Extreme DWC Challenge: BLEACH in the res?

[giblets]

Hi, all. Battling extreme (+90F) heat and nasty water. I am running bleach ~8drops/U.S. gallon in the res instead of H2O2.

Plant seems okay so far.

Anybody else ever try it?

 

[PuReKnOwLeDgE]

ewww....I run bleach soultion between cycles, to clean the equipment, but never on roots...thats disgusting IMO...You should have tryed SM-90, aquashield, or hygrozyme...good luck with that one lol

 

[FreezerBoy]

I think you're playing with fire. The point of bleach is to kill everything.

 

[slowandeasy]

spend your bleach money on some exhaust and ro water if things are that bad, you will be wasting your time!

 

[MAZEinaHAZE]

temps MUST come down in the correct method...don't band-aid your environment with a strong chemical. fix the issue....HEAT

 

[nukn futz]

I clean with it, then rinse THOROUGHLY, thats its.

 

[Balazar]

I would try a res cooler, there are some links to DIY them in the DIY link-o-rama its under /growers forums/grow room design & equipment/sticky for DIY link-O-rama

 

[Balazar]

oh one more thing too, this is a good trick i've seen a friend do. Put an aquarium water filter in your res. They work great for algae and particles that build up in the res.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

spend your bleach money on some exhaust and ro water if things are that bad, you will be wasting your time!

There's your answer. Increase your air-flow and your temps will drop. If you have enough height, convert to E&F or drip so you don't have to worry about nute temps.

 

[giblets]

Thanks for all the replies.

I guess I wasn't clear. This is outside. Ambient daytime temps are mid-90's most year-round. I'm managing to hold the res temps to mid-80's with reflective insulation, exotic dance, etc.

Increasing (hot) airflow to the stones will only heat up the res faster.

An aquarium filter will probably help keep the inevitable algae growth under control. I may try that, but again, running the res water through a pump is going to add still more heat, and power is a problem. If you picture a bubble-bucket out in the woods, with only battery power available, that'll help paint the picture, hopefully. A filter may clog up before I can get back to maintenance it.

A res chiller is an obvious solution, but I just can't use one in this situation. Lucky to be able to power an airpump, actually. Ice? Fuggeddaboutit. And with only scummy well-water available I still may need lotsa purifying power, chiller or not.

So, it's 8 drops of bleach, vs. 8 ounces of H2O2.

I can't find where anybody else has even tried to make this work. Lotsa people tell me it won't work, but a) they haven't actually tried it and b) my plant's still alive, soooo....

I swim in a pool that's got a lot heavier chlorine concentration than my bubble-bucket. There's negligible algae, but it hasn't killed me (yet). I can't help but think there's an equivalent concentration for a bubble-bucket: hold down the nuisance organisms but spare the "swimmer" (or plant).

Again, thanks all for taking the time to respond. This is a torture-test / experiment to see if I'll be able to pull off a DWC grow in a really hostile environment, not "He-l-l-p, my babeee's dieing!!!" type thread.

Anybody actually tried this?

Thanks again, giblets

 

[giblets]

Indoor hydro--nuts!

Indoor hydro--nuts!

Probably would have helped if I'd have posted this somewhere else. Just saw "hydro," didn't notice the "indoor" part.

Yep. It's outside, which explains the problems better. Didn't see an "outdoor DWC" category. Sorry.

 

[JefersonAirplan]

are you able to add a waterfall of some kind to your setup? This can help with temps!

 

[giblets]

Well, so far I've been able to keep the res temp below ambient air by almost 10 deg F. I think a waterfall might heat the water more. If the air was cooler, then maybe..., but thanks!

 

[Balazar]

I don't know if you can access it very often to do this but; i have tried filling water bottles most of the way up and freezing them, then throwing them in the res. Also how do you get your bubbles in the buckets? Do you just let the water fall into them to oxygenate the water? This sounds like a pretty cool system. I love my indoor RDWC.

 

[MAZEinaHAZE]

the thing about the pool is silly......we swim in the water, not drink it and rely on it for grow and advancment......so please, strike that from the record

and.....an outdoor forum would help you answer your questions that much better

 

[BillFarthing]

I do a lot of camping and for sterilizing water in a pinch, someone could use 1 part bleach to 100 parts water. It might affect the pH, but I think bleach might have valid applications in the garden.

 

[Haps]

I also think this could work, but I do not know where the dilution level would become lethal, because that is a reality.

 

[Balazar]

I just remembered something. I go camping a lot too, and I use a steri-pen to sterilize my drinking water. It's a pen with a UV-C light bulb in it that kills all of the organisms in the water with UV-C light. It takes about a minute and a half to do a liter of water. However you may be able to find a UV-C light like they use in hospitals for sterilization in your res. The only problem I can see with it is it will also kill the beneficial bacteria in your DWC. Just an idea.

 

[SpasticGramps]

I know bleach will kill anything. I use it to clean my equipment during cycles. I would have a hard time running in my rez, but if you dilute any poison enough you can make it fairly begin I guess. I'm curious to see how this turns out.

 

[bendoslendo]

People have tried the UVC aquarium fixture in DWC. Richyrich tried it I believe.

As for the bleach, I appreciate the experiment very much giblets, and look forward to the outcome. I hope it works out!