Super Simple Sbb and Flow hydroponic setup- DIY tutorial *lots o pics*

[ResinKing]

If you set up the system correctly you should not get root rot- but I have had my run-in's with it. I just use hydroguard and that seems to keep everything nice and happy. Hydroguard is beneficial bacteria that pretty much colonizes all surfaces and makes it much harder for the other "nasties" to grow.

I don't understand the next part of your run-on sentence here about "45 my overflow".
And its possibly a BIG problem.. If you want to raise the reservoir then that is a big NO-no You can move it around on the horizontal plane, but as far as raising the res...nope...

The way this system works when draining utilizes gravity...water just flows "downhill" out the bottom of the buckets, through the plumbing, and out of the (not running) pump. If you raise the res then it will no longer be "downhill" from the buckets and they will not drain.

But if you just wanted to move the res in a horizontal fashion that could be done...but then you'd have to put in more plumbing, and you'd lose the safety of the buckets being right over the res.

Thanks for the reply Anima , I understand that gravity is crucial to the draining of the system. I have studied your posts.Excellent job mate.. What Im gonna do is have my Rez to the side and my buckets will be in the middle of the room ( 9 by 9 foot room). What I mean by 45 is the pvc fitting (like a 90 degree except I will use 45 degree keeping that gravity fall in mind) I will keep my buckets as low as possible (without affecting the drain) and use a wide Rez not a high sided one and then ill put the 45 degree fitting on the end of the overflow (say like your overflow) and run a length of pvc out of the 45 into the Rez in the side of the room. So basically the very same system as yourself just making some slight changes. The bottom of the Root bucket will most likely be 18 - 24 inches off the ground.If I can get a wide but long Rez tub in under it , all the better but it will be tight..Ill be drawing a fine line on gravity. Do you understand what Im trying to say..

 

[Anima]

Res- sounds like a plan at least...try it out...take pics... and let us know how it goes!

Heres a animated pic of the clone going into the large rockwool cube and into the system after being sprayed for bugs:

and a few more of the empty system, and the water aeration/ churnage:

and a huge nug:

Peace and kindness
-Anima

 

[mondragonlloyd]

HEY,MAN! THAT'S AN AWSOME SET-UP

 

[mondragonlloyd]

SET-UP

SET-UP

HEY MAN! I JUST MIGHT TRY THAT ONE THE NEXT TIME AFTER MY FIRST HARVEST ON MY BUBBLER SYSTEM.

 

[simedru24]

Hey Anima,

This thread is the exact thing I needed!
I've been working on a 3 site 3 gallon setup inspired by your post. I even have the same reservoir from Lowes. lol. Dont worry I got the calculation down.

3x3 = 9 gallons x 2 = 18 MINUMUM.

Anyways, I had a couple questions about my setup. Especially my light situation.
I have a 1000w hps/mh ballast and was wondering if you foresee any problems.
I will have a grow tent 4'x4'x6.5' tall, and am planning on using a cooltube with the light.
Im guessing that I'll also have to use my portable AC unit to cool it down, but 18 hours a day of running that will most likely burn it out...

Do you have any tips/suggestions on how I can keep this at a acceptable temp?
I think Im stuck with this light and tent....
I have no clue on how to get around this!

 

[Anima]

Heya simedru!!
Welcome to ICmag!
Great first post!! It looks like you have done your homework too

And it looks like you have your targets locked on the heat problem. ALL of us growers curse the summer- I think, to a certian degree..(badpun) I would recommend that you only run your big light (with hps bulb) at night on a 12/12 cycle just like flowering. But keep a CFL (or 2) running 24/0 until you want to induce flowering then just unplug the CFL, (or put it on a 12/12 timer too). Thats how I do it.

That way I am able to keep things relatively cool during the day, and only really need the air conditioner an hour or two before it gets cooled off enough outside to just turn on the celing fan and open some windows.

Good luck!

Peace and kindness
-Anima

 

[simedru24]

Awesome. Thanks for the fast response.

Sorry but Im a little confused...
Just to clarify, I should run an HPS for vegging? I also have a 1000w MH that I was planning on using for the veg cycle. Are you suggesting that I should just use HPS throughout the entire grow? (I thought MH for veg and HPS for flowering was the way to do it). Correct me if Im wrong.

As for the CFL's, you're saying that I should keep them on either 24/7 or 12/12. Since we're talking about heat issues, Im guessing that you mean that the cfls are on while the HPS/MH is off?

Also, isn't the veg cycle 18/6 and flowering 12/12? I just never heard of having lights on 24 hours a day. As you can see Im still a noob.

 

[Anima]

Awesome. Thanks for the fast response.

Sorry but Im a little confused...
Just to clarify, I should run an HPS for vegging? I also have a 1000w MH that I was planning on using for the veg cycle. Are you suggesting that I should just use HPS throughout the entire grow? (I thought MH for veg and HPS for flowering was the way to do it). Correct me if Im wrong.

As for the CFL's, you're saying that I should keep them on either 24/7 or 12/12. Since we're talking about heat issues, Im guessing that you mean that the cfls are on while the HPS/MH is off?

Also, isn't the veg cycle 18/6 and flowering 12/12? I just never heard of having lights on 24 hours a day. As you can see Im still a noob.

