeds in I'm going to put in the aeroponic tent in a perpetual grow.

I just ordered some parts to make a DIY chiller for the aeroponic tent, estimate 10-12 gallons volume. Water is above 80 now and no slime... Yet. But figure this stuff for under $50 should work fine to get the temps down, at the very least I will learn more about peltier tech. Also have a small dc pump coming for this. After I get parts I will look for some housing at the store.

View attachment 16345



Big tent is very hungry.. roots are all looking good. Will make a future post on that down the road.

Currently I can't stop watching these guys in my new project.... I see little black pins on top this morning. Has been 3/4 days since putting in tub. Have wet perlite to maintain RH, this is my second attempt and everything looks good!! First time in this diy box.

View attachment 16346

Hey, I was just looking up your parts list above on both amzon and ali express....the transformer says its for LED driver lighting only are you sure this will still work with the Peltier cooler??

 

[ninjadip]

Hey, I was just looking up your parts list above on both amzon and ali express....the transformer says its for LED driver lighting only are you sure this will still work with the Peltier cooler??View attachment 16368

Yeah it shouldn't be a problem. It's labeled for what it is most commonly used for. I will definitely be finding out soon either way

 

[Pipecarver]

Yeah it shouldn't be a problem. It's labeled for what it is most commonly used for. I will definitely be finding out soon either way

If it works for you then I'll give it a try in my box..I've only a couple of weeks before I have to have a solution .....I just saw the red lettered warning and wondered if you'd seen it....and will it handle the starting and stopping of the fans?

 

[Pipecarver]

If it works for you then I'll give it a try in my box..I've only a couple of weeks before I have to have a solution .....I just saw the red lettered warning and wondered if you'd seen it....and will it handle the starting and stopping of the fans?

Is there any chance you could draw up a sketch of how you intend on using that particular chiller?,,,They look water cooled? there's 2 blue ports I'm assuming are water inlet/ output ports.

 

[ninjadip]

Is there any chance you could draw up a sketch of how you intend on using that particular chiller?,,,They look water cooled? there's 2 blue ports I'm assuming are water inlet/ output ports.

Yeah the two ports are interchangeable between inlet and outlet and will be connected to a small dc water pump.

The fans and pump I'm going to wire constant, the cooling I'll wire to the temp controller.

This will be to chill 10-15 gallons of water. I have no idea how effective this peltier tech is, but I'll be happy if I can get to low 70s in water temp. Currently at 82 and I think that's why I get slime once the root structures get bigger.

Edit, maybe 1-2 fans on constant and the remaining on the temp controller

 

[ninjadip]

Watching my first auto experiment eagerly

Have five purple punch auto here, and 12 more to get in there in a bit. Going to try a bit of a perpetual thing and put a new auto in there every few weeks or so, idk, just having fun

To drop soon:
10 purple gelato $2 seeds
2 purple lemonade $5

 

[ninjadip]

Started a new thread

Thread 'Live Poet and Creatives Society' https://budbuilders.org/threads/live-poet-and-creatives-society.510/

Just got the parts for the chiller, I ordered an AC temperature controller by mistake, now I have to wait for a DC one to come. Trying to decide how to case the thing up, maybe a mini PC case?