BigTokes ~ "How-To" Of The Bio-Buckets 101

[BigToke]

dadda ~ …………yea as for the us of rapid rooter, there not going to help your hurt the beneficial bacterium at all, but they may mess up your ph some what ~ and as for the pump, DAME!! Give me a brake dude and do a little bit of reading and you’ll see that I’ve already answered that question ~ tell me how many feet your reservoir is from the first bucket and I’ll tell you the size of pump you need, how’s that.

Brooklyn ~ ………….DAME!! you must think this is my first rodeo, hell dude I know how to enlarge a pic, do you know how to follow instructions? Just build the dame thing the way I have lay’ed it out and quit fucking with it and that way you can get on with the growing.

 

[dadda]

Re: Finding out how many times pump waters per hr

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To do that I would divide the gph by the amount of buckets I have correct. Just making sure because I didn't fully understand the post on it.

Thank you

Example a 3600gph pump divided by 32 buckets =112.5 times per hour?

 

[Guest]

You would have to divide 112.5 by 5 (the gallons in the bucket) and that would 22 times per hour.

 

[dadda]

thanks

 

[Feminised Clone]

Vaportek Optimum 4000

Vaportek Optimum 4000

Big Toke.........I was reading in one of your threads that you use or used at one time the Vaportek Optimum 4000 with great success. Do you still use this system for odor control, and if so, are you still happy with its performance?

Thanks,

Fem Clone

 

[BigToke]

dadda ~………….well that’s true and not true; each five gallon bucket needs to be exchanged at different rates according to the size or number of your grow, for example (a Bio-Bucket system between two thru four would only need to exchange each bucket 7 times an hour, were as a Bio-System of 32 thru 34 would need to exchange each bucket 14 times in order to meat the Oxygen Demands of that big of system) ………..these readings are taken by me with a DO-Meter Probe, as I have setup a many of Bio-Buckets Systems I have taken many readings and there is a science behind all of this in witch I do not care to discuss ~ so if you have a number that you are thanking about that you would like to grow with, just tell me the number and I will tell you what size of pump and reservoir at a two foot drop that you will need in order to get the amount of O2 that is necessary…………….but if you wanting me to explain to you or anyone else just how that I do what I do then that is NOT going to happen.

F.C ~………….yes I still use it and yes I am extremely happy with it.

 

[ubenhadd]

Hi BT, Great thread. Im looking to set up a 4'x8'x8' room with res. outside of room, and would like to have 10 or 12 5gal buckets. How big a pump would I need it will be 3 to 4 feet from 1st bucket, Ill build this during the summer and start growing in aug. or sept. I want to do this right the first time so will be asking Q. down the road after I buy everything. Thanks much BT. and have a good day..

 

[dadda]

32 bio-buckets BT

 

[dadda]

I thought you only needed a one foot drop not a two foot drop.

 

[BigToke]

ubenhadd ~ …………you should have no problem fitting 10 to12 Bio-Buckets in that room ~ the pump size that you would need is a 500,GPH (Mag-Drive) or a pump that can move that much GPH will do just fine ~ the total amount of reservoir volume that is needed is 7.5gl with a one foot drop. I’ll be looking forward to seeing this setup and I’ll be here is yea need me, all I ask is that you read up on the Bio-Buckets before asking me questions that I have already answered.

dadda ~…………….you will need a 2416,GPH (Mag-Drive) pump or one that is equal to that, with a total volume of reservoir of 24gl with a ONE FOOT drop………………sorry about the typo.

 

[StealthSniper]

BigToke, awesome setup and grow design, this is exactly what I've been looking for. I've been reading and studying your system for the past month or so, in attempts to fully understand it. This is the system of choice, and I will be building this very shortly.

I'm trying to figure out how you are set up in regards to cloning and vegging, and how one could be set up to use the bio-buckets for flowering and have the veg in another area? Is there anything you can suggest in regards to this? Essentially I'm looking to harvest every 2 months from the main system, rather then adding a 4 week veg period to each harvest...and not having 2 complete separate setups to do it.

Would vegging in the oasis cube with perlite work for say 3 weeks, then rinse off the perlite, place the remaining oasis cube with the root structure on top of the lava rock, and finish perhaps a week of veg prior to flowering to ensure plant survival?

Also, how would you recommend lighting to be setup? I'm planning to do approximately 32-36 buckets (like yours) and read you have 3600W for yours. You recommended vertical for larger plants, and horizontal for smaller. I wouldn't be growing quite as large as you did, and will be using all 600w lights, as required.

Thanks in advance for your assistance, and again, incredible info you have posted here, very helpful.

Have a great day!

 

[ubenhadd]

Hey BT thanks for the pump size, I wont have too many Q. for in the set-up but some are beyond me. Like I have well water from 100' down and my PH is 7.8 and PPM is 430. If I RO the water I get PH-6.8, PPM 10. And all I can find so far is red lava rock, can I make this work or do I have to have some rock shipped in. Thanks much Have a great day and smoke one for me. LOL

 

[BigToke]

S.S ~ thanks for the props; as regarding your Q’s, Veg and Flo are done in the same system………….just Veg up to the time you want to Flower and then just switch to Flowering nutrients; you don’t have to flush or drain your Bio-System just switch your feeding from Veg to Flowering, it’s that simple.

Would vegging in the oasis cube with perlite work for say 3 weeks, then rinse off the perlite, place the remaining oasis cube with the root structure on top of the lava rock, and finish perhaps a week of veg prior to flowering to ensure plant survival?

well it’s just my opinion but NO.

