# Reservoir water



## YYZ Skinhead (Feb 22, 2012)

People with recirculating reservoirs, how often do you change the water in them?  I have read/heard both 1 week and 2 weeks.  I will be changing every week with the Foothill Hydroponics trifecta of grow, bloom and hard water micro I am using because the label tells me so.  I assume uptake varies between strains, temps, fertilisers, chemicals in local water, _et cetera ad nauseam._


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## OGKushman (Feb 22, 2012)

Every 4 days. I try not to adjust, i just drain to the backyard and refresh. I have the best looking fruit trees. :rofl:


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## MaineWeed (Feb 23, 2012)

I'm cheap and don't change it unless I have a good reason....It all depends on the temps its been kept at and if I'm in a transition of grow to bloom. If resy is kept at the cooler end of the temp. spectrum then slime is less likely to form so why change it unless your changing your solution from grow to bloom?


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## Growdude (Feb 23, 2012)

MaineWeed said:
			
		

> I'm cheap and don't change it unless I have a good reason....It all depends on the temps its been kept at and if I'm in a transition of grow to bloom. If resy is kept at the cooler end of the temp. spectrum then slime is less likely to form so why change it unless your changing your solution from grow to bloom?


 
As with any hydro system, nutes dont have even uptake. And over time this causes a nutrient imbalance and possibly a lock out of some nutrients.

Not that it cant be done, I went a whole crop and changed the res twice.
It takes really knowing your plants, I think my harvest suffered.


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## OGKushman (Feb 23, 2012)

MaineWeed said:
			
		

> I'm cheap and don't change it unless I have a good reason....It all depends on the temps its been kept at and if I'm in a transition of grow to bloom. If resy is kept at the cooler end of the temp. spectrum then slime is less likely to form so why change it unless your changing your solution from grow to bloom?


Thats horrible advice. Your asking for root rot. I never recommend more then 7 days. If you look at ANY schedule, the nutrient strengths change WEEKLY. 

PH must be 5.3-6.3 or your plants won't grow properly. PPM must be in range or they will burn at too high, or not grow too low and show deficiency. MJ plants are known to take up water faster then nutrient and your PPMs will rise as will you pH in a healthy system. If yours don't change, there is a problem.


I'd bet dollars to cotton balls you don't check your pH or your PPM


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## trillions of atoms (Feb 23, 2012)

I know some people run the flood to waste to not worry about ph problems, some who change religiously  and some like me that change only when they have to. Ive run addback for months at a time and only had problem with salt forming on edges. nothing a quick wipe down and rinse if needed. 

I never have problems with root rot because my temps are cool and regulated, I screen my rez for particulate and it stays dark and clear... I dont see in my expierence that not changing your nutrients ( if it is arreated and clean) is linked to root rot.

I have swapped the res a couple of times in a harvest just to clean of any excess salt buildup in the tray and i dont have issues....  

im not trying to decredit your post, just adding my expierence with the dro.


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## akhockey (Feb 24, 2012)

In my ebb system I run lucas with GH no additives except a little Cal Mag. I maybe change my rez 3 times during a grow from start to finish. Like 1 time a month. Its a 35 gal rez and I keep a good eye on ppm and pH adding straight water when necessary and adding nutes when necesssary. I also look for issues such as slime and whatever but have never had any problems either. I actually have to heat my rez so I never have a prob with it being too hot and theres a large airstone in it 24/7 just because.


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## nouvellechef (Feb 24, 2012)

I never used to change for the full cycle. Not once. Larger te rez, less swing you will have. I ran a 500gal rez to a 55gal rez that flooded the buckets. But I also ran chlorine in the system, so any nastys would never be an issue.


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## Hushpuppy (Feb 24, 2012)

YYZ; if you average out all the responses you will come up to a change out every 2 weeks, which is what I do. But it depends greatly on how big your rez is and how strong your nutes are and how fast they are taking up the solution. If I was in DWC, I would change mine weekly, but I am in a top feed with a 15gal rez.I don't feed agressively, more like medium and They seem to do just fine with 2 weeks like that.  you may have to try a few different methods before you find the schedule that works for you.


