i ordered everything i need for my new ebb and flow setup a few days ago. should be here monday.


my flood tray is 19"x19" and 6"deep and made of steel. i'm am planning on filling it up with hydroton and putting the plants directly in it, no rockwool. i might use 3" net cups for support if they can't hold themselves up.

but anyways how big should my reservoir be? would ten gallons be enough? i'm planning on having up to 5 plants in the tray

10 gallons sounds just about right. actually, test with a 5 gallon bucket first, might be ok. I ran a temporary e&F system at about those dimensions and my 5 gallon pail was great.

Ok, i would much rather use a 5 gallon bucket.

I hope that's stainless steel you're talking about, otherwise you're going to need a plastic liner of some sort. The nutrient salts will react with regular steel, and cause it to corrode and rust. Not only that but your nutrient mix will get all messed up because of all the ions bonding with the steel, thus degrading the nutrient. All hydroponic parts, trays, plumbing, etc. (anything with water contact) have to be made of plastic or some other inert material.

In regards to what size res you'll need, there is an equation for that:

Length(cm) X Width(cm) X Height(cm) = Volume(cu.cm.)

So you've got 19"x19"x6", however, you obviously aren't going to be flooding to the top, so 4" is probably where you'll flood to.

....So 48.26cm X 48.26cm X 10.16cm = 23662.92 cubic cm = {convert to liters by dividing by 1000) = 23.7 liters {convert to gallons by dividing by 3.78} = 6.27 gallons

So you'll need 6.27 gal of solution to flood to 4" height

yes its stainless, its a bin from one of those commercial sinks you see in restaurants. you think i will have problems?

thanks for the equation, i've been trying to find one. i will probably get a 10 gallon tote and fill it up with 8 gallons

Also If you pack the table with other objects you can save some gallons. I got that equaion off bghydros website too. They got lots of ebb and flow help. I ran a table and used an eighteen gallon rubber,aid as the res. Cheap and durable, they work great. Also the botanicare ebb and flow fittings are nice to buy for like 10 bucks with shipping. They can turn anything into a pro table.

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i'm planning on filling the tray with just hydroton. yeah i got one of those fittings but its from sunleaves. heres what i ordered from cheaphydroponics.com

General Hydroponics FloraBloom - Qt 1 $8.50
General Hydroponics FloraGro - Qt 1 $8.50
General Hydroponics FloraMicro - Qt 1 $13.50
General Hydroponics Liquid KoolBloom - Qt 1 $15.00
Sunleaves DuraPump H20 - 185GPH 1 $13.00
1/2" Barbed Elbows - 5pk 1 $3.00
Sunleaves Fill & Drain Kit 1/2 1 $7.00
Sunleaves Soft Black Tubing 1/2" - 25Ft $10.00
1/2" Barbed Tees - 5pk 1 $3.00
GH pH Control Kit 1 $12.75
Bluelab Truncheon Meter - PPM/TDS, CF, EC 1 $110.00
Nutrient Syringe 60cc / 2oz 1 $2.35
General Hydroponics 1/2" Grommet 8 $5.60
Hydroton Grow Rocks - 10l 2 $17.00
3" Net Pot 8 $2.80
Kord Square Pot 4" 8 $2.40

Do I see 10L of hydroton on this list? That ain't going to do it for that size tray. You are going to need more like 50l of hydroton at least. I have a 3x3 and it took me 2 large bags >100l of hydroton to fill it up. I personally wouldn't use even a stainless steel tray.

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i got 2 10l bags. i guess i'm gonna give the stainless a shot, because the tray is the perfect size and it was free

The bigger the res the more stable it is...

The more stable your res... the better off your plants will be..

I say any less than 20 gal and you are asking for pH and PPM nightmares...

BUT... go with what you know...

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