Resevoir size

[chebahut]

How big of a resevoir do i need for a 3x3 ebb&flow tray?

[King Bud]

The reservoir should hold 3x as much water as your flood tray, and all fill/drain lines, when pump is running. I would reference where I got this from, but the source seems to have disappeared:o
:)

[chebahut]

im not sure how much water the tray holds when the pump is running? does someone else?

[King Bud]

It depends on your grow medium.

This is one of those things that I can figure out when it's infront of me, but am terrible at explaining.


Fill your reservoir with a 'good ammount' of water.. enough so that the pump never runs dry.

Mark the height of the water level when pump is off, and tray is drained.

Mark the height of the water level when the pump is on, and tray is as full as it can get, and water is draining out the overflow line.

Measure distance inbetween marks.

Now pretend the distance is 6 inches. You would want to fill your reservoir with 18 inches of water, since you want 3x as much.

:)

[POTUS]

The reservoir should hold 3x as much water as your flood tray, and all fill/drain lines, when pump is running. I would reference where I got this from, but the source seems to have disappeared:o
:)

That's a pretty good estimate, King Bud. The rule I use is based on the life span of most hydroponic solutions. If mixed and left alone with no light hitting them and within the proper temps for weed, hydro nutes will generally live for about one month.

In my own system, the reservoir is 18 gallons of water/nutes.

I have to add two gallons each day. The ladies are thirsty.

It takes about 6 gallons to fill my grow tubs filled with roots and media.

That leaves 12 gallons in the reservoir.

They drink 2 gallons a day. I can't let the reservoir get below about 4 gallons. The pump might burn.

8 gallons is my reserve.

2 gallons a day.

4 days max.

The nutes never get old. Everything stays well mixed.

Life is good.

[gangalama]

That's a pretty good estimate, King Bud. The rule I use is based on the life span of most hydroponic solutions. If mixed and left alone with no light hitting them and within the proper temps for weed, hydro nutes will generally live for about one month.

In my own system, the reservoir is 18 gallons of water/nutes.

I have to add two gallons each day. The ladies are thirsty.

It takes about 6 gallons to fill my grow tubs filled with roots and media.

That leaves 12 gallons in the reservoir.

They drink 2 gallons a day. I can't let the reservoir get below about 4 gallons. The pump might burn.

8 gallons is my reserve.

2 gallons a day.

4 days max.

The nutes never get old. Everything stays well mixed.

Life is good.

But dont some of these nutes get consumed leaving u with a diluted mix?

[POTUS]

But don't some of these nutes get consumed leaving u with a diluted mix?

No. I replace 1/9th of the total every day. That's the point I'm trying to make. The reservoir has to be the right size to make this happen.

Every 9 days, the total volume of my reservoir is replaced through attrition.