hydro noob quetion(s)

I wanna go hydro but I just can't understand it completely. My set up is 1x3 foot. I'll try to LST maybe scrog too. How often do pumps go out and I don't know how often to flush or turn a valve to drop the water. Can anyone cut and paste some good info or instructions . Id love to learn how to do this for my personal use smoke. Thanks for any feedback. I'll be using CFL's and i'd like to use t5's on the sides.
Thanks

I say decide which method you want to use and then look for some yoututbe vids. We can answer more specific questions here.

I decided to go with dirt. It's too risky for me to fudge up because of a pump goin bad etc..

I did 3 grows in dirt and I am now trying a little DWC set up.