Help with my new ebb and flow setup

So I am working on building a new ebb and flow system. I have installed the flood tray in my tent. I am using cinder blocks to keep the tray off the ground, my problem is I dont have enough height to be able to store my reservoir directly under neath. So I was going to keep it just outside the tent. The problem comes in when draining the tube needs to go back up and over the side of the reservoir so it reaches a point where it wont drain all the way. I was thinking of adding a small mini reservoir directly under neath with a pump to pump the water back into the main reservoir. But maybe there is a simpler solution I am missing. What do you guys think?

Do you have a height problem or something? Why not make a table?

Doj said:

Do you have a height problem or something? Why not make a table?

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Yes like I said, I am height limited. I have the tray at the max height, and still dont have room for a large enough reservoir underneath.

Ahh. The way it sounded, it seemed like you didn't have enough height because you only had cinder blocks as a table. lol.
I had a similar problem before, and found a perfect substitute in a hardware store by accident. It was one of those cheap plastic dressers you get for kids, but just jumbo size. They had a drawer on display to show the size, it worked perfectly.
But how big is your reservoir?

Well I have a 3x3 flood tray and I currently have a 30 gal reservoir but after testing tonight I see I need a bigger one.

why a bigger one?

you need a bigger resivor ?

i use to use one of them trash cans from wallie world

When I turned on the pump and flooded, it was not enough to reach the overflow drain. I was told I want about 125% water level to my flood level. I emptied my reservoir to the pump and did not reach my desired flood level.

funkyskunky said:

i use to use one of them trash cans from wallie world

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How did your draining work? Like I said my flood tray is not high enough for my reservoir to go under neath so it will not fully empty.

If you are using a 3x3 there is no reason you would need bigger than a 30 gallon res. You can get away with 22 easy, but if you think outside of the box you can get it done with using 14 gallons max. And that is with more than enough run off. I would recommend either saving or buying(40cent) gallon jugs of water and throw them in your tray. It would fill quicker, you would not need as much water, and it solves your height problem.

Doj said:

If you are using a 3x3 there is no reason you would need bigger than a 30 gallon res. You can get away with 22 easy, but if you think outside of the box you can get it done with using 14 gallons max. And that is with more than enough run off. I would recommend either saving or buying(40cent) gallon jugs of water and throw them in your tray. It would fill quicker, you would not need as much water, and it solves your height problem.

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Yeah you know what I wasnt taking into consideration that I was testing with the tray totally empty, when its running it will be loaded so alot of the volume will be taken up. So I will not need a larger reservoir, but I still have the issue of draining. Should I just drop the extra money at the hydro store and buy one of those large flat reservoirs they have for like 100 bucks. I was hoping to get away with the 10$ 30 gal rubbermaid.

I was actually saying put water jugs in when your plants are in place. So not only does your plants take up volume, so does the jugs. It works great, and you can away with 14 gallons max.

Doj said:

I was actually saying put water jugs in when your plants are in place. So not only does your plants take up volume, so does the jugs. It works great, and you can away with 14 gallons max.

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Yeah thats a good idea.