My first hydro system!

Im planning on building my own hydroponic system on a smallish scale just as an experiment. Ive never had anything to do with it before but after seeing some of the grow journals (especially stoney buds DIY system) i thought id give it a go myself. Firstly i thought i'd go for an Ebb & flow system, it seemed to me to be the simplest and easiest to build. I havent actually built anything yet as i wanted to run it by people who know what they're talking about first. so here's my plan;

I have two plastic tubs one is 35x75x6.5(cm) deep and the other is 35x75x50deep. The smaller tub is roughly 43litres and the larger is 130L. The smaller tub sits perfectly inside the larger which means i would loose about 43L so my reservoir is now about 87L. The smaller tank has a lid which i would cut 4-6 holes in for the pots, i would put pots filled with clay pebbles in the holes in the top tank. The lid of the tank is clear, would it be best to paint it or something to stop the light getting to the nutrient solution??. I would try and grow the first batch from seed.

Here is a list items i planned to get;
*nutrient pump
*2metres of 13mm pipe (inlet pipe)
*1meter of 19mm pipe (drainage pipe) <-- I thought it would be better to get a larger diameter pipe for the drainage to decrease the risk of a blockage??
*19mm water tight grommet fitting(http://www.growell.co.uk/p/0357/13mm__19mm_Grommets.html)
*flood and drain fittings (http://www.growell.co.uk/p/0898/Flood_and_Drain_Fittings.html)
*Air pump ( not sure i really need this)
*General hydroponics Flora nutrients
*Hydroton Clay pebbles 10L

If don't know what else im going to need? I also have no idea about What flow rate pump i should get? would something like this do? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RENA-400SI-HY...ryZ43555QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I also don't know about growing seeds for hydro and transplanting etc... Id really appreciate any help as im sucha newb at this. Thanks

I will get some pics of the reservoir etc on a bit later, Thanks

Well what you would usually do is just germinate the seeds and then transplant them into starter cubes when you see signs of life.Im not sure if i'm following your setup..so you're planning on having the larger tub as the res and the other as the grow chamber for the plants?No individual buckets?

The way i pictured it was that the nutrient solution is pumped from the reservoir into the smaller tray which sits directly above the reservoir, in which there will be 6 - 8 Pots filled with hydro clay pebbles. The Nutrient solution is drained back into the reservoir once it reaches the height of the drainage pipe. Exactly the same as this diagram but the grow tray will sit inside the reservoir because the trays that im using are designed to be stacked like it.

Hmmm.I wish I could help you with that type of EF but im just not knowledgable enough

I think it looks loke a good setup, I would start the seeds in rockwool then when they root you could place them in your setup very easy.

Also that pump you have linked should work but you are going to need a timer to time your flood and drains.

i agree w with your setup i just finsh something like that also and work for me but i use peat pelets and just put them in bigger rockwool cubes and there you grow


to me seem s like peat pelets grow faster then rockwool

o yaaa that pump that you post link to is more then enof for yuor size man
i got little question why not just use paint bucket's or rubermaid container's ?? one for each

thanks for the replies, what do you mean paintbuckets or rubbermaid containers? instead of plant pots? confused

Ive got some pics here to show the reservoir and grow tray (in theory) and the grow area. I put a sheet of Mylar on a curtain rail to cover the front which seems to be working at the moment. Shame the plants arn't doing so well .

Oh yea i forgot to ask. About the pump, when its finished pumping and i want the water to drain, will the pump just allow the water to return via the inlet pipe? i figure that the pump must have some sort of non-return valve or something??

also (sorry bout all these posts) sorry Caribbean_smoker, I didnt mean that to sound patronizing! Im sure you know far more about this than me

Offspring_36 said:

Oh yea i forgot to ask. About the pump, when its finished pumping and i want the water to drain, will the pump just allow the water to return via the inlet pipe? i figure that the pump must have some sort of non-return valve or something??

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You'll have to find out if the pump allows back flow. Most pumps of that type do.

I would suggest that you either cover your containers with something or paint them. You don't want light hitting the nutrient solution. It'll cause a lot of algea growth that will play havoc with your ph and nutrient usage.

The rest of your system looks great man. You've done great research.

SB and the other experienced E+F guys can explain

well i know i cant be going too wrong if you think its good SB! I seem remember reading that you have experience with the Flora nutrients, how much should i buy considering the size of my grow?? Also what do you think the optimum amount of plants would be in this system? And in what size pots etc?? Thanks for the help

rubermaid containers are the one that you have on the pictures those pot you call

Offspring_36 said:

well i know i cant be going too wrong if you think its good SB! I seem remember reading that you have experience with the Flora nutrients, how much should i buy considering the size of my grow?? Also what do you think the optimum amount of plants would be in this system? And in what size pots etc?? Thanks for the help

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What kind of pots are you talking about? I thought you were building an ebb and flow system.

What are the dimensions of your grow area?

Offspring_36, the setup that you showed doesnt require any 'pots'.The plants are suspended in the tray which sits above the res.If, perhaps, you go with another form of the E+F setup (http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6674), then you would require buckets or some suitable substitute that would hold each individual plant.

caribbean_smoker_20 said:

Offspring_36, the setup that you showed doesnt require any 'pots'.The plants are suspended in the tray which sits above the res.If, perhaps, you go with another form of the E+F setup (http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6674), then you would require buckets or some suitable substitute that would hold each individual plant.

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I have the micro garden ebb-flow and it does have pots that sit in the tray, you dont have to use them but if you want to move them into another system as I do it does make it easy.

OK i was planning on a DWC but like this concept. Seems a little more complicated though as if you have a pump burn up your feedings done. I leave for periouds of time and would probably be worring all the time.

My questions,

Would it be worth having 2 pumps working simotaneously? Maybe one would be a much lower flow rate or maybe both would be slightly less. But in the event of failure you have at least some form of backup?

Also, in the great diagram provided there is no mention of bubbler or air stones. Could this system benefit in both the resevior as well as tray?

Am i just complicating things? I want to spend a little more up front on my system to help out not only with the success but also i don't want to have to upgrade for a long time. I just want to focus learning on the basics of growing and have confidence my system is right.

thx

which leads me to another question. If you use the pots with hydro clay pebbles in the tray would you still need any amount of hydro around the outside of the nest pot? I would think that if you have it in the pot you could just fill in around with river rock for support? Just a cost cutting measure?

I apologise if my questions are repetitive. Just getting started. I've been lurking the last couple days and haven't seen reference to these ?'s so i'd thought i'd speak up.

Are the results very different between Deep Water Culture and this ebb & flow setup?