materials needed:
1-10 gallon storage tote-$4.50 usd (big lots)
1-180 gph water pump-$17.00 usd (hydro store)
1-pack 1/4 inch air tubing-8.00 usd (petsmart)
2-6 inch air stones-$6.00 usd (petsmart)
1-1/4 inch tee-.25 usd (hydro store)-you might have to buy a pack of ten if you cant get a single in this case youll probably pay $3.00 to $4.00 usd
15ft-1/2 inch vinyl tubing $15.00 usd (hydro shop)
1-pack of zip ties about $2.00 usd
8-1/2 inch elbows about $5.00 usd for a pack of ten (hydro store)
8-1/2 inch tees about $5.00 usd for a pack of ten (hydro store)
2-1/2 inch shut off valves about $6.00 to $8.00 usd (hydro store)
1-tube of silicone $3.00 usd (home depot)
10-drip stakes $5.00 usd (hydro store)
10-drip lines about $2.00 usd (hydro store)
10-1/2 inch grommets $8.00 usd (hydro store)
10- 2.5 gal buckets $2.50ea usd so thats around $25.00 usd for all ten (home depot)
1-air pump $12.00 usd (petsmart)

tools needed:
1-drill with a 1/2 inch drillbit

ok then lets get started grab the lid of the storage tote that will be your reservoir and drill three 1/2 inch hole as well as a 1/4 inch hole or two for your air lines.

now lets construct the reservoir tank:
first off grab your 180 gph water pump and place it on the bottom of the reservoir (10 gal storage tote) around the same area that you drilled holes in on the lid of the res.the holes i made on my lid are on the right side so my pump will be on the right side of the res

next attach a piece of 1/2 inch vinyl tubing to the pump and secure it with a zip tie like this
make sure when you place the pump in the res the 1/2 inch tube sticks out of the it a little.

now with the tubing that is sticking out a little,put it threw the first hole in the lid and top it off with a 1/2 inch elbow like such
now that your done with that it should look like this

next put the air line threw the 1/4 inch hole or holes in the lid attach one end to the air pump


after that place the 1/4 inch tee at the end of the air line that will be sitting inside the res tank.cut two small pieces of airline about 2 inches long and attach them to the 1/4 inch tee now place a air stone to each of these two small pieces of airline when your done this is what you should have.

place all this on the bottom of the res and make sure your air pump and air stones are working.
yup they work.

that takes care of the reservoir now on to the top feed/flood and drain hybrid bucket sytem itself!
first off get the buckets you are going to be using and drill a 1/2 inch hole at the bottom of the bucket like this.

this will need to be done multiple times according to how many buckets you have.i have ten so ill be doing this ten times over.
also if you prefer a shallow pool of nutrient at the bottom of buckets (like the dutch bato buckets)then place your 1/2 inch hole a little higher from the bottom of the buckets like about here.






dont worry the shllow pool will be refreshed with every watering cycle.
now that we have holes in all of our buckets its time to put in all the 1/2 inch rubber grommets.

when your done with that each bucket should look like this.

apply silicone to all the buckets where the grommets and buckets are joined.

when all is dried insert the 1/2 inch tees and elbows gently into the hole of the grommet and make sure you put screens on the inside of the bucket otherwise the hydroton will play havok with your systems plumbing causing unwanted flooding ect. i use the material from a laundry bag with holes that are little bigger than small.


you can also use window screen and secure it with a zip tie.

now then you`ve drilled the holes in all the buckets,put in all the grommets,inserted all the tees and elbows,applyied all the silicone,and put screens inside all the buckets.
this is what one row of five completed buckets should look like.

next measure the space between the tees and cut the 1/2 inch vinyl tube to the length of the space
i know nice tape measure huh?


after all the tubing is cut to size attach the measured segments to the tees and elbow of the row of buckets. you should have something that look`s like this.
make sure the row of buckets ends like this
here is a few pics of the rest of the plumbing for the back row of the buckets leading to the resevoir.





now for the main water supply line take and cut a piece of 1/2 inch tubing the length of the row of buckets plus a little extra so that it reaches the elbow that is coming from the water pump on top of the res.
now put in the holes for the drip lines(ten for this hydro system)and insert each drip line into the main water supply line use silicone at the base of each drip line where it meets up with the main water supply line to protect against water leeks.this is what it should look like


and this is how it should be placed eventually it will be in the middle of the two sets of buckets.make sure to connect it to the water pump elbow at the top of res as shown in the pic below.
make sure you plug the end of the main water supply line.i just melt the vinyl tube and smash it down this seals the end of the line.and dont forget to put the drip stakes on the other end of the drip lines.
the front row of five buckets is put together like the back row so just build a new front row the same way as you did with the back.

make sure to put the two shut off valves near the drainage by the res like this.
this is so you can controll the rate of drainage.controlling the rate of drainage will allow you to convert your top feed to a flood and drain or allow you to use both of these watering methods in conjuntion with each other.
in order to do the flood and drain style you will have to manually watch the first watering cycle and adjust the shut off valves so that the nutrients (water) reaches the rockwool block and floods it 3/4ths of the way just around the time its getting ready to shut off,then it will drain and your all set no need to watch watering any more your dialed in.

now with all that said and done this last pic is how your hydro system sould look like congrats your done!

