I've tried various hydro methods over the last few years. I mainly grow soil but I like to experiment when I can. I started out with a four pot wilma which worked okay and then I got some ideas from Heath's posts and turned it into a real monster of a recirc system. That went reasonably well even though I got some root rot but it was a pain to manage and clean so I moved on to another DWC idea similar to water farms but on a larger scale. It was home built and didn't work out too well. I suffered quite badly with root rot and then sort of wandered / fell back into my soil growing comfort zone again. My issue with rot has always been mainly down to not being able to control the res temps but now I'm planning on trying again with a few ideas and experiments to back me up.
I've purchased a single stand alone Aqua Farm which I'm modifying as per Heath Robinson's specs and I'm adding a 4 gallon recirculating res to it. At this time of year, it's not so bad for temps but as we head into summer, I'll start suffering so this got me mulling some ideas over for a cheap, easy to maintain and run cooler / chiller. I really can't afford to buy one let alone run one so I'm limited.
This is why I've decided to write this post and thrash out some ideas and suggestions.
I'm currently pondering using PC cooling radiators and pumping the solution through them which then gives me a variety of options to cool the radiators.
I could use a tub of ice and salt to immerse the radiators into so as to cool the nute solution as it ciruclates with a thermo controlled cut off to stop the cooling recirc pump when the res is at a set temp.
I could use fans on the radiators and again, using a thermo controller, turn off the fans when the desired temp is reached or I could just route the rads so they're exposed to outside air and cool passively.
I've read of people modifying these cheap water chillers before now but I really don't fancy pushing a cheap device that wasn't designed to cool a constant flow of X gallons per hour. That doesn't seem safe to me.
So what are other people's thoughts on this? What are other people using?
I know if I submerse the radiators in a salt and ice solution that eventually they'll suffer from corrosion but I figure I'll get two or more grows before they'll need replacing and at the price they're asking for them these days, they're as cheap as chips.
Thoughts, ideas or suggestions?
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