Buds Buddy Does DWC: Critical 2.0 For The 1st Time

Here's what's happened so far:
6-2: I prepped DWC Buckets with 3.5 gallons of water, 7 ml. of Hydro Guard & 7 grams of Mega Crop. pH was 6.3 after adding. Added 2.5 ml. of pH down to get to 5.8. Then I ran the buckets for 24 hours with the Air Stones without plants.
6-3: pH went up to 7.1 in 24 hours. added 6.5 ml. of pH down to reach 5.8. Put the plugs / plants in the Hydrotron.
6-4: pH went up to 6.3. Added 2.5 ml. pH down to reach 5.8. Bucket Temps were 72 & 73 F. one Bucket was 450 ppm & the other was 348 ppm (not sure what it should be). Doesn't seem to be hurting anything. Then there's this reading I don't know what it means. Kind of looks like a us/cm.
It reads 906 in 1 bucket & 755 in the other.
6-5: pH dropped to 5.5. Added 8 ml. of pH up to get to 5.8. Bucket Temps were both 72 F.
333 ppm in 1 bucket & 450 ppm in the other. That us/cm thing said 802 in 1 & 655 in the other.

Is this normal for DWC so far or am I needing to change anything ?
 
Today I got my new pH Pen, TDS / EC Pen, Scale, Carbon Filter & Drain Site Tube Kits. I've put 2 buckets together & No Leaks .... Amazing. Also ran the air lines different & bought 2 more stones for the other 2 buckets. I have them sitting full of water for 24 hours for a bucket change tomorrow.
Seems like these plants are growing awfully slow to me. Maybe just my impatience since this is only the start of day 4 in the buckets. They just seem to be sitting there alive & not growing. Maybe these lights I bought just to keep a mother alive aren't cutting it. I'll probably put up the Mars Hydro TSW 2000 in that tent tonight.

Here's a few pics from last night ....
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Go Roots Go !!!
 
What should the EC & ppm be for plants about 8 - 10 days old ?
 
A little update for you. Well yesterday got hectic because my Pekingese is going blind. I've taken him to numerous vets & the medications aren't working. Anyway, with all the running yesterday trying to get him help somewhere I forgot to check pH, temps, etc. Didn't seem to hurt anything as of yet.
Today I did a Bucket / Nute Change. Now using the Buckets with the Site Tubes installed & air line going through the side of the bucket instead of through the net pots. Much nicer this way.
After adding Hydro Guard & MC pH came out 5.9 so didn't bother to lower it. Good enough.
With 7 grams of MC per 3.5 gallons of water I get a ppm reading of 448. Should I go down some on the MC ? I'm not seeing any bad reaction so far & the plants look a little on the light green side. Could be because they're still babies.
As I said previously, I didn't think the lights I was using were going to do. So I switched out the lights with the Mars Hydro TSW 2000 @ 50%. About 24" above the plants.
Now I'm a little concerned about Temps. That light changed my temp from 77 F to 81 F. Not sure how much this will raise water temp. It's been staying at around 71 - 72 F up till now. Guess I'll know tomorrow. I even put the Ballasts outside the tent.
RH has been low. About 35 - 40% so I turned on the humidifier today. Also turned on the 2 small fans. May turn on the exhaust tonight. Waiting to see what temps are in an hour or two.
Still no roots coming out of net pots.
Here's a couple of pics from tonight.
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Things are not going well with using the Mars Hydro Light. Getting way too hot (86 F). Exhaust fan on high & 2- fans on high. I'll try to figure something out but I'm not counting on it as I don't care to invest any more money into DWC till I see results.
 
I put the 6 gallon humidifier in the tent. Dropped temp to 81 F right away & RH up to 45% so far in about 10 minutes time. Need to get it a few degrees cooler still. House AC is on 75 F so it's kind of chilly.
I obviously need that air conditioned grow room done for things to work well. I'll have it done by Friday if I can make the plants survive till then. If not ... I guess it'll be a do-over.... lol.
If they make it I'll buy a bigger air pump. What size pump would you guys use to supply air to 4 Buckets ? The one I have is 40 liter for minute (which I thought was good); but the guy at the Hydro store is telling me the one I have is barely enough for 1 bucket. Once again I bought the wrong thing from the way it sounds. I wish people would give me more details on exactly what I need to buy instead of just saying ... "You need an air pump like this (with a picture)". My dumb ass always forgets to ask more details because I want to solve issues fast & jump the gun & order before I get more info.
LMK on the air pump please. Thanks !!!
 
@Pennywise What size pump would you go with ? I'm not sure if the Hydro Store is just trying to sell me something or if I really need a bigger pump.
 
40 liter a minute should be lots, i run one 4 outlet ecoair thats 960 liters a hour, this is running 4 stones, and it seems to work fine, the plants don't complain, just make sure your air lines are all the same length.
 
I’d get at least a 960, you want something big to really churn the water to keep everything in suspension. Airstones don’t add huge amounts of oxygen unless it breaks surface tension at the top.
 
420 is where I first started getting my seeds. Accepts credit cards just have to call the card company and say you are purchasing an overseas order for a estimated amount (make the amount above what you want to pay, I made that mistake once) they may ask you from what company but you don’t have to say. I always say I haven’t made my mind up yet between a few “internet companies” but I won’t go above this price...... have always received them within a week ( I live in Hawaii). They also guarantee their delivery for free. If it doesn’t get to you for one reason or another they will re-ship at their cost. Good company.
 
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