Hydroponics Forums Discussions - Questions about my setup

Hydroponics Forums Discussions (http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/forums/index.php)

- Your Hydroponics Setup (http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=5)

- - Questions about my setup (http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1620)

Questions about my setup

Hey guys!

New to this forum. I've set up my first hyrdo setup.

I used a 40 gallon fish tank, Painted it black. I made a "floater" out of 1" styro, ya know the pink stuff...

Anyways I made this set up before i knew "ebb and Flow" type systems.

My question does anyone use a "floating" type set up? the tank is 36"x18"x18"
I have 9 3" net pots in there. I now know 40 gallons is a bit much for only 9-3" pots..

Few questions
what should my PPM be at? I do have a tds.
One of my pumps or heater is leaking a bit into the water.. Like you can feel a sting if your grounded out and touch the water. is this bad for the plants

I have a 400 watt MH on a track
the tank is heated to 70 F.
2 9inch airstones
2 powerheads with air tubes.
9inch Fan to move air

sorry for odd questions

Thanks!

Quote:

what should my PPM be at? I do have a tds.

Quote:

One of my pumps or heater is leaking a bit into the water.. Like you can feel a sting if your grounded out and touch the water. is this bad for the plants

I am a bit unclear here, is it leaking hot water into your reservoir, or electricity into the reservoir? If it is hot water leaking then it depends on the nutrient temperature, you said it was about 70 degrees, that should be fine. If it's electricity, well that is indeed a strange problem. Electrical shock does not seem to be harmful to humans if it's low enough (ever stick your tuong on a 9 volt battery). I have never done any testing on that, perhaps a small jolt will even help the plants, but if it's to large (especially amperage) it will kill the plants (like tossing a toaster into the bath tub while your taking a bath). It also could be that the plants are not grounded, therefor not even receiving a shock. I would fix it any witch way, it would be a fire hazard. Not to mention if it gets worse and someone is not aware of the problem they could die.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier (Post 4822)

the type of system shouldn't have an effect on the TDS/EC or PPM, the type of plants and what stage of growth would. I don't even use one of these meters but if I know what plants you were growing, I could probably find out.

I have some pepper plants.. Some strawberrys and a couple tomatoes plants in there. Everything is small.. 2-8 inches tall only.. RIght now my PPM is around 600-650

I am a bit unclear here, is it leaking hot water into your reservoir, or electricity into the reservoir? If it is hot water leaking then it depends on the nutrient temperature, you said it was about 70 degrees, that should be fine. If it's electricity, well that is indeed a strange problem. Electrical shock does not seem to be harmful to humans if it's low enough (ever stick your tuong on a 9 volt battery). I have never done any testing on that, perhaps a small jolt will even help the plants, but if it's to large (especially amperage) it will kill the plants (like tossing a toaster into the bath tub while your taking a bath). It also could be that the plants are not grounded, therefor not even receiving a shock. I would fix it any witch way, it would be a fire hazard. Not to mention if it gets worse and someone is not aware of the problem they could die.

yes its electricity. Its a bad heated that will do it.

Dude, don't screw around with electricity and water. If you feel any electricity, find that problem. I'm not kidding, your life could depend on it. Electrical problems don't get better. They get worse. You don't want to wait until that happens.

Why are you heating your water? The air stones and light should do the trick. Air pumps produce heat and release some in the warm air they put out. The water pump should also be producing heat. It could also be a part of the problem if you have any exposure.