whats the best hydro/lighting/fan system for the homebox & homebox xl?

[xsailbox]

whats the best hydro system for the homebox & homebox xl?
the homebox is 39 1/2 x 39 1/2 x 78 3/4
and the homebox xl is 47 1/4 x 47 1/4 x 78 3/4
I was thinking of either building a recirculating bucket DWC or the biobuckets.. whats better?
Or am I better off with a aeroflow 36 or ebb-flow setup?

as far as lighting i have a lumenace electric ballast 400w w/ hortilux hps & mh bulbs.. should I up it to 600w?

Fans I have one of those stanley blowers you could buy at walmart and I also have a hydrofarm 140 or 170 cfm squirrel fan. which one should I use?

reflector I have a daystar ac

odor control Ibuilt a pro style carbon scrubber

 

[clowntown]

The best system is whatever type of system you feel most comfortable running.

~50 wpsf would be pretty kickass. I wouldn't put a 400w in an XL.

 

[xsailbox]

well right now im leaning towards either the recirculating dwc or the biobuckets...
anyone know how they compare?
I like the idea of having the plants in seperate buckets if I ever have to move it around it can be done pretty easily..

 

[clowntown]

Bio bucket people love bio buckets. But BB's aren't for everyone, in every situation. Read more about the system in BigToke's thread, look at other people's setups, and you'll get a better idea of it and how you want to set up your system, how it will fit, etc. (Sounds like you haven't done much of this.)

I took a lot of interest in BB's before, but I feel that it just does not fit my situation very well. Takes up too much space (somewhat subjective), some extra height required for the waterfall, plus the extra issues with taking down in a hurry. I know all of these issues can be debated by some BB fans, but for me it just doesn't work out especially not in a HomeBox.

As they say, to each his own.

 

[xsailbox]

i think I will be goin with either 5 gallon buckets and a dwc or a recirculating dwc in a homebox xl w/ 600w digital ballast light
Im leaning towards the regular dwc b/c it seems that the recirculating reservior would take up alot of space which could be used for more dwc buckets...
I was thinking of using 5inch netpots w hydrocorn..
is there any advantage to installing drippers also?
I was thinking of using a single airpump for each bucket w/airstones.. how strong of a pump? stronger the better?
i think this will be a better option because of the ease of transport/ adding/removing if needed..seems the recirculating dwc isnt quite as transportable...
how many buckets can I put in there ? round or square?
as far as reflector im gonna use the daystar ac.. or is there a better one for this setup?
hows the 140cfm hydrofarm fan w carbon scrubber? strong enough?

didnt u mention u were doin a recirculating system in ur homebox?(or was it homebox xl?)

 

[xsailbox]

anyone else have any input?

 

[clowntown]

I don't believe any of those questions are specific to grow tents; just vanilla growroom questions. You can fit just as many buckets into a 39x39 HydroHut as you can in a 39x39 cardboard box. All of those questions can be answered by you, how many buckets you feel like running, what size and what shape you want them to be, whether to recirculate or not, etc.

 

[h g]

you will need bigger fans, at least 6 inch for extraction connected to a cool tube or air cooled super nova and a 4 inch one blowing in

 

[clowntown]

I don't believe you need a 6" fan for cooling a 600w. A Vortex 4" (or equivalent) will work. And I don't think you need a Cool Tube, any decent AC reflector would work just fine. A 6" fan is nice, but definitely not needed.

Cool Tubes are great and all for small confined spaces; but at least for the 'standard' Cool Tubes (as in, Hydrofarm Value Cool Tube or similar design), the light footprint sucks and the reflector design sucks. If you have the space, forget the Cool Tube. IMHO, anyways.

I'm currently using one temporarily in a pretty confined space (18" wide), and have plans on taking the reflective insert out and using it to try vertical / side lighting in the future.

 

[h g]

when i was using a 600w hps, a 4 inch fan caused me nightmares with the heat issues. if you want to be safe get an 8 inch one, 6inch will do the job tho

u definately need a cool tube or air cooled hood

 

[clowntown]

What kind of 4" through which reflector with what type of ducting ventilated how?

 

[Rush Limbong]

You can't have a big enough fan to cool hoods "IMHO".

Why take a chance with a 4' , when you can get a 6', and know it'll do the job right.

 

[kokua]

Clowntown is right on with what I've experienced as well...I've had a 600 in a 3x3 with a 4 inch 180 cfm canfan...I can keep the inside box within 5 degrees of the outside temperature zipped up and light on for 18 hours per day.

I like ebb n flow for the simplicity...If you went with either bucket system, were you planning on having your reservoir on the outside of the box? You would almost have to put it on the outside so it doesn't waste valuable floor space. With ebb n flow you can position the table above the res so you loose no floor space...you do loose vertical space...but you've got 7' to work with.

DEFINATELY NO AEROFLOW!!! That would be a mess...and wouldn't fit in the first place

I would get a 4x4 box with a 600 HPS and a 3x3 ebb n flow system. Most 3x3 trays wont fit in the homebox...most 4x4 wont fit in the homebox xl. I tried...

Most important part...your reflector MUST be aircooled, its the only way. Like I said earlier... I have got away with using a 4" reflector and fan a 6" would only keep it cooler. Since you already have a daystar AC...I would get a 6" inline metal fan...that will keep your daystar cool to the touch with a 600. The fan isn't cheap...you can sometimes find em online or on ebay for a steal.

http://www.wormsway.com/detail.asp?sku=CMF610

 

[clowntown]

When using "foot-measured" flood tables in these tents, HydroHut has one small advantage: their "3x3" isn't actually 3' x 3', it's slightly oversized (39" x 39") to be able to easily accomodate an actual 3' x 3' table. Same with their "4x4".. it's actually 52" x 52". HomeBox is 39" x 39" I think, but the XL is 47" x 47" ... a tad bit small to be able to fit a 48" x 48" table without cutting the outer lips/edges off and having the tray's bottom rest on a platform rather than the edges hanging onto a frame.

I went with a HomeBox XL and if I ever do tables (I want to try it in the near future, up to 60 plants SOG) I want will need to take those limitations into consideration.

 

[kokua]

thanks for the clarification clown I only have experience with the homebox version. I know that I have tried to fit both botanicare and canadian trays in both size homebox's...neither fit. there is always the possibility that there is another brand that my local store doesn't carry that might work.

 

[Guest]

the 3'x3' ebb & flow tables are 41"x41"OD (36"x36" ID) and the 4'x4' tables are 53"x53" (48"x48" ID), and my 3'x3' botanicare ebb & flow system barely fits in my homebox XL.