Looking for tips on setting up a waterfall RDWC system

[Dr Krieger]

I had a "bubbleponic" setup (I'd link it but don't want to get in trouble for abusing links in my first post just google bubbleponic and it's the first result if you're curious) that worked well. I always hated having to change the water (shop-vac to drain and 5 gallon buckets to fill get heavy especially with my back issues) and the manifold with 1/4th drip tubing got gunked up and clogged it's outlets really quickly plus each bin had it's own pump and manifold that needed to be cleaned making even more work. I recently saw Kara's Bible - Hybrid DIY Recirculating DWC System - Master Kush Grow and was inspired to start another hydro grow but with minimal effort for water changes and cleaning. The things I loved about Kara's system was:

• Each system can be drained with valves (no lifting or shop vac required)
• Each system has a water input that can be controlled with valves (no lifting buckets of water)
• The veg room has a drip system (to help the roots to grow past the net pot and be ready for DWC)
• The veg room recirculates it's water (only 1 PH to check for all the plants in that system)
• Buckets drain on the bottom not the side (no 1 inch of water left when draining I know that there will be some left but less than there would be if mounted on the side)
• There's a water agitator to mix the nutrients (one less thing to do but am not sure if this is needed in a recirculating system)

Some issues they said they ran into were:

• "The new Veg area worked great, except I forgot to put the Ebb filters in the bottom of the buckets, and a few Hydrton went through and clogged a bucket... Oops! Water everywhere... Atleast I caught it before it dumped 24 gallons. "
• "I don't use the recycle DWC system anymore. It was a pain in the ass and made the roots grow down in the outlet and tubes... and overflowing water making a huge ass mess wasn't fun, so I ditched it before I posted pics...(Wish I could change my thread title)... I just use DWC now. "

It seems like if I can solve the issue of drainage getting clogged this would be a great setup. I'd like to have the veg and flowering systems both recycle the water because I'd only need to check the PH once per system and I could check midweek . I was also thinking of trying a waterfall in the flowering system to avoid needing an air pump and stones. Like I said before I've done a "bubbleponic" system before but am definitely not a plumber and wanted some input before I invest in a bunch of supplies.

 

[Dr Krieger]

After digging around multiple forms I've read that adding a screen will still let roots through and can damage the roots when you try to pull them out. The best solution I've seen is for the containers to be deeper, have more than 1 drainage outlet and use bigger outlets. My idea is to use two 2" bulkheads on opposite sides of the bottom of the container. This should only be needed in the flowering system where the roots have developed a significant amount.

 

[Bigjake8]

If your going 2 inch you shouldn't need 2 drains in the bottom
How many buckets do you want
Use shower drains in the bottom with screens about 8 bucks a piece and 2 inch pvc fits right in them wipe the screen once in awhile and good to go
Feed with 3/4 in the top or side near the top so you can still pull the whole lid off and go
reduce it to 1/2 inch at the bucket will keep everything ballanced in the feed line must have a good pump to keep up rule of thumb is 100 gph gallons per hour per bucket
At the pump have a t and 2 valves have one going to feed and one you can attach a hose to to drain it

 

[multiVortex]

I sent you a pm with some links and more info, since we're not really supposed to post them in the open forum.

3" PVC on your return lines is a must, with as few turns as possible.

The way mine is set up (now) there are no bends anywhere, other than coming up and out of the tent and into the res. All 3" pipe. Not a problem whatsoever. The way it runs is there are two places per bucket (13 gal ez stor) for the return to exit, and it all kind of mixes around and some goes each way. Roots all stay in the bucket, and don't clog a thing.

2" pipe just won't cut it in the long run.

 

[Dr Krieger]

I just wanted to post an update here for anyone who might read through this later. multiVortex helped me out via DMs so I thought I'd post some of the info I received so others can benefit from it. Some of the things they suggested are:

• Use the sides of the container not the bottom for flow (they will get clogged and there's no good solution around that)
• Use square/rectangular containers (a round one will be harder to get a good seal on)
• The more connections the container has the less chance the roots will get clogged compared to a single connection
• Look into systems that come ready, parts and tools can get expensive quickly
• Make sure you have enough space for the containers (I had planned on using a 4x4 tent but after changing to square/rectangular buckets I will need to bump up to a 4x6 or so just to fit the containers excluding fans and other things)
• You don't need a huge res a container the same size will do just fine (I had planned on using a big bin as a res but it really isn't nessisary)
• A system with a lot of water can cost a lot with liquid nutrients so it's worth looking at alternatives

They also drew up this layout diagram for me.

Once I have it built I may drop a link on this thread to show how it went if you're interested on how this built went.