Hydrofarm RS5GALSYS Root Spa Deep Water Culture Bucket System, 5 Gallon, black

This simple, but wildly effective, system is just perfect. I only have 3 tomatoes in DWC this year, but will expand next year. My plants are huge and healthy and setting lots of lovely fruit. Sitting on my patio with the sound of the bubbling is magical. The air pump is practically silent, I have to feel it to make sure it's going (it's always going lol).I've filed the buckets three times since I put them out, that's less than once a week (I'm sure it will increase over the term of the grow, but soooo efficient). I live in a very arid climate and keeping my tomatoes satiated is rough, these are PERFECTION.Just check those pictures, look at those roots. I'm in love.

Someone mentioned these grommet type fittings always end up leaking. I spent 15 years running a 300 gal saltwater tank. These wont leak even if you wiggle or bump them, they are tight. The bucket is tight and forces air through the medium.Cons: If you run air through the viewing tube, you can not tell how much water is in the bucket because the air pushes it back. Do yourself a favor and drill an airline hole above the water line with 1/4 rubber grommet, and drop a 2 inch air stone in it. It works without an air stone, but it will sound like an 8 cylinder engine idling and glugging. If you want a true effervescent spa that can be easily drained and checked.. drill a new hole for an air stone. The included pump can handle x8, 2 inch stones. Works great with washed lava rock, its so fizzy it will mist your glasses from a couple feet away and you wont even realize it.Pros: sturdy buckets, hoses, and connectors. The net pot lid is and exceptionally tough material that fits air tight. The air pump delivers the perfect amount of air for stones or raw bubbles.

I bought these buckets so I could change out my grow buckets rather than move the plants to another container until I can wash and sanitize my buckets. They were more affordable than others I looked at and the buckets work great! No leaks in the tubes and I’m a happy grower.

It is good for hydroponic growing. As a first time grower using hydro it can be very expensive on the electric bill. It’s much harder to maintain plants that grow I. The hydro buckets. This way of growing is not for the weak.

Great system for my first grow op. I did find it difficult to access the water to check level and pH once the plants became larger, but resolved the issue by adding some cooler spigots to the buckets at the level I felt was my preferred water height. Obtaining samples for pH was then a breeze and I could tell how much water was in the bucket by whether it reached my spigot. I bought the four bucket setup but then could only fit two in my tent. Having an extra pair of buckets ended up making changing the water way easier. I plugged the two extra air outlets with a piece of the hose and a “goof plug” I had from my garden sprinkler system, giving me turbo bubbles in the two buckets. The same objective could be achieved by tying off a piece of hose I expect. While I’m sure one could put this kit together for less it was a good value for me as a first time grower.

Transplanted some plants from a different and smaller hydroponic system. I had to cut the roots off because they were all tangled too. This system keeps them flourishing. Very happy with it so far.

I order this back in November 2014. Due to the holidays and other events I only opened the box in March of 2015. When I pulled the items out a small metal ring fell to the floor. It happened to be the nut that held one of the outputs on the active aqua air pump.Then as I pulled the buckets out the bottom two buckets were cracked 3 to 4 inches into the bucket. They are unusable.I continued to hook up the remaining 6 buckets to find that only 5 of the 8 ports worked on the active aqua air pump worked. Based on reviews of this pump on amazon it is a fairly common occurance. Well, I guess I didn't need the cracked buckets after all!!The connections for the hoses into the buckets are snug and don't leak.The baskets are standard 10" baskets and also work fine. The 5 buckets that are hooked up are working very well. It is a very basic system and a great way to get started in hydroponics. It is just a shame that the overall quality is so poor. If you are just starting in hydroponics it is a good simple concept.

I wanted to try this system due to the aqua method rave. Product was simple to assemble, sturdy with no leaks and operated very well. However if you choose this method, know that you must change out the water around every 2 weeks or the plants will die. Note, 5 gallons x 8 buckets = 40 gallons x 2 per month = 80 gallons a month! Also, depending on the location you set this product, hauling the water can get cumbersome and annoying.If all the buckets had a hose that connected to each other than to a filter system (like a fish tank), I believe the product would operate better and the plants would be healthier.