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

[simba]

so i from what i understand the main thing is that these have benificial bactiria.. making the difference more than any thing..
wouldnt adding pirahna and Triantula and there enzime or another nute mfrs benificial stuff to a dwc for the smaller grower... do the same thing..


i dont change out my res just add back and top off..

i have read it all and i just dont get the difference..

 

[BudGood2006]

There is a difference. The beneficial bacteria naturally in the air is far superior to any product out there, and, it's *free*. Also, you must have an appropriate area for the beneficial bacteria to colonize (the red lava rock). You mentioned your res. What type of system are you running? I've heard horror stories from adding the Pirahna (or was it the Tarantula?) to DWC. I considered adding store-bought beneficials to hurry up the process of building the beneficial bacteria, but in the end I just waited for them to occur naturally, and I'm glad I did, it was worth my patience (truly an underrated virtue).

 

[simba]

currently i am running a DWC type system.. (few buckets with an airstone in the res and a continious flow from buckets to res...via pump.. almost same as biobucket..

i have been considering the bio bucket. but the bactirium hicked me up..

the setup i currently have is the same setup as bio bucket.. IE having a constant flow.. just no lava rock

but then i saw the bio bucket.. so it got me thinking whats the dif..

also i was concidering just dumping a bunch of lava rock in the RES for the colony.. even if i had lava in the net pots..

but im thinking now that the enzimes and extras from AN lets say would add more goodies than the bactirium in the air.

if this makes any sense

 

[BudGood2006]

DWC is similar to the Bio-Buckets, but there are many subtle differences, such as the waterfall effect. The waterfall is what provides DO to the plants (no airstones whatsoever), as well as where the beneficial bacteria get introduced to the water. A recirculating DWC is quite a bit different in that respect.

I couldn't say whether the AN products would be worth it to use, I've never used them. However, I have read threads (one by Sleepy comes to mind) where the AN stuff was added to a DWC, didn't come out so great. Your mileage may vary.

In my opinion, if you want to get the benefits of a Bio-Bucket setup, ya have to build one. If you need any help, drop by my thread, I'd be glad to help.

 

[wolverine-419]

sweat!!! thanks man this is a awsome read...

 

[Guest]

BT, what are your highest DO levels recorded to date?

 

[BudGood2006]

I believe 20 Mg/L is the highest level of oxygenation you can get, but I could be wrong. What do you say BT?

 

[BigToke]

…………it really depends upon the bio-bucket “construction design,” let me explain; obviously the better the design is and water/fall effect is the better the DO will be, and there’s not but two ways that I know of to do this and I apologize for not coving this in more detail………….first, a better designed reservoir, currently my res has a DO level of 9 ½ and with an DO-Saturator about 10 ~ now here are some of the things that effect the DO levels for the good!!

…….to keep the DO levels up here are some basic rules from BigToke:

• Reservoirs should be well designed!! For every one foot of water in your res you should have one foot of water/fall effect!! Large volume reservoirs tend to have low out put DO…..try to keep your reservoirs as compact as possible and with the proper amount of water/fall effect.
• Bio-Buckets should also be well designed!! Try placing your 1 ¼ drain slightly lower that your supply so that as the in coming water makes a splash!! This well give a max amount of DO per-bucket.
• Cool Water!! If at all possible try running your system between 68 to 75 temps this will also help a great deal for the DO.

………….I have seen bio-systems with a four and five foot drop!! Wow!! What a setup!! Sorry no pic’s of that…….but I do wish I could show you some of the Bio-Mega Systems that I have had the honor of seeing, it would blow your minds!! Well good lucky with the DO thing.

 

[Rattrap]

Would placing baffles in the main drain pipe so that the water splashes over them make much diff to the DO? Like 1 per foot.

 

[Guest]

Hi BT, I built my systems lately, thanks a million for the info...

I used an 80gal (aprox) plastic barrel, burried in the ground almost all the way in. I keep about a foot of water in it and have 22 inches of waterfall. I have the pump in the barrel so it's quiet. The barrel is burried in a basement so with the fan blowing on the water, the temp is always stable at 68-70oC. No water cooler. The barrel is great because it is tall and skiny, and cheap. I got mine for $15 tax incl. They are used for carying soap products but are real clean because there is a linning in it when they are full of product. The float valve is a definite must though since the plants + evaporation could empty the foot of water in one day.

Rattrap, the baffles sound like a great idea.

I did a second system for fish, aquaponics, here I used the same big barrel for the pump and fish but also used a smaller version of the barrel for algea, the buckets overflow to the small barrel, then to the big one. This way there are 2 waterfalls. It works great but it might be better to only have 1 big waterfall. I would need a DO meter to test. Ever try this BT?

