Dwc help ec and pH levels

Im having issues getting my ec reading and pH stable throughout dwc system. Only just transplanted today and have to top feed as no roots showing yet. The ec and pH reading though is different than that of my res tank? Should I close off the buckets and get each bucket right and only open valves to rest tank when top up is needed? I have an evergrow 5 bucket system and each bucket has a valve to open and close to allow water through. No idea what to do

I dont see a pump that is pumping the water from res to each pail. Is there one ?

Also one valve open and I see 2 closed.

The purpose of connecting the pails to a res is to help make ph and feeding easier. Their has to be water flow between the pails and the res. Res being the pail without a plant. This is achieved by use of a submersible pump in the res which pumps through lines and into the upper side of each pail. The water flows into pail and the system will have water return to the res through the lower lines that connect the pails together. Any interruption in the water flowing through system can and will cause improper ph and ppm for the affected pail.
I hope that makes sense, I’m just rambling on

Ask away if you need anything else explained or have more questions.

Thanks for your response.
The valve on res tank and 2 buckets are open, last 2 closed as there’s no plants in this 2 end buckets.
The kit didnt come with a water pump water just freely flows to other buckets from res tank if all valves are open. I dont like the system and would much rather have recirculating as I feel this would help maintain ph/ec and temps throughout the system. Would this be a correct assumption?
Im having trouble finding a kit here in Australia that i want so have watched clips to build my own, so trying to source what I need and thought I could build so res tank is outside of grow tent to help bring the water temps down, currently through the day water temps are hitting 29°c.
Lost 2 seeds to start and the 2 i had left have done nothing in a week now so pretty sure they are no good either.
I did so much reading and still made so many mistakes and still so much to learn.
Im currently running a 1000w hps globe on a dimable ballast and have it turned down to 600w
Is this OK for early stages of growth?
Also as no roots down i water system in these early days, the bubbling water is keeping bottom of clay pellets wet, do I still need to top water until roots hit water?
Thanks

You are going to need to add a pump to recirculate, making this an R DWC system (recirculating).

This is WAY too high and likely will not be able to do a successful grow until temps are down below 21 C or so (70F). You have to be concerned not only with bacterial growth (pythium or ‘root rot’) but oxygen saturation is much poorer at higher temps: roots need copious O and it won’t go into solution at high enough concentrations at that temp.

Do you have this in a ‘cool tube’? That would help. Insulating the tops of the buckets will help drop rez temps. Adding frozen water bottles won’t work so don’t bother.

If you don’t have access to a chiller (saltwater aquarium chiller) you can make one from an apartment size refrigerator and a bucket with some tubing. YouTube is your friend for this haha.

And yes, you’ll have to top feed until roots hit water. Bucket level should be 1 1/2 to 2 inches (35 to 50 mm) below net pot with lots of air bubbling up.

I definitely like the recirculating systems better but not too sure how to turn my existing system into that. Im assuming I would need to drill extra holes in buckets to have a continual flow through all buckets?
I have been looking into a system I like that just makes more sense to me, but struggling to find square buckets. Ill attach a photo of the system I want to do, also thinking of keeping the reservoir outside of grow tent.

Also is it a good idea to have a separate drain hole in each bucket for water changes and cleaning?

No dont have the hps in cool tube. Ill definitely look into this, is it vital?

This is the system I was wanting to achieve can this be done with what I have? I feel like I’ve wasted so much money without really knowing what I’m doing?

This is my current system

First thing I’d suggest is to ditch the buckets and go with totes. This immediately increases your overall liquid supply which helps buffer the solution. I run 19 gallon totes and used a 30 gallon tote as a reservoir outside the grow space.

If you pump liquid into the furthest tote, plumbed for undercurrent, you will get sufficient flow to maintain PH and TDS over several days.

So I have decided to ditch buckets. Ill go to my local bunnings over the weekend and see what totes and sizes they have and definitely opt for a bigger res.
Few questions in regards to this, sorry if any of them sound stupid

  1. Should the size pvc pipe used to feed the end bucket via water pump be smaller, larger or same size as pvc used to connect all buckets and back to res?

  2. Whats the smallest size totes that should be used if planning on only growing autos? And will definitely be getting a larger res

  3. Should I start with a smaller system and add to it? Ive never grown at all and buggered up the first lot, so wondering if I should start with 2 totes and a sep res and possibly build it so I can add a further 2 buckets once I have perfected my skills a bit.

  4. Ive drawn up 2 diagrams of what I was thinking, one being what I’d eventually want, being 4 buckets + A Res and the other being only 2 + res. If this is what you would recommend to start with.

  5. What size water pump would I need for something like this? Would it depend on whether i go with the 3 part or 5 part system? Is there one that has the potential to do both?

If you can’t make sense of diagrams let me know, but basically wanting to know if I have the right idea or not. No idea if this would work.

So If I have a line with water pump going in res pumping water to the end bucket or buckets, and than the other pipes connecting the buckets would push water through back into the reservoir? Is that how it works, is it that simple or am I missing something?

Do i need to add anything or change anything?
Ive seen shut off valves added to the line that pumps the water to control the flow of water, is this a benefit? Or is there another purpose for this?

Any suggestions would be appreciated

You only need a pump large enough to lift liquid to the farthest tote. Convection will cause liquid to propagate back to the rez.

Stick with the larger PVC size throughout: like minimum 1 1/2" or 2": this is to help keep roots from clogging return lines.

You can buy extra totes of same size and cut different opening in the tops for different purposes. For example you can load 5 or 6 4" net pots in one of those totes, start plants in one under one light then move to individual totes as they develop roots. You can also run two plants all the way through on one tote as well if kept small, etc. Gives you a lot of flexibility.