Thread: Pump Flow
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Old 12-02-2015, 07:07 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Lake Havasu AZ.
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First to me a bath smell's like soapy water, and no my reservoir's never smell like soapy water. Our tap water tends to smell a little like chlorine because they use chlorine to chemically clean it. I mostly use RO water in my systems, and RO water doesn't really even have a smell to me. Water with nutrients in it naturally always seem to have some smell to it, but it's not strong or over powering.

I'm not familiar with the nutrients your using. I'm in the Unites States, and I don't think they sell them here. But even if they did, I haven't seen them. I think that's interesting that they are a milky color and turn clear in water. I have never seen that, I have seen them be green, pink, brown, but never clear. Not saying that's bad, just different.

I can't say what your smelling, and I'm not there to smell things my self. But you may be smelling some result of the water coming in contact with the plants roots because there was something on the roots to begin with. You may be smelling some result of contact with the growing media, it's even possible that the plants them self are extruding some chemical from the roots into the water.

Other than what you say you smell, you don't seem to be having any of the psychical symptoms that would suggest a problem. Your water is clear and not cloudy, no foam or anything unusual floating in it, the plants roots are white and healthy, nothing slimy on the roots. So unless something changes, I wouldn't worry about it. Even if there were pathogens growing and multiplying in it, there isn't much you can do about it withough't risk of harming the plants. The only thing you can do without harming the plants is to buy some beneficial microbes, and add them. But that can be expensive especially with how little you would need to use. Even if you tried that, the beneficial microbes will give off a bad smell as well, and adding to much can be harmful too.

The only other things you can do is add some hydrogen peroxide, or bleach/chlorine. But both have their risks of killing the roots, and can be very harmful to your plants before they kill off the pathogens. Even if the plants survive, it's very likely that you wont be able to get rid of the pathogens completely. If any of the roots die, that will just be a source for new pathogens as well.

Unless your plants/system show real signs of something being wrong, I wouldn't worry about it. If they do, then identifying it and figuring out where it came from is the important thing to prevent it in the future. Then tear down the whole system and scrub it thoroughly with soap and water. Let it dry and then sanitize it thoroughly with bleach water. And start fresh new plants.

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