Is this all I need for EBB & FLOW?

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Thats all you need, just drill out the holes with proper bit size and plug the fill drain valve in, add your pump hose and pump, then add the overflow valve to the other hole in the tray.

Your fill from the pump floods the tray AND drains it (back thru the pump). The overflow is only a safety net if your timer fails on your pump, as well as keeping the water level consistent and known. I have mine spilling directly into my rez, without any hosing, this will help to oxygenate the h2o. As far as leaks, