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

[turbolaser4528]

I have not seen 5 gallon square buckets.... but a good idea.. maybe im blind tho.. so many pots in my local hydro shop.

To maybe help answer your questions about a need for a chiller with bio buckets..... Most people need a chiller because the ambient temps are too high, or there is bad air flow and the room is too hot.. etc etc... So thus there water temps get to high depending on the temps inside and outside the grow space. ventilation + a cold source for your rez and you've got an idea spot. As long as water temps throughout your cycles/grows stays below below 80F your in great shape! I know you wanna keep your water cold in hydro which helps with O2.

Cheers and happy growing!

thanks yeah I should be fine, my res is insulated and my res temps never get above 69 degrees F. thats with an internal pump an hot air pump, climate control baby haha but seriously what do you guys think of these uniseals? or other high end bulkheads to prevent leaks?

 

[cateros]

Hi Big toke just started following this thread as I am planning my system having just got my Canadian MMAR exemption for use/grow and this looks like an excellent way to go for a new comer to hydro as not having to change out the resevoir and all nutrient every 10 days is too much for my back ( lot of disc damage from drunk driver hit and run) anyways wanted to ask you something.

I have read your info on how to calculate resevoir size using the bucket size and the size of my canopy space/2 so if ?I am using 12 3gal buckets in an area which I hope to produce a canopy of 20 square feet total divided in 2 that would equal 10 x 2.893 for 28.93 litres or 7.2 gall resevoir should i bring it up to a 10 gal resevoir? or did I miss somethething when I made my calculations?

Also my buckets are 10" deep from the top and sitting on a table 12 inches from the floor so if I use a 10gal resevoir in a long and wider but rather shallow resevoir will there be any potential problems if I have at least 12" of drop from the drain on buckets to the resevoir was wondering if the depth of the resevoir would make any difference at all as with this lower amount of water I assume it will heat up rather quickly as I have to keep it in grow room and have no funds for a chiller room runs at about 78-82 with lights on ? Can you tell me anything I should look out for ? As I am still building my shopping list I just want to make sure I waste none of my funds on unnesecary purchases. Oh are roughneck containers okay to use for the buckets and resevoir .

 

[cateros]

I am limited for space to provide a 12" drop can this be made up with areation to the resevoir with a large airstone? I also have a little device from an aquarium called a water wheel its basically foam wheel that collects benificial bacterium and lifts them into the air above a tank to help them culture faster think this would be at all beneficial in the start up time to help get the water cultured faster. And one other thing I was wondering about when you start up and run for a week is this with nutrients or just the basic water to get it cultured then add nutrients or add it all run for a week and get the system balanced?

 

[Casual]

Is it possible to have too much flow from the pump?? I've seen changeover rates anywhere from 10 times to 20 times... I'm wondering if I can pick up a larger pump now, so as not to have to buy one later. If my first few grows go well, I'm thinking of expanding, maybe doubling up.
Just curious, as I'm planning on buying a pump in the next few days.

Thanks all!!


Caz

 

[Raphael]

Is it possible to have too much flow from the pump?? I've seen changeover rates anywhere from 10 times to 20 times... I'm wondering if I can pick up a larger pump now, so as not to have to buy one later. If my first few grows go well, I'm thinking of expanding, maybe doubling up.
Just curious, as I'm planning on buying a pump in the next few days.

Thanks all!!


Caz

Caz, as long as you account for the increased rate of flow (diameter of feed and especially drain pipes, nice seals so the tubing doesn't blow off near the pump) it doesn't hurt to preemptively upgrade.

Happy Halloween

Later

EDIT: Sweet! This post is my 215th post (prop 215) and I just got my MMJ license renewed today. Weird!

 

[BudGood]

Is it possible to have too much flow from the pump?? I've seen changeover rates anywhere from 10 times to 20 times... I'm wondering if I can pick up a larger pump now, so as not to have to buy one later. If my first few grows go well, I'm thinking of expanding, maybe doubling up.
Just curious, as I'm planning on buying a pump in the next few days.

Thanks all!!


Caz

I'd recommend a Dolphin Ampmaster, it can be dialed down to a lower flow/smaller diameter piping with no damage to the pump, quiet as all heck (especially with the rubber sound isolation mat, extra 10 bucks or so), and uses the least electricity of any pump I've ever used.

