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#1
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newb question: keeping water at correct temps
just starting out here with a letter raft / bubbleponics type of system. Finally finished all the hardware, but filled the res with a few gallons of water and it's been sitting unaltered for soon approaching 24 hours. I was really testing for leakage but what I found is that the temperature of the water is way too cold. I need to get a thermometer but it's way colder then when I filled it. This from sitting in a room that is fairly small, fairly tight with a duct register in the room. Our thermostat is I believe set to 63F.
The lights were not over the setup, but I'm running FS cfl's (= 500w / real 110w) still doubt that would heat the water. So what is a good way to heat the water. I think aquarium heaters might work though it's Roughmate tote so I have no idea about the safety. Any ideas ? |
#2
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you cant get any thing better then a fish tank heater. 300watt heaters work great.
They have inline pool heaters, but i think that is way overkill for you. |
#3
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Yes the fish tank heaters will be perfect depending on how many gallons you are heating. They usually tell you what size fish tank heater they are for (5-15 gallons etc.) You can probably even use it for more gallons than that, as long as it's not way over like 50 gallons for a 15 gallon heater. Also most fish tank heaters that have pre-set thermostats are set at 78 degrees, that's too high. You want the adjustable thermostat models. The nutrient solution temp should be between 68 and 72 degrees, can be a little lower but should be not higher. You can get fish tank thermometers for around $2. Although I wouldn't recommend the stick on kind they are hard to read and I don't think they remain accurate that long.
Last edited by GpsFrontier; 01-29-2010 at 05:26 PM. |
#4
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Thank you people. I'll make a trip over to the aquarium shop and see what I come up with.
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#5
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Cool,
Dont cheap out and buy a hydor or some other cheap brands. Get a good titanium aquarium heater please. You can thank me later. |
#6
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Stuart PS I called the aquarium store near my house, their smallest titanium is 200W That's probably overkill. Last edited by stuartambient; 01-29-2010 at 07:22 PM. Reason: Addon |
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#9
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hold the boat
why are you worried about cold water, thats what we all strive for unless its clones or seeds. Obviulsy not freezing water but your not even close to that. wait tell you have cycled your lights and you'll get some heat. The big question is will you need air conditioning or a water chiller once the lights are running.
I just walked into my green room and it was a bit warm but not enough to activate my emergency program. went to the graph and saw the system was running my air conditioning re boot and de ice policy. the policy is not allowing for enough time for a full melt of the coils. the humidity sensor failed to signal the relay to activate it so the humidity got up to about 53% relative at 85 f. Little jungle love going on there. I excuted a re boot and went through the days grow jouranl and found the error. So a cheap way to heat the water for a few days for clones or seeds if you must is just to paint a floresent bulb black and stick the glass part of it in the water. hook it up to your light timer if you want or just lift it a bit out in aday if it gets warmer than you want and you can leave it on all the time you need to. Fish tank heaters in plastic tanks is a disaster waiting to happen every time. I cant count how many times i drained a tank and forgot the heat was on it. |
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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 01-30-2010 at 06:21 AM. |
#11
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Whay in the world would you clean the whole system at every nute change?
I still wouldnt use tank heaters unless it was extreme or clones. the extra few days the clones and seeds take is so much less hassle. for actaul plants in veg or flowering under lights its almost impossible to get the nute to cold? i'm sure some one will chime in from Michingan and and tell us about grwoing in a fish shack and using teh lake as aa aquaponics nute source and you have to pre heat it to not shock the plant. (i'm okay with this just dont want to here from them on it) For the rest of us, cold water is fine and newbies dont need the hassle of heat to content with tell they have spme practice with there new system. i run my systems in for a week with out plants, lights pumps everything. amazing what and how stuff works when you plan it all out and find out its a bit different. Also with no heat you grow a lot less shit in the water as far as algea. I wouldnt heat anything. but if you have to heat something for say clones or seeds let me recommend a actual fish tank. i prefer flaoting clones in styrafoam. i use the meat packing from the grocery store your butcher will give you a few or sell you a bag cheap. poke a hole with a writing pen and drop your clone through. set the temp at 75f no nutes no lights. like magic in a few days your in roots. no hormone either keep it simple keep it cheap. but if you use a painted florescent bulb it cant get to hot and melt anything and they dont break when cold water hits them like a fish tank heater and they are cheap and lots of different wattages. just remember that if you wanted to store drinking water for a emergency. best way to do it is a tank in the ground for darkness and insulation value. 45f or cooler and no lights nothing grows for the most part and nothing that kills you. i ahve a system on my guttter down spout that filters the leaves and stuff out and keeps the tank full. just FYI for new guys sometimes its nioce to hear what you can and cant get away with. on that same note hi tech everything grows best with automation all most everytime. but more important it lets you go on vacation. just dont add stuff like heat, next you have to add h2o2 to help clean it up then your using root products then water ph balancers. its like buying a cat to kill amouse then a dog to get rid of the cat then a cougar to get the dog and abear to get teh cougar and so on and so fourth. i never clean my system it stays in balance. truly this si what everyone should be striving for. also i should say before i get corrected algea isnt bad it just looks like it should be cleaned. I dnt buy the It oxygenates the water bit). but a good system can be perpetial and cleaning it tosses teh nutehydro into kaos. unless its a clone tank of course then its just you using nutes when you dont need to and lights when the plant doesnt need them and or not dumping the hydro really often. blah blah blah i should just grow some pot and then i could just make brownies and not get so carried away with heater posts. By the way my a/c is bak up and running again and the world is abetter place. just melted a ice chest of ice out of it. the air flow was also blocked becuase i have never cleaned the filter on it thinking it was clean room it should stay fine (wrong). I wrote a policy to email me on a regular period to clean the filter. |
#12
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is there a aquarium cooler on the market?
