How to make an Ebb and Flow Hydroponics system

[Hobo]

How to build your own Ebb & Flow Hydroponics System
.... Still Under Construction!
bare with me....
How it works:

You have a reservoir with a nutrient solution filling it about halfway or more. Inside you have an air stone with a hose leading out to a pump that pumps air through it, this helps keep the reservoir oxygenated. Also inside is a submersible pump that is linked to a timer to go on 4 times a day for 15 minutes at a time. This pump will pump the water out through a hose connected the bottom of the basin, and acts at the entrance for water while the pump is on, and also the exit line when the pump is shut off. While the pump is on, the water level will continue to rise inside the basin until it reaches the overflow hose level. At this point the water will drain out, and the water level wont go above this point. (unless your water intake exceeds how much can drain). When the timer shuts off and the pump is turned off, all the excess water will drain through the same opening the water came in, back into the reservoir.

Materials:


1 20 Gallon or larger Rubbermaid Tote
You can find at any home center


4 1" male to half inch garden hose coupling
Can be found and any hardware or home center

3 1" female garden hose coupling
Can be found and any hardware or home center



10 Feet of 1/2" inner diameter black vinyl tubing
50' roll 1/2" poly mainline @ FUTUREGARDEN.COM



1 - Under a bed storage container (or any wide open plastic container)
17 Gal Underbed Box Hawaiian Blue - 5334 at The Home Depot


1 Tube of Aquarium Silicon


1 Roll of Teflon tape

1 low profile framed work table (to raise up basin)
Can find at any home center, or build your own out of 2x4s



1 Air pump and airstone kit.
12" AquaFizz Air Stone @ FUTUREGARDEN.COM
Elite 801 single outlet a pump @ FUTUREGARDEN.COM


1 ~100 gph water pump with a half inch adapter



1 Pack of mini zip ties to use as clamps.


1 24 hour timer
24hr. x 15 min. Interval Timer @ FUTUREGARDEN.COM

Other Tools:


Scissors


Channel lock Pliers


A power drill


a 1" drill bit

latex gloves (to protect your hands... use vinyl if your allergic)


You will also need some sort of medium to put the plants i use pond rocks, but you could use the more popular LECA stone aka expanded clay pellets.

Instructions: more pictures coming soon

1. Set your table up with precut holes for each of the tubes for your basin(s) to fit through, your tubes will connect right to the basin from the bottom.

2. Drill 2 1" holes in the bottom of the large plastic basin for your entrance and exit lines.

3. Apply a small layer of teflon tape and then silicon around the edges of a 1" male to half inch garden hose adapter and screw in till its hand tight with the adapter end facing out. Then take you pliers and use the tiniest bit of force to screw it lock tight. Repeat this on however many basins you are using and let dry.

4. On one of the 2 protruding male threading attach a 1" female adapter onto that with some teflon and silicon and screw it hand tight. Then put a piece of 1/2" inner diameter hose on to that so that the hose is 1 inch from the top of the basin. (this will be the point where water is drained back out)

5. Drill 2 holes on the side of your 20 gallon rubbermaid tote about 2 inches from the bottom.

6. Apply a small layer of teflon tape and then silicon to a 1 " male to half inch garden hose coupling and screw it in hand tight with the half inch end facing outward. Repeat on the other hole.

7. Apply a small layer of teflon tape and then silicon to a 1 " female coupling garden hose adapter and screw it onto the protruding male end coming through on the inside of the rubbermaid tote. Repeat on the other hole and let it all dry.

8. Attach a small piece of 1/2" inner diameter hose from the female coupling to the pump thats inside the reservoir.

9. Carefully place the basin down on the table with the drain plugs going through the hole you made in your table. Attach a piece of 1/2" inner diameter hose from the male coupling protruding out of the outside of the reservoir (the one that then leads to the pump) and connect it to the line in the basin that doesnt have the extra overflow tube. This is your entrance/exit line. Use a ziptie to clamp the connections. Place a small piece of screen over the drain hole. Repeat if you are using more than a 1 basin system.

10. Attach a piece of 1/2 " inner diameter hose from the other protruding male coupling out of the reservoir, to the overflow coupling on the basin, secure connections with a ziptie. and attach a piece of screen over the overflow line so pebbles dont fall in and then fill with stones or pellets


11. Place airstone in rubbermade tote and fill with water and nutrients.

12. Set the timer and watch it grow!!!

You may want to run a test run and check for leaks. If you spot a leak, empty out the system let it dry, and reapply silicon to the area and let dry. That should fix a small spot missed in the first application of the silicon.

[ISO2BWELL]

Now THIS is a tutorial I have been waiting for!

Hobo: In this system, how often do you have to add water to the resevoir?

I will be travelling quite a bit (damnit!) over the next year, and it would be nice to be able to NOT have to worry about telling all the things to water, etc. that I am so particular about. Hopefully I can do that with this type of set-up (let it go for 2 days without harm).

The DWC plants I have now drink in the area of 1 gallon a day, and going 2 days without being watered puts the water very low in those buckets, as with the lid/netbasket combo the bucket only holds about 3 1/2 gal of nute/water.