Cheers,

Mr. G

 

[clowntown]

I've seen the results, and I've heard the testimonies about bio-buckets...

But I can't quite figure out how the top-feed, top-drain will effectively recirculate all the water in those buckets? I'm not must of a physics (or whatever) person so maybe I'm missing something obvious, but wouldn't something like a top-feed, bottom-drain be better?

Anyone mind explaining a little bit?

 

[Rattrap]

The main problem with a bottom drain clowntown is them blocking up. With a top mounted outlet u can have a nice big 32mm outlet, plenty of room for water to flow with roots in the pipe. Also flow rate would be controlled entrely by how fast the bottom drain can run. Also with a bottom feed u'd loose another foot in height to get your 1 foot waterfall effect. Also if u have a power failure your buckets will drain back into the res overflowing everywhere. There are heaps of reasons y top mounted outlets are by far better, y would u want to do it any other way?

Also the inlet at the top is pointed downwards in the bucket & when the plants grow in a bit the in coming nutes need to make their way all the way thru the mass of roots before the flow reaches the outlet again, plenty of chance for a good coverage of nutes throught out the buckets.

 

[SuperBonBon]

Question about Bacteria

Question about Bacteria

I'm have used the bio-bucket concept successfully in a cabinet grow, but am changing my setup and am going to be growing SOG in a new container.

I haven't used net pots because my lid won't support the weight. Instead I've used hanging baskets full of black lava stone to great results.

I want to do away with the baskets though, since I'm changing to a shallower setup and the baskets are keeping me at 4 plants instead of 6. I'm thinking of spreading the stones out across the bottom of the resevoir.

Will the bacteria still find their way to the wonderful home I'm building them at the bottom of the sea if the lava stones aren't exposed to the air (as they are in the typically net pot filled with stones)?

Thanks,

SuperBonBon

 

[Guest]

SuperBonbon,

BT mentioned earlier in the posts the importance of having the water/air break in the lava rocks for maximum BB effectiveness. If you have them completely submerged I immagine that some of the BB will not thrive. Also make sure there are no dead spots where water will be stagnant.

Perhaps you could get the same effect if you filled your reservoir past the water line with lava rocks and had the waterfall splash directly on the lava rocks. Or even simpler, if you had the lava rocks inside the 4" overflow return pipe. This would also create extra DO in the water.

Cheers,

Mr. G

 

[Guest]

Has anyone tried applying Big Toke's design to aquaponics?

I crowded 20 six inch long gold fish in the reservoir with 4 buckets. My reservoir has about 25 gal. I feed them 2-3 times a day plus I don't even bother taking out the food that wasn't eaten. I run my pump 30min on, 90min off. I used 10" baskets with red lava rocks. No plants yet. No fan blowing in the res. After 3 weeks running the water is still nice and clear, no smell, shit man it's so clean I would drink it! I'm putting my plants in soon. I am amazed at how clean the water is with only lava rocks and BB.

So anyone else try anything like this?

Mr G.

 

[Rattrap]

aquaponics & bio-buckets would go together like a hand in a glove for sure. They both work on the same principals. I've been real interested in aquaponics for a little while now, for veggies outdoor tho. Thats not to say i wouldn't run a takeoff line into my green room fro my fav little girls tho. lol

 

[Jesusbuiltmygro]

Bio Bucket improvement !!

Bio Bucket improvement !!

Hey guys if your planning on building a bio bucket system check this out.

go to h-g-420.com and go to the DIY section and check out the multiflow DWC tutorial ** take out the dashes

You can make your bio bucket construction a lot easier and more leak proof by using rubber grommets instead of glue and silicon.

If these sites were really for the purpose of spreading information then why do so many of them censor and isolate.

 

[Guest]

I used a product called GOOP instead of hot glue and silicone...been using it for years, never had a leak.

 

[Rattrap]

I'm not sure y u would consider the multiflow system a bio-bucket improvement. Its WAY more complicated to rig than the BB system, uses 3 pumps instead of just 1, lots more things to go wrong with it too. Thanks but after using the BB system i'm gonna stick to it. Without a doubt the BB are simplest of systems to maintain & the most efficient i've seen to date.

 

[Rattrap]

Hey bookerbeam, yep u're still gonna have heat probs if your res is in your grow room. Your ambinet temp is right on the border plus its gonna be hotter in the area under the lights. With 6 buckets u're gonna have 120L of water to soak up heat in your room, thats gonna be a fair amount of heat u're gonna need to get rid of. I had trouble with my 6 bucket BB when i first started them because my res wasn't big enough & even tho i had it in a different room i still had major heat probs yet my rooms ambient temp was around the same as yours. i can't help with the purchase of your res, wrong country. lol.