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## trillions of atoms (Feb 24, 2012)

agreed hushpuppy, 

Alot of people will have different methods, as their individual setup changes...so do their needs.  

Stick to what you know, or what works well and keep tweaking what your doing!!

Great thread guys.


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## 7greeneyes (Feb 24, 2012)

trillions of atoms said:
			
		

> agreed hushpuppy,
> 
> Alot of people will have different methods, as their individual setup changes...so do their needs.
> 
> ...


 
:yeahthat: that's the rule o thumb i stick to through the years...


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## YYZ Skinhead (Feb 24, 2012)

Props everyone for the replies.  I always like reading my fellow growers' results with gear similar to my own.  

Hushpuppy, I am using a closed 14 gallon Rubbermaid tank with @3 inch cups, an aquarium heater and a timed intermittent top drip.  The ferts are Foothill Hydroponics Xtra-Edge 4-1-3 Growth, 0-5-3 Blossom, and 0.5-2-10 Hard Water Micro (all the water in So Cal is as hard as a diamond anvil).  I *probably* ought to have included my specs in the original post, d'oh :doh:


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## Hushpuppy (Feb 24, 2012)

Yeah yer setup sounds like mine. Just like TOA said, you have to find what works with yer setup and yer convenience. You could run drain to waste and never have issue with PH or nutes getting out of balance but that gets expensive and busy trying to replace it as often as it would require. 

I just watch my nutes and kind of figure how much i intend to use over a given period of time then I set up the initial rez and then top it up with water and a 1/4 dose of nutes so that it will hold ph balance better and be enough to readjust the rez as needed. I do this every other day until I notice the PH getting more difficult to control(which worked out with this strain and nute brand to be 2 weeks). You could probably start with 1 week and then let it run out to 2 weeks and see how well the ph works. I personally wouldn't run more than 2 weeks because of the dangers of how quickly changes can wack a hydro system


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## trillions of atoms (Feb 25, 2012)

The less ph dosing and more using r/o water and letting the nutes buffer is best ime. if it starts to swing...let it rise up higher than you normally would and then drop it back down lower than you want it....allowing it to rise back to the zone and get a full uptake of nutes.  If you can stay away from PHing every day it will help you run the same rez for a longer period of time. im on ebb and flow...ton with GH rez addbacks. I try not to waste. as long as you got plenty of  fresh nutrient ppm the buds blow up.


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## MaineWeed (Feb 26, 2012)

OGKushman said:
			
		

> Thats horrible advice. Your asking for root rot. I never recommend more then 7 days. If you look at ANY schedule, the nutrient strengths change WEEKLY.
> 
> PH must be 5.3-6.3 or your plants won't grow properly. PPM must be in range or they will burn at too high, or not grow too low and show deficiency. MJ plants are known to take up water faster then nutrient and your PPMs will rise as will you pH in a healthy system. If yours don't change, there is a problem.
> 
> ...



NutraDip 3 in 1 Trimeter now that we have gotten newfangled and things are easier, be a fool not to have one.
 I am not knocking anyone's knowledge because I know I am far from being "Mr. Hydro" but in the 20+ years of playing with various hydro systems "root rot" has never been an issue for me. What I do know though is read your plants and if its not broke don't fix it...some call it the K.I.S.S(keep it simple stupid)method. Far to many guys get anal about it and cause themselves more problems, headaches and most of all work that is just not necessary.


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## unlimitedblackx (Feb 29, 2012)

when you talk about slime, do you mean the thin slime that you feel on the air tubing in the res or bucket's, or are you talking about the snotty looking slime on roots i have seen picture's of ?? is the small slime film on air tubing normal ??


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## Hushpuppy (Feb 29, 2012)

They are the same I believe, just one is more advanced. It seems fairly normal to have a little bit of slime unless you are a stickler for doing water changes and cleaning. I get a little bit of build up in mine by the end of a grow but not enough that it concerns me. That may change when the weather gets warmer though as the warmer the water is, the easier it seems to get it out of control. Light discipline is also a must to prevent slime.


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## Bukshot911 (Mar 20, 2012)

Well I make sure to change my res at least monthly but it ends up being about every 2 or 3 weeks. I use an air Bubbler and RO water and never have algae or slime problems.
Just my 2 cents


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