The rubber ends are for cleaning purposes. the caps remove as well and I have a dust mop with an extending handle for cleaning the pipes.
The
pump is a 600gph mag drive in a 18 gallon container which is almost to small. the pipes hold 36 pepper plants 4 cherry bomb tomatoes and 2 ever-bearing strawberries.
Yes the valves are for regulating and isolation. I am installing valves on each tube drain for regulation of solution height. I am finding it hard to even the flow out on the pipes. I started buy using rubber grommets on the drain end and using a pipe to regulated height of solution in pipe. Then the solution sat dormant in pipe and I could see long term problems with that. So with the valves on the exhaust I can regulate height and still dump the pipes completely between cycles. exhaust = Drain
The
lights are t-8 fixtures with 8000 kelvin
bulbs in them I adjust the height to adjust the intensity of the light. I am going more for spectrum color then I am intensity. I want some intensity but am unsure as to how much yet.
I will take some pics in the afternoon and some after dark so the effects of the light can be seen.
they are now in color and day and night shots