 

[NewGrow19]

BigToke you are the man

BigToke you are the man

Thanks for sharing the info... def going to check one of these out in the future

 

[Decisive]

forgive me if this question has been asked before as this thread is long and i may have missed things, i did see that gotti chaps post earlier in the thread and 3BM mentioned 10 gallon buckets. If i veg for 5-6 weeks (from clone) and flower for 6-8 weeks in the 5 gallon buckets is there a decent chance i could run into the problem of insufficient bucket size/volume causing the plant to not yield to full potential due to rootbound issues? I am also wondering whether supplemental airstones would be good as added insurance for these larger plants as i saw mentioned earlier in the thread that a 1 ft waterfall may not be able to sustain huge trees. With 2 of these 5 gal biobuckets under a 1000 watt i am hoping to net at least .5/g/w/month flowering, is this realistic or am i just completely off on this estimate (i know its impossible to guess due to the ridiculously large number of variables but a general opinion based on other people's numbers and personal experience would be very much appreciated).

Finally just wanted to really thank bigtoke for his incredible guide on the system and everyone else who's helped on this truly amazing thread. The amount of detail, effort and explanations found here are remarkable and i commend you all.

 

[Dr. Conjuror]

forgive me if this question has been asked before as this thread is long and i may have missed things, i did see that gotti chaps post earlier in the thread and 3BM mentioned 10 gallon buckets. If i veg for 5-6 weeks (from clone) and flower for 6-8 weeks in the 5 gallon buckets is there a decent chance i could run into the problem of insufficient bucket size/volume causing the plant to not yield to full potential due to rootbound issues? I am also wondering whether supplemental airstones would be good as added insurance for these larger plants as i saw mentioned earlier in the thread that a 1 ft waterfall may not be able to sustain huge trees. With 2 of these 5 gal biobuckets under a 1000 watt i am hoping to net at least .5/g/w/month flowering, is this realistic or am i just completely off on this estimate (i know its impossible to guess due to the ridiculously large number of variables but a general opinion based on other people's numbers and personal experience would be very much appreciated).

Finally just wanted to really thank bigtoke for his incredible guide on the system and everyone else who's helped on this truly amazing thread. The amount of detail, effort and explanations found here are remarkable and i commend you all.

Ok I am going to give this a shot. I will repeat some of the things said that I think I recall from having read this whole thread a few times (and several others) over the last few years...

Is there a particular reason you are going to veg for so long? I see many only doing it for two or three weeks. Are you trying to grow 'trees'? This cuts the number of harvests possible in a given time.

And if you are growing 'trees', how were you going to handle the light penetration thing?

It was just a couple of random thoughts.

Dr. Conjuror

 

[BudGood]

Maybe with vertical lighting, a slightly modified bucket layout, and maybe those 8-10 gallon square buckets you would be better off for growing trees of that size. Try 'er out and let us know how it works! We'll be here if you have any questions or need ideas!

 

[Decisive]

Ok I am going to give this a shot. I will repeat some of the things said that I think I recall from having read this whole thread a few times (and several others) over the last few years...

Is there a particular reason you are going to veg for so long? I see many only doing it for two or three weeks. Are you trying to grow 'trees'? This cuts the number of harvests possible in a given time.

And if you are growing 'trees', how were you going to handle the light penetration thing?

It was just a couple of random thoughts.

Dr. Conjuror

Sorry i misworded that a bit what i was thinking was a large scrog, that is 2 5 gallon buckets under a 4x4 screen under a 1000 watt. I was hoping to do 3 of those screens to make the most of my 6 plant limit, hoping to just grow once a year and have enough to last me for the rest. I was just worried that 5 gals wouldnt be enough root space for each bucket to hit my 0.5g/w/2 month flower yield goals (i.e a #ish per light per 2 month flower). Although i did see a thread earlier by hydrosun in which he produces 37 oz from 2x 5 gallon buckets. I am hopeful that is replicatable in biobuckets with a 4-6 week veg as this system has ridiculously good growth rates.

Budgood, vertical would be amazing but i'm just a little hesitant to try it until i've hit that goal under a horizontal reflector as i have 0 experience with vertical. Although some of the grows i've seen recently on the vertical forum make it look reasonably easy and they do yield fat. Maybe vertical biobucket vegged/flowered trees is the way to go and biobuckets should help cut down on the absurd veg times those tree growing vertical guys have to deal with to get those plants tall.