Also, how would you recommend lighting to be setup? I'm planning to do approximately 32-36 buckets (like yours) and read you have 3600W for yours. You recommended vertical for larger plants, and horizontal for smaller. I wouldn't be growing quite as large as you did, and will be using all 600w lights, as required.

Huuuuaaaaa the lighting question, well if your going to be following what I did then: BigTokes lighting is made of a 4-vertical and 4-horizontal; my lighting setup (as seen in many of my pictures) is 2-600w both placed in the middle of each Bio-System and one on each end of my Bio-System and two hanging in the meddle of both Bio-Buckets Systems, witch is a grand total of 3600w………….although ideally I would have like to replace the 2-400w in the meddle of the systems with 2-600w.

Ps………….I see that your kind of new here at IC so let me just say welcome…………….if you have any other questions just let me know and I’ll do my best all that I ask is that you read up on every thing before asking as to keep me from repeating myself.

 

[StealthSniper]

Thanks for the quick reply and the welcome man, much appreciated.

it’s just my opinion but NO.

Your opinion is very valuable to me. I've been trying to figure out how to increase the harvest time by vegging separate from the buckets, but looks like that's a negative then.

ps. I have now formally introduced myself in the "Introduce Yourself" section...

 

[BigToke]

Sup uben ~ …………your well-waters PH is exhalant, your water is a little on the hard side so here’s what I am recommending ~ G.H makes hard water nutrients see if you cant find those first is not ~ make sure you use the Red Lava rocks; they will absorb/neutralize hard water, this is one of the big secrets of the Bio-Buckets………………the red lava rocks has a natural water softener in it called “Silicone/Sodium”……………also seeing that your using the well-water there is NO one to two weeks weighting, the well-water already has all the Beneficial Bacterium that’s needed to get started.

 

[ubenhadd]

Thanks BT, The more I read all your post here the more I fall in love with this system. I still have a few Q. but will wait till I build it, All might work out ok..

 

[senseless]

hey bigtoke whatsup? does this qualify as a bio bucket system?

containers hold 4 gallons of water, a 6" net pot filled with pumice, and are internally recirculated using a 80-130 gph pond pump. also my freind cloned my plants into rockwool before i could say otherwise.

i would have made your exact bio buckets but have lack of space at the moment. what do u think about em?

 

[Guest]

another Bio Buckets Builder

another Bio Buckets Builder

Hello Big Toke,
I am having a big dillema: wether to make the new room a sealed one (no exhaust, no intake, just AC, CO2 burner, dehumidifier, and oscilating fans) or not.
Does it really improve the yield that much, so that it is worth the extra cost?
Would you consider that 400W/m2 (1m2=11square feet, so that means 36W/sf) is good or should I go stronger?
I hope to see you around in my bio-buckets thread, as there shall be many more questions to come.

The machine room where all the reservoairs and ballasts will be:

The Flowering room:

The flowering room as it looks right now:

 

[BigToke]

senseless ~ yea that looks like a good Bio-Tub to me….lol ~ as long as you got the exchange rates per-gallon going on your good…………looks like you got every thing else covered, great job bro…….

Proud Daddy ~ as for the sealed grow/room I can’t really give you a good opinion about that as I have never ran a sealed grow/room before………….it is my opinion that if you go forward with the sailed room that you should let the grow/room be open to the out side air for at lest a week before closing it off……………as to it improving the yield, I think quality would be a better word to use. As to the wattage question, I use both 400w and 600w ~ one of my 400w bulbs covers six Bio-Buckets but I prefer to use a 600w if possible.

PD I wouldn’t worry about me not being around, when your ready I’ll be here

 

[Guest]

Hello Big Toke,

As far as the issue of keeping the room open to outside air goes, I could arrange that, but, I suppose that it has to do with the beneficial bacteria and their colonization of the system. I was actually thinking of adding a little water from my aquarium, which uses the waterfall effect to add oxygene, and Bio Balls for filtration.
So, my thinking is, that if I introduce some of the aquarium water (or some bio balls)to the system, I am bassically bringing a small colony of bacteria, which would then colonize the whole system in the next two weeks.

The tap watter that is available in this area, has a high PPM of 400, and the Ph is 8.0, so I shuld go with General Hydro ferts for hard watter right?

But, the first challenge that I must look after is, how to make a separate system for veg in another room. Basically I see two options:

1) Use the same 5galon buckets, and when the time comes, just use the shut-off valves and move the complete bucket to the flowering romm.
Pros: -no disturbance of the root system
-easy to do, no mess
Cons:-Not economical use of veg space, as the plants in the veg faze have a smaller root system.

2)Use of smaller buckets, with the same 6-8inch net pots. The plants are then moved in the flowering area in the pots.

Pros:-economical use of space, and max productivity
Cons:-disturbance of the root system,
-messy
-still need to develop a good sytem for attaching the net pots to the lid of 2 & 5 gallon system (the idea that I have is to fix the net pots to the smaller 2 gallon lid, and then move the whole lid to the 5 galon buckets, which have a bigger hole in the lid, so that it assomodates the root system, but is still smaller that the 2 gallon lid, which coveres the hole in the 5 galloon lid)

There are 2 main reasons for this complicating :

1. maximize productivity
2. I like to grow more that one variety. Some take longer to flower, and other thake less time, so, if the flower&veg are in the same room, some of the time, the space would not be fully utilized.(example: when I finish a 7-8week indica strain, and I still have to go 3-4weeks for some longer maturing indica, I can not put rooted clones in the system, as there is 12/12 regiment).

That's it for now, imput very much appreciated!!!