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#13
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Your better heaters will have a curcit to sense low water and turn off.
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#15
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Yes, I was looking into them last summer, but they are way too expensive for me. Something like $300-$600 for one that cools up to a 15 gallon tank if I remember correctly. Not to mention the electricity to run it.
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#16
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They also make these little guys called "IceProbes". Cheaper than a traditional "chiller"....but can cool quite as well as one either.
IceProbe Thermoelectric Aquarium Chiller, Nova Tec Inc |
#17
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chiller
I build my own chillers out of wall shaker units. i cut the condensor off and the evaporator off. then i buy two stainless plate exchangers off ebay and solder then on in there place. i add the high and low pressure fittings if there not already installed. I buy a can of hot shot refridgerant from the parts store and dump it in tell the system is cold.
a store unit is fine for a small system but a wall shaker starts out at 5 , 7 or 10K btu's. i have one in my shop right now i'm building for my 250 gallon hot tub fish tank for summer time. i think its a10k btu's got it off craigs list for $20 and the plates were 25$each and the freon is $8. takes about 4 hours to build. I wasnt suggesting any one keep tere nute at 45f i was stating that this is a safe place for water to be to keep it drinkable. Titanium fish tank heaters are the only way to go. But iof you were growing indoors you would realize taht you have to heat the room if its cold. with lights and in the dark cycle with a heater. so since the room is warm the nute will be warmed up. since we all grow about teh same temp indoors its the exact same factor for temp in my state as it would be in the midwest or hawaii. when you take control of your air climate the hydro will also fall into the right place. All the other creative heating and cooling stuff for the most part is for guys trying to grow sea of green pot plants hidden with non air exchanging rooms to keep teh smell down. my system runs this way only for the hottest few weeks. the rest fo the time i use out side air to cool the room as its free cool air. i use air filters from a furnace to keep it all clean. set the room temp at 75 or 85 depending on what your growing drop the night temps to 60 or 65 and use a heater if you have to. your walls and floors will get saturated with a base line of heat and it will all self reguate and your plants will have grow better than any dirt grow has grown. frontier what issue with the water are you worried about? I think cleaning tanks and containers is awful. in fact if i wee a newbie hearing that i would go grow in the dirt. thats a lots of time and effort and its not the fun part fo a grow at all. How about you run a grow through in a another system with out this cleansing and just do the normal once a week h22o2 doseing and what ever drain and refill program you want and see what or if it makes a difference. keeping stuff alive out doors in natural sunlight for a few months is so much easier i think than in doors. try keeping 60 to 90different varities fruitig and vegging for 2 or more years staright indoors with out cleaning the system once a week. drop the stress on those plants to. can you imagine changing the dirt out around your garden plants every week just to be sure there clean? also how are you getting any micro growth when your dumping the tank and then washing it all out.? Aslo once a week is way to ofetn to be dumping tanks and to expensive. two weeks is to much unless you ahve bad water and that can be fixed with a dehumidifier to keep the system full. cheap free pure water. or a nice solar still made from a kids pool and some black plastic will get a guy enough pur water from nasty pnd scum water to run a large in or out door system if the sun is out and if its not you probably dont need that much water that day if your grwoing out side. Lets not scare the new guys into a path of taking there systems donw and cleaning them.lets go with light blockage and cool nute temps and good nutes. hard to get inside my hydrofarm hoses and clean them once a week? I've heard of properly trained gerbals that climb right up in the whole with a litttle lube and do the job? I believe they can be had at richardgear.com |
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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 01-30-2010 at 10:55 PM. |
#19
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The problem may be growing outside. I grow inside and have not had any problem with stuff growing in my system.
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#20
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