Yup you can use a HPS for vegging no problem. And combined with a 6500k (daylight spectrum/more bluish light) CFL you will be using DUAL spectrum which any grower will tell you is better than mh/CFL/ HPS alone.

I have never used a metal halide. You sure could use the metal halide if you want though.... I was under the impression that they were hotter(read: less efficient) than HPS. The bulbs loose intensity much faster. And they need to be housed in a hood with glass because they can shatter and become a fire hazard.

The only argument "for" the use of metal halide use in veg is because of the more bluish spectrum- which you get anyways if you use 6500k (cool white/daylight) CFL's. If I had one and just HAD to use it I'd run it alongside the hps.

And yeah I meant 24/7 on ALL THE TIME for the CFL's during veg. (with the MH/HPS only running 12on/12off hours a day). If you only run the big HPS light during the night you will save on heating/ cooling costs...get the point? Even though they are shining with less intensity a cfl is still bright enough to keep a plant from "thinking" it is in the dark.

Then just unplug the CFL to induce flower. (or put the light on a 12/12 timer so it only goes on during your "day" period along with the HPS... so you can keep your DUAL spectrum.)

The plants could give a shit less if you use 18/6 or 24/0 or 23/1 for veg... as long as the dark period isn't 12 hours or longer the plant will veg. The plant builds up compounds it makes during the dark period until they reach a critical level (around 12 hours of dark). This in turn causes the plant to release other hormones that case the plant to go into and keep on flowering.(unless you are running some freako ruderalis strain like lowrider (has siberian ruderalis bred in) which flowers no matter what.)
This makes sense because in nature the days start getting shorter when winter is approaching... and the plant needs to finish out it's life cycle before the winter comes.

So my veg cycle is 24/0 (always light shining) and 12/12 flower.

Peace and kindness
-Anima

 

[simedru24]

THANK YOU THANK YOU!

You've cleared up alot of questions for me regarding the veg timing. There's so many different responses out there I was kinda lost.

The idea of adding CFLs for Dual spectrum and less heat is a GREAT idea!
I will definitely implement that with the grow.

I have space for a couple more plants in my tent so I think im just going to do plants in soil alongside the ebb/flow. (I wish I could find a bigger res so I can do more than three 3gallon plants.) The one from Lowes is so cheap, i wish they made it in a larger size!

Have you been using that Lowes res for all of your grows? Imma have to devise a way to combine both reservoirs if I cant find another one around that price.

 

[briguy]

Way easy setup, thanks bro..

 

[chris1985]

This is informative and i love sites like this as they can save you so much time and most improtantly so much money as well in every aspect of growing from set ups, to lights seeds etc!

 

[simedru24]

Anima,

I've finally put together this rig, and it works like a charm!

I just have one question that is of concern. I implemented 3 x 3gallon buckets on the Lowes resevoir you used. BC of room issues, I had to place them diagonally across the res. Did you have any problems with water over flowing out of the buckets? If Im correct, the siphon is what manages the overflow...

I was wondering bc the end buckets seem to hover a little bit past the res. Im afraid that it did overflow, water would get everywhere! I should have kept this in mind before, but I'm wondering if we could manage with this system.

Any thoughts???

 

[Anima]

Heya all!

I'm glad this thread is still kicking and helping out people!!

simedru- No I do not have any overflowing bucket problems... but on a couple systems I have made I have had to do some modification to keep overflow from happening. The water level in the buckets will get slightly higher than the level of the overflow tube. So if you have any overflowing out of the top of the buckets you need to shorten the leg of the "upsidedown U" that connects to your plumbing. And make sure the other end (that the water flows out) is above the waterline when running a flood.

There is no siphon action!! The small hole in top of the overflow tube keeps this from happening. It's hard to explain... but the short and skinny of it is that the siphon action the setup is capable of (without the anti siphon hole) siphoning water faster than the pump can pump and once your buckets fill up and start overflowing they will empty out even with your pump running. Screwing up your flood times.

As an added precaution you could put the whole setup in a kiddie pool, or use a tarp/pondliner.

It's a good idea to do some test runs before you add plants/ hydroton.

Peace and kindness
-Anima

 

[simedru24]

Thank God you didnt have a flooding problem. I will look into seeing if i need to lower the upsidedown "U."

From the tests that I have done, it seems like it might be close to overflowing with growing medium in it. Im planning on using hydroton for the bottom 1/4 of the bucket and the rest with STG filling. Hopefully itll work well!

I'll keep you updated with pics and stats when I get this going.

 

[mondragonlloyd]

you have a lot of good info Anima that i'm always looking for since just started my grow in may. My lights are on a timer 18/6,is that okay for vegging? using 400 mh with hood

 

[mondragonlloyd]

here are some more pics I lowered my hood about 3inches above the scrog

 

[mondragonlloyd]

Just came upstairs after 2hrs.,my ladies needed some more nutes and water.Plus a little trimming.

 

[mondragonlloyd]

Amendment 20Need my medsNeed to get AK47 going

 

[simedru24]

Here's some pics of what I implemented off of Anima's version of the ebb/flow.
We got two plant in and am waiting for a third to complete cloning before putting it in the mothership. Comments, criticism ALL welcome!!

 

[Budley Doright]

Anima.... Im hoping you might be able to give some insight on how you/what you feed....

any help would be great....