ISO

[Hobo]

for this system, you want to top off the reservoir every couple days, and you want to completely change the water every 2 weeks.

Originally Posted by ISO2BWELL

Now THIS is a tutorial I have been waiting for!

Hobo: In this system, how often do you have to add water to the resevoir?

I will be travelling quite a bit (damnit!) over the next year, and it would be nice to be able to NOT have to worry about telling all the things to water, etc. that I am so particular about. Hopefully I can do that with this type of set-up (let it go for 2 days without harm).

The DWC plants I have now drink in the area of 1 gallon a day, and going 2 days without being watered puts the water very low in those buckets, as with the lid/netbasket combo the bucket only holds about 3 1/2 gal of nute/water.

ISO

I was just shopping around at home depot and was about to buy the same two Tupperware containers to build the same ebb and flow setup...

Ive already got a pump and a good timer for it...so all thats holding me back is the extra hydro supplies ill need like ec/ppm meter, ph meter, and some good hydro nutes.

No lie hahahaha

awesome DIY

[Mogie]

This has to go in GP's FAQ!!!!

[Hobo]

Thanks! check out the top feed tutorial i made too

Originally Posted by Mogie

This has to go in GP's FAQ!!!!

[midgradeindasouth]

Great tutorial Hobo.

Originally Posted by ISO2BWELL

Now THIS is a tutorial I have been waiting for!

Hobo: In this system, how often do you have to add water to the resevoir?

I will be travelling quite a bit (damnit!) over the next year, and it would be nice to be able to NOT have to worry about telling all the things to water, etc. that I am so particular about. Hopefully I can do that with this type of set-up (let it go for 2 days without harm).

The DWC plants I have now drink in the area of 1 gallon a day, and going 2 days without being watered puts the water very low in those buckets, as with the lid/netbasket combo the bucket only holds about 3 1/2 gal of nute/water.

ISO

you can also have a larger than necesary resevoir to provide suficient nutes and not worry for a couple extra days. however if you do this you will have to keep your lid on your res to keep as little evaporation of water as possible. NUTRIENTS do not evaporate and your ppm can rise if not noticed or watched

[ISO2BWELL]

Originally Posted by cmak40

you can also have a larger than necesary resevoir to provide suficient nutes and not worry for a couple extra days. however if you do this you will have to keep your lid on your res to keep as little evaporation of water as possible. NUTRIENTS do not evaporate and your ppm can rise if not noticed or watched

Thanks cmak40...good info is always appreciated!

Since the resources were available, I started off with a commercially built system. It's a Botanicaire 24" X 47" flood table, with lid, and a 40 gal. Botaicaire res. I set three clones in it about 10 days ago, and they are rooting up just fine, once they figured out life was different..

Bought 2 more of the trays/tops plus the fill/drain set, then bought my own 31 gal res's at Lowes, along with a good pump and hoses and timers. Total cost will be more like $150 per table, but I bought the top end pumps, etc.

Been real stable so far...and much easier to keep in Ph than the DWC 5 Gal. buckets I've been using.

ISO

[ice#1]

i'm going to have to try this little sucker i bet it cost half what a store bought eb-n-flo cost any thoughts of how to add a quick drain plug into the res. i was just thinking add anouther hole and put the extra male and female coupling in but in my opion it would take to long to drain the res.

[ISO2BWELL]

Originally Posted by ice#1

i'm going to have to try this little sucker i bet it cost half what a store bought eb-n-flo cost any thoughts of how to add a quick drain plug into the res. i was just thinking add anouther hole and put the extra male and female coupling in but in my opion it would take to long to drain the res.

Not sure about that. I've got an extra Mag Drive pump that I just set into the res and pump it out a hose to the "back 40", then the pump moves to another room where the freshly prepared replacement nutes are waiting in a storage res, and I pump from there to the now empty res under the table. Very little difficult physical work involved and I'll be good for another 2 weeks.

ISO

Originally Posted by ISO2BWELL

Thanks cmak40...good info is always appreciated!

Since the resources were available, I started off with a commercially built system. It's a Botanicaire 24" X 47" flood table, with lid, and a 40 gal. Botaicaire res. I set three clones in it about 10 days ago, and they are rooting up just fine, once they figured out life was different..

Bought 2 more of the trays/tops plus the fill/drain set, then bought my own 31 gal res's at Lowes, along with a good pump and hoses and timers. Total cost will be more like $150 per table, but I bought the top end pumps, etc.

Been real stable so far...and much easier to keep in Ph than the DWC 5 Gal. buckets I've been using.

ISO

I dunno what your plan is but if your buying more flood trays and have the room and utilities to do it. You should consider the SoG method.you can pull crop every 2 weeks with only 5 flood tray/res of any size on any scale!

[Hobo]

yea this is designed for either 4 or 5 larger plants or a sog of maybe 8-10 plants.

[ileso]

whats a water pump and air stone worth around your ways?

[Messmore3]

thank you