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bubbly foam on the reservoir


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Old 01-04-2017, 03:29 PM
chopficaro chopficaro is offline
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Default bubbly foam on the reservoir

I recently, against someone's advice, added humic + kelp to my NFT system. Just as he said it would, it clogged my roots. So I cleaned the plants roots and replaced channel, pump, hose, and reservoir, and filled it up with 620 ppm of just maxigro + hydroguard. My air temp is 66, res temp is 67.6, humidity at 66, and that's a lot of 6's so i prayed to Satan too. He doesn't seem to be helping though, the old growth that was showing signs of death is continuing to die. The new growth looks OK though, and the roots are pearly white. My real concern is that there is some bubbly foam on the top of the reservoir and the ph seems to be rising to quickly. Give me some feedback plz u guys are really helpful. Thanks!

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Old 01-04-2017, 08:04 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Hello chopficaro,
Dead or dying roots don't come back to life. The hydroguard is a combination of beneficial microbes. Beneficial microbes feed on pathogens, sugars, and organic mater. Dead or dying roots are organic mater the beneficial microbes will feed on. The foam is a byproduct of proteins from microbes in the water, just like you see on the waters surface in the ocean as the waves splash the water around. Microbes consist of all microbial life and include both plant and animal life like fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, micro flora etc.. There are two types of microbes. Pathogens (harmful). and Beneficial (helpful).

Since your using the hydroguard which are beneficial microbe, it's more likely the foam is a result of the beneficial microbes than pathogens. Pathogens will feed on the dead roots as well, but since your reservoir temps are fine, and you have added the beneficial microbes it's much harder for pathogens to gain a foothold. However if pathogens were your problem in the first place, they already have a foothold and it's very difficult to reverse it even when using beneficial microbes. Especially if the food source (dead or dying roots) are still there for the pathogens to feed on.

Typical signs of pathogens in your system include, clowdy water in the reservoir, foam on the waters surface, bad (musty/moldy) smell, brown/black mushy roots, slimy roots. With that said, beneficial microbes can also cause clowdy water in the reservoir, foam on the waters surface, as well as a musty or moldy smell too. Especially at first when there's ample food source for the beneficial microbes to feed on and multiply. However beneficial microbes won't cause the brown/black and/or slimy roots.
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Old 01-04-2017, 08:45 PM
chopficaro chopficaro is offline
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It has been like 6 weeks and 2 reservoir changes since I have seen signs of root rot, the roots are now pearly white
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Old 01-04-2017, 09:37 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Hello chopficaro,
That's fine, did you read and understand what I said about microbes being the source of the foam? I did forget to mention your reference to the rising pH, but many things can alter pH, and microbes are one of them. However that may not even be related to the microbes or abnormal. You haven't provided any details about your pH observations, how you test it, how you adjust it, water volumes, how often you change your nutrient solution, if your using any other additives, your water source, size of the plants etc..

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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 01-04-2017 at 09:48 PM.
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