Bubbleponics: water temperature question.

[Panos]

This is my first hydro attempt.
Reached the early veg state.
Things look good but when I went to refresh the water noticed:
It was quite warm. 84F.
Is this a problem?
How important is the water temperature anyway?
Thanks,
Panos

[JohnC]

One of the most important parts of growing hydro are your water temps. Keeping your rez between 66 and 72 degrees F will allow your water to absorb as much dissolved oxygen as possible. The higher your temps go, the less oxygen your water is able to absorb.

[JohnC]

Some additional information about water temps:

The sweet spot for hydroponics is about 68°F-72°F: this seems to be the range where water can absorb the most dissolved oxygen (DO). Below 68°F, biological cellular activity slows which can slow nutrient uptake and growth in the plant. Temps above 72°F will drop DO levels enough that root rot might set in in the reservoir.

I just started a DWC grow for the very first time so I've been trying to read and absorb as much as I can. Of course, nothing is better than real work experience and I'm learning stuff as I go along, too.

[Panos]

Thanks for the info.
I am at a lose as to how to control my water temperature.
Any suggestions?
I suspect the temp rising is caused by the water pump--just a guess.
I guess I could dump an ice cube once in a while but can't think of any other way.
My grow room temp is in the mid 60s.
Oh-- would a small fan to bring in more outside air help?
Panos

[furrysparkle]

Something like this hooked up to some metal tubing flowing into your res and back out into a bucket of mostly ice with a little water and set on a timer, you can figure out how long you need to chill the res through experimentation.

Submersible Water Cooling Pump 160GPH (600L/H) Amphibious Outdoor Birdbath Pump For Aquarium, Garden, Pond, Waterfall, Fountains, Fish Tank, Hydroponics https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071ZYXKCD..._1o5HzbREEWM9P

[ellz]

Hi Panos and welcome. The water temps you have are much too high and you should work to lower them as best you can. Higher temps can decrease grow rate and increase the chances of root rot. That being said, there are a number of things you can try...

- Wrap the reservoir with insulating reflective wrap similar to this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Reflectix-3...5-ft-L/1014123
- Use only cool water when changing your reservoir. You could put the water in the refrigerator before adding it to cool it as well.
- Use some plastic bottles (20oz soda bottle, 1-liter bottle) and fill it with water, freeze it then place it in the reservoir to cool the water. Just be sure the lid is tight so it won't leak.
- Buy an aquarium cooler (very pricey and uses quite a lot of power).
- Build an aquarium cooler (you can use a peltier cooler or a radiator with fans). I am currently working on this myself.
- Try a combination of the above to get the temps where they need to be. Sometimes a combo is needed to keep temps down. For example, using the ice bottles without having insulation will cause the water to warm faster.

[abadtrip]

There are lots of ways u can cool your res the cheapest is freeze water bottles and swap them out every day. I personally only have a problem with temp in the middle of summer so I am going to add an ice probe. I know there was a thread going about the peltier cooler ://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum/growing-community/116456-50-peltier-water-cooling

[ellz]

All great suggestions. I would say if you use the Ice Probe cooler you may want to insulate the reservoir to boost the cooling ability. They do work really well either way but they work best with insulated reservoirs from what I have read.

[abadtrip]

I do want to insulate my res any ways I never knew what I should use. But that stuff u posted from Lowe's looks the ticket.

[ellz]

Yeah I am using it and it has helped me a lot! I am only using a PC cooling fan blowing in to the reservoir but it keeps my temps down an extra 5-10ºF from what I started with by using that insulation.

[Sammy]

After going through many problems and root rot last year pretty much gave up on dwc. Over the course of the winter did a lot of reading research on this website as well as others. So I invested in a thermal ice probe it's actually made for a aquarium I'm using the same 10 gallon totes at Walmart right now I'm running 4 gallons of water, temperature stays between 64 and 66 plants freaking love it. They don't show any signs of slow growth at that temperature. Plant is literally growing like a weed, The Roots growing almost as fast as the plant. So far I haven't even had to adjust pH yet start off about 5 7 it was at 6 1 when I changed out last night. Oh yeah also failed to mention I did insulate the container quite well that seemed to stabilize the temperature.

[ellz]

I think this is the one he is using Aloner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001JSVLBO...a-319865085565

[Aloner]

Nice! So you just need a temperature controller to turn it on and off? Sounds easy enough. Thanks!

[ellz]

Yep...you can run it without the temp controller but you will have no control over how cool it will get other than unplugging it.

[Sammy]

[ellz]

alltatup Sammy here had a post on it a while back: http://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum/...-water-cooling

Basically, it uses the peltier effect to cool one side of a module and heat the other. The cold side gets freezing cold while the hot side gets scorching hot. Water passes through a cooling head that is chilled by the peltier and then cool water returns back into the system. Here is a website where a guy built one himself for his fish tank: http://www.shine7.com/aquarium/chiller.htm

That thing I linked is basically an all-in-one unit with a thermostat. You would just need to provide a power supply and either use the water pump you have now or get a separate DC powered pump and run it off the power supply for the cooler. If you use your existing pump, you would want to pump the water to the cooler straight from your reservoir, then back into the drip system. Otherwise, you would just have a separate pump that cooled the tank.

[alltatup]

ellz Thanks so much for that info!! I've bookmarked the post and I will see what I can make of the other page!! Ready to learn this stuff!

[ellz]

alltatup No problem. If you need help with it, let me know. I have a good idea of how it works.

[JohnC]

Regarding water temperature in a DWC, I know that the optimum water temp is around 65 degrees or so.

Assuming that Hydroguard is being used in the reservoir to prevent root rot, at what temperature does water temperature really become a problem? In other words, when do you start seeing problems with your plants and what kind of problems would you be looking for?

Checking my last grow journal, my ambient air temps averaged in the mid-70's during the day and it would drop to the upper-60's at night. Without using a chiller of some type in my reservoir, I'm expecting the water temps to mirror that. I'm using LED grow lights so they are not throwing off much heat. So I'm wondering if I'll be able to do a complete DWC grow knowing that my water temps will be a bit on the high side.

[alltatup]

Hey John, I went back and re-read something on GWE, and Nebula says this:

"I personally have found hydroponic plants tend to grow the fastest when the temperature is between 73-80°F, with 75°F being a good temperature to aim for. However, with warmer temps make sure you're using a beneficial bacteria supplement to prevent root rot!"

Sounds like you are in the zone!

[ellz]

I can tell you that my reservoir has been in the low to mid 70s since the start and my growth rate is beyond unbelievable! I am using HydroGuard and I am not seeing any signs of root rot.