Ugh.... is Organic Bio Buckets actually possible?

[Tarbosh]

Ok, so Ive been trying to run bio buckets organically.... and I keep getting diatoms.....

Everything goes fine, clear water, until I put the plants in and give them their first feeding...... once that food hits the rez...... bam..... the diatomic explosion begins.....

is running organic bio buckets actually possible? is there any remedy for diatoms that wont kill beneficials?

diatoms just started showing up - this is day 1 after first feed

 

[raygun]

Are you sure that is just not benifitial bacterica developing to convert your organic nutes to usable nutes for your plants? Do you have picts? What are you using for nutes?

 

[Tarbosh]

Nutes I added yesterday - EJ Grow, EJ Bloom, EJ Meta-K, B'Cuzz organic root juice, hygrozyme and a smigin of both alaska fish and molasses for the extra N boost and bene food .... am pretty sure its diatoms..... fed yesterday and checked today and rez was all foamed up...... when this happens badly, usually brown spots develop on the foam and all over the side walls.....

its gooey brown...... and collects on the walls by the foam - took plant roots out and they were discolor slimed and a large one came off like hair falling off..... got pissed and just tossed my one lady in coco and said f - it for the moment till I can figure out wtf is going on.......

Last time this happened it got bad..... the insides of my 3/4 lines were covered in the crap...... I had to wash out completely and run h2o2 and dish soap before this second attempt..... was doing fine for the week build up - then when i added food- bam!

 

[raygun]

I know exacitally what you are experiencing. How to fix it is another issue. It's been a while since I ran bio-buckets and when I first started I was using the EJ and just gave up on that stuff. I don't think EJ works for any hydro application. I tried it in DWC before the BB's and just did not work for me (I was also just starting out so grower error was most likely part of the problem but I still never found it user friendly in hydro).

Now aside from bubbling a concentrated nute mix in a 5 gal bucket for 24-48 hours first to perhaps get the foaming out of the way. I don't know. I thought I read some people have said that Hygrozyme has reacted with their nute mix badly, i have never experienced that.

I know when I ran my bio-buckets with GH Floranova I would get a brown film inside the tubing and res but it never effected the plants. I always attributed it to the nute mix.

Perhaps changing to an organic like BC Techs Pura Vida or PBP may be the answer.
Good luck sorry I was not able to offer anything more.

 

[Django Masamura]

Ouch, I've had this problem time and time again, the foam and thick brown gunk. I don't the proper way to fix this but I do a cheap quick fix solution that has always worked for me. Invest in a cheap, low power pump, something that might barely have enough juice to do the job. I ended up having to do this after breaking my own pump during a fit of rage during a breakout of foam and such. The cheap pump hardly mixed the solution but the foam never rose again.