Modifying wilma for DWC recirc

[Frank Lopez]

Well according to the thread I linked using a bubbler in an already flumed tank will actually drop your DO levels and expose you to more pathogens than if you flumed alone.

I've been thinking about this for a while and I'm pretty sure people only sell bubblers with these kits to bulk it out and increase there turnover. At least that's the only explanation I can make for them being present in the kits.

[Guest komodod]

you basing your whole theory on one thread here rather than any other research availible online

oxidisation is a completely different thing to disolved oxygen. to measure that you need a DO(dissolved oxygen) meter.

the orp meter measure redox. which is oxidation. oxidation is not adding oxygen to water, its measuring how quickly other molecules are being oxidised.

so say you have carbon and its oxidising to co2 those meters will measure the rate of that.

good idea but wrong peice of kit. that meter does not measure dissolved oxygen.

(i posted you this by pm)

the guy didnt even use a DO meter, when the whole point was to measure DO. im not disproving the theory because ive not tested it myself, but you need to measure dissolved oxygen with a meter for it to be conclusive.

if im wrong then fair enough but i was thinking, you will need alot of surface movement... is there any other evidence of this apart from one thread that is here?

Edited April 6, 2012 by komodod

[Guest komodod]

Well according to the thread I linked using a bubbler in an already flumed tank will actually drop your DO levels and expose you to more pathogens than if you flumed alone.

I've been thinking about this for a while and I'm pretty sure people only sell bubblers with these kits to bulk it out and increase there turnover. At least that's the only explanation I can make for them being present in the kits.

the thread doesnt really have any evidence about pathogens either.. did it not occur to anyone, that if fluming drags more oxgen into the water from the air, it would also drag in more bacteria with it??

he may well have had a dirty pump/tubes/airstones? and he didnt test for pathogens anyway. its a bit of contraversal subject becasue bacteria flourish on oxygen too, so if you increase disolved o2, they will benfit too to a degree. eitherway its an interesting idea.

[Frank Lopez]

TBH I'm not that bothered about proving it.

I've shown a link, i've done my best to show yer. I've added my bit, why don't you add yours (Links etc)??

Its up to you to decide what theories you want to take into account when running your system.

I've been around on these forums for years (not saying you've not) and any experienced grower (not trying to be patronising) has taken this as a given form past conversations / threads.

Like I said, its up to you.

This thread is not about the difference between Fluming and Bubbling, this has been discussed many times before and as outlined, the theory is widely accepted.

This thread's purpose was just to show an effective Wilma Mod.

If be we'll have to agree to disagree.

Edited April 6, 2012 by Frank Lopez

[Guest komodod]

TBH I'm not that bothered about proving it.

I've shown a link, i've done my best to show yer. I've added my bit, why don't you add yours (Links etc)??

Its up to you to decide what theories you want to take into account when running your system.

I've been around on these forums for years (not saying you've not) and any experienced grower (not trying to be patronising) has taken this as a given form past conversations / threads.

Like I said, its up to you.

This thread is not about the difference between Fluming and Bubbling, this has been discussed many times before and as outlined, the theory is widely accepted.

This thread's purpose was just to show an effective Wilma Mod.

If be we'll have to agree to disagree.

yup fair enough like you say i had a few pages open i could have linked but closed them and can be bothered to find them again. ive been around like yourself, ive had some experience with bigger dwc systems where i had about four airstones to one plant- bigger plants than normally grown in dwc. all im saying is that to measue DO you need a DO meter and not one which measure oxidation which is a different thing. but then i get into my science because i studied it to a higher level than most..

so we agree to disagree.. i will say if you look up DD and his medpatient buckets( an idea he kind of copied from heath but refined) you will get some good ideas. im suprised you have not seen those around if you are on the other forums, DD is quite a show off, he got massive yields from his system.

all i will add is that ive found the bigger the root system the better the yield and the more DO in the water the better(however you choose to increase it). do look up the mpb by DD tho if you get a chance.. good luck.

edit.. i switched to coco, it was a lower maintanance compromise although i love dwc, i wont be doing it again for a while.

Edited April 6, 2012 by komodod

[Frank Lopez]

Yeah I'm doing coco in a wilma 4 big also. using Plant Magic nutes and there looking like 6 weeks veg with just 5 weeks. Previously to this I was passive feeding Lucas formula in P/v or Fytocell.

The only reason I decided to do this was to enter the Sweet Seeds Diary competition and try to get +3.5 oz a Girl using Auto Green Poison.

1st prise looks sweet as but I wont be able to get the grow done c/w smoke report before 6th june

Maybe as you mentioned some more scientific tests need to be done comparing Fluming to Bubbling but as it stands I'm pretty happy to go with this evidence, which is a pretty good indicator whatever way you look at it, isn't it?

But even if they are the same I'd still be better off fluming as its silent, whereas bubbles and air pumps are frickin noisy mothers.

[cf]

I'm behind the idea that the bubbles can introduce unwanted stuff into your res.

A while back I had a 20gall cold water cistern for my res using nft, I had a circulating pump as the res was quite deep and there wasnt much movement with just the trickle from the nft.

I introduced an airstone for one grow , no problems but no noticable improvement.

After the first grow I built a small box to go around the air pump with some expanded foam insulation (yellow kingspan type stuff) because the pump was audible outside the grow room despite it being on carpet etc.

The box heated up and made a nasty smell, obviously some component of the insulation was reacting to the heat from the airpump, by the time I had identified the smell and removed the box my plants had been poisoned , all the leaves were curling over and dying.

Airpumps dont seem very efficient at introducing oxygen into the solution but they seemed quite good at transferring whatever it was in the foam that was being given off under heat.

[Guest komodod]

yeah it does depend tbh if you use fish tank pumps they are pretty shit if you get the metal industrial type made for bigger systems they are good. i guess if you were hell bent on using a pump, you could use some kind of filter. not sure if they make those.

can you get any vertical lighting going? that would bump up yield. ive toyed with the idea of having some lights rigged up just above pot level to see if i can get the popcorn to fill out.. but then thats more leccy which defeats the object for me.

[Dirk-Diggler]

@Joint hoggerI know this is an old thread but did you go ahead with this in the end?

 

The reason I am asking is I have just discovered that my plants roots have made it into the Wilma res and I dont have any airstones in there so I am a little worried that it might lead to issues.

 

Looks like the main way to convert the wilma into DWC is to drill holes in the pots and the top of the wilma. Not sure this would work though as it would stop the pots holding the clay pebbles. Any other ways to convert?

 

Thanks

[Joint hogger]

no mate, I decided not to get the wilma & stuck with soil tho I did get an autopot set up but Im yet to set it up yet.

[badbillybob]

drill the holes smaller than the clay balls?

and if you don't want to get airstones in the res, put the feed pump on constant.

if you have the pots just full of clay balls. it will just work like a hydrofarm/waterfarm system then. 

Alternatively, put the airstones on a timer, but make sure the air pump is higher than the water level, to prevent back syphoning.

 

ive not used one, but if I was going to do this id have an airstone in there and just run the drippers off a timer.

the thing is, if you are going to do that, you would be better off just getting some dwc buckets imho. 

Edited April 1, 2020 by badbillybob

[drgreeno]

Im a modded wilma 6years im not superfarming it heath style watch my threads next few days n jump in if u like see how i rock it.

 

Gettin a kg off mine easy hoping to increase it