Thanks again guys for replies i really appreciate the input.

 

[Seneca]

Sorry i misworded that a bit what i was thinking was a large scrog, that is 2 5 gallon buckets under a 4x4 screen under a 1000 watt. I was hoping to do 3 of those screens to make the most of my 6 plant limit, hoping to just grow once a year and have enough to last me for the rest. I was just worried that 5 gals wouldnt be enough root space for each bucket to hit my 0.5g/w/2 month flower yield goals (i.e a #ish per light per 2 month flower). Although i did see a thread earlier by hydrosun in which he produces 37 oz from 2x 5 gallon buckets. I am hopeful that is replicatable in biobuckets with a 4-6 week veg as this system has ridiculously good growth rates.

Budgood, vertical would be amazing but i'm just a little hesitant to try it until i've hit that goal under a horizontal reflector as i have 0 experience with vertical. Although some of the grows i've seen recently on the vertical forum make it look reasonably easy and they do yield fat. Maybe vertical biobucket vegged/flowered trees is the way to go and biobuckets should help cut down on the absurd veg times those tree growing vertical guys have to deal with to get those plants tall.

Thanks again guys for replies i really appreciate the input.

From the description of your goals and once a year grow, bio-buckets might not be the best choice. The system isn't cheap to build (buckets, pumps, rez, ect.), large, fairly permanent, once built and operating. If your thinking about running only once a year and packing it away, it's a lot of equipment.

Plus, coming from experience, it takes one or two cycle to figure out how to operate and maximize, since each setup is DIY unique. BigToke makes it look easy, but it's not a beginners intro hydro system 101.

Bio-buckets appealed to me right from the start, huge plants, amazing yeilds, cool DIY design, but now I've moved on to coco, pots & hand watering. It gives me way more flexibility in how I grow and when I grow. Pots are far cheaper, less potential of a poor crop, water leaks.

Save yourself some time & money, a 6 plant coco/soil scrog will give great results.

If you do build a Bio-bucket system, good luck, I'll be watch

 

[CaNNaBisALChemY]

very nice construction

 

[Bunz]

Is it possible to have too much flow from the pump?? I've seen changeover rates anywhere from 10 times to 20 times... I'm wondering if I can pick up a larger pump now, so as not to have to buy one later. If my first few grows go well, I'm thinking of expanding, maybe doubling up.
Just curious, as I'm planning on buying a pump in the next few days.

Thanks all!!


Caz

You can always install a ball valve to control flow on your pump. Make sure it is on the output side, never limit the incoming side. Take a look at Eheim or Laguna Max-Flo pond pumps. I've used both externally in saltwater tank setups, so hydro systems should be a breeze. Both are very energy efficient too.

Bunz

 

[the_lonely_one]

Big Toke,

Just wanted to pay homage to you for putting me on to the bio-buckets. I don't know what to do with myself with all this extra time on my hands. Currently running 8.6kW over 66 buckets farmer brown style. I spend far less time in the room than I did in my aero flo 36 grow.

Peace and happy holidays to all.

Not so lonely anymore...

 

[BigToke]

Thanks Everyone......

Happy Holidays

 

[Seneca]

Happy Holidays BigTokes!

It's great to see you back for your annual holiday cheer, hope to see more of you in 2010...

 

[robotwithdreams]

can someone tell me under what circumstances can water leak from this kind of pump? Can there be a flood due to pump malfunction, i.e water leaking from the pump itself?

 

[punkp88]

looking for a pk booster for the bio buckets

looking for a pk booster for the bio buckets

Hi people at ic mag
Im on my first run with the bio buckets and things are going smoothly
anyone know of a good pk booster for the bio buckets and what week of flowering to use them
I was thinking of pk13/14
Maybe considering liquid kool bloom
Someone recommended the powdered kool bloom but Ive researched and some people have had bad experiences using it
and then again maybe I dont even need one for the buckets
Thanks
P

 

[Casual]

Happy Holidays to you BigToke!!! Fantastic to see you on. Will you be on in the coming year? Your threads on the BioBuckets and Water Chemistry spurred me to try my own setup, something I never thought I would tackle.
Love the forums!! Best resource on the internet, bar none!

Happy holidays to everyone out there!!