Question about smelly reservoir water..

[Groov]

I have a 40 gal panda reservoir with the lid and I am using RO water with GH 3 part(well 2 part because I'm doing Lucas @ 1200 @.7) on a recirculating rockwool drip system. I have the standard drain hole filter and then a mesh screen filter in the middle of the return line to filter out particles. I have had a problem with algae in my reservoir in the past, but only when using tap water, that I figured out is where the algae was coming from. Now I noticed when I had algae in the past it smelled pretty bad and the water was definitely cloudy. Now my res smells close to the same, but not as bad, just the same type of smell, but is clear and not cloudy at all. You can see to the bottom of the res fine. I have two air hoses bubbling water 24/7 and a bio-filter running 24/7 inside the res. Is the weird smell normal or does that mean I definitely have an algae problem? Could it be the GH nutes? Or maybe just that's how recirculated water smells once it has been in contact with rockwool and roots? Thank you in advance, I really appreciate it! - Groov

 

[MynameStitch]

You should not have any smell in your res,

what is your res temps? IS any light getting into your water or lines or hoses?
What color is your hoses?
How often do you change your system and flush and clean it out?

What color is your roots? Any slime anywhere?
If it smells there is bacteria so somehow either light entering, water temps too warm or your not changing your system out enough and keeping the system maintained.

Did not know GH nutes where clear......... I thought they had a brown color to them?

What color is your rockwool? Any green?
You got pics?

 

[Groov]

Res Temps are about 68F, a little bit of light getting into the removable lid part on the lid itself so the drain and pump lines can get into the water. However the lid is put over the lines so it is just kind of propped up a little bit, but then I cover all of this again with another larger lid to again reduce how much light gets in, but there is at least some. My hoses are black. Roots are I dunno they are in the rockwool so I can't see them. On the bottom they are white. I clean my reservoir out probably once a month. When I say my water is clear I mean it isn't cloudy and I can see to the bottom however it is BROWN from the GH. Thank you Stitch! Anything else I can answer I will, and I will try to get some pics up tonight of my res and such when I can. - Groov

 

[MynameStitch]

Get the light leak fixed right away, you should change and clean out your system every 2 weeks, 4 weeks is pushing it a bit..... to keep a healthy system 2 week flush max is recommended.

 

[Groov]

Okay but what to do about the light? If the hoses have to go into the reservoir, I really don't see way to go about it without letting some light in.. maybe drill a hole in the lid or something? Any advice on this? I'll post a pic of my res in about an hour and a half.. thanks again

 

[MynameStitch]

maybe drill a hole in the lid or something?

THat is what you will need to do, drill the correct size hole as to the size of your hoses.
Pics would help out a lot to see how your system is setup so I can get more ideas.