Now that 's a tutorial for sure there 4 everhydro.Very good job.Can you show the system in operation and how it works so some of us can see it working maybe please.
Oh 4 everhydro can you post your pixs here on your server,I cant open the pix posted with photos-bucket.They dont open for me.We have a secure server here that the groverment cant get in.For it's in one of the country that doesnt like the groverment metaling with there bussiness.But it's a dam good tutorial 4 everhydro
Peace

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Anything I may say or do is stickly for entertainment only.This is all make believe and is not To believe by me or anyonehttp:\\www.greenpassion.org/f73/over-grow-government-ogg-2009-what-8722/

toke my computer doesnt get the pics either what i do is right click the mouse and select (save picture as) and save the pics to my desk top and view them bigger that way when im done i put them in the recycle bin and delete them.even copy and paste to the desk top works for a bigger view.

Great tutorial! Got any advice on selecting dripper styles that would clog less than typically used ones?

drip stakes are good or you could go with some drip baskets.there is also adjustable drip stakes to give you more controll over the watering.drip baskets would be the best if you ask me though.

I just right click the pics, and go to "open link" at the top and they open right up.

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Life,
j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

very nice jangle open link works for me too thanks its very much appreciated.

Nice instructions. I do have one thing to say about drip feeds. I no longer use drip as the primary watering source. Depending on your media, the drip keeps the top wet where algea will grow. You can get fungus gnats also. Finnally - if the drip is to close to the stem you may get stem rot.

This is from experience. Be wise and keep top of pots dry.

clinton

dampening will definately happen the salts from the nutrients will definately accumalate on the stem of it is consantly hit by the nutes killing the plant in a short time i never water directly to the stem of the plant that has got to be the #1 mistake by rookie growers experimenting with drip systems as for algea the hydroton keeps light from the top of rockwool blocks this prevents algea from growing.i water to the side of the stem and over the hydroton when the water hits the hydroton it spreds over a wider area of the rockwool cube to the side of the stem but never hits it. also if nutrient ever does hit the stem i spray it with water to wash off the salts.

4everhydro,

Hey Bro Great Job You Put Alot Of Work Into That Post!!!EH!!!,,,Thank's For Sharing......

I Have A Few ????,,In You Running This Flood & Drain Drip System, I Didn't See Any Inline Filter's, Just The One Screen In The Bottom Of The Bucket's, Can You Get To The Sceen To Keep It Clean?,,,Or Once You Put The Lova Rock's Or Your Medium In It's Good To Go For That Grow?

Inline Filter's Are The Key To My Aeroponic System's, I Keep The Filter's Cleaned Out Every Few Day's, & Never Have To Worry About My Mister's Clogging.

Thank's Again For Sharing, Great Job, Best Wishes, & Can't Wait To See Them Full Of Plant's!!

Cheers`;`Hatch`;`

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whats going on hatch well my water pump has a fiter it comes with but i also use a piece of thin material cut to size to fit in the housing of the filter that my pump comes with and double it over.so i have the pump filter and the piece of material to screen out debris with.it works fine never had a clogged line yet.and as you can see in the pics of my res not even the dust that rubs off from the hydroton when it gets watered go`s threw. it either stays on the bottom of the res or coats the fiter end of the water pump (keep in mind my hydroton is already very clean)when i do my res change i allways wash my filter and the piece of material which is allways coated in a pretty thick layer of hydroton dust.

Sound's Like A Winner...

Cheers`;`Hatch`;`

omg this is sucha great tutorial. Thanks so much

Great job hydro. I think we should make a sticky out of this. You have covered all of the bases my friend and running a pictorial alongside is a great idea.

sticky worthy for sure

Thlnk those drlpper plpes to the maln Llne would be a problem for leaks, apart from that, lt's a wlnner

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av1n trouble w1ht my eyes

thats why you have to use silicone look at the pic again notice they are all sealed with silicone at the base.right click with your mouse and use open link to enlarge the pic.

sorry about that, dldn't see you had gromets ln there, thought you had just cut holes and shoved them ln, apoLlgles from me.


edlt.... seems you don't mentlon gromets ln your thread at that stage?

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av1n trouble w1ht my eyes

theres a pic with one in my hand and then theres also a pic of me putting silicone around one observe them closly right click with your mouse and pick the choice open link this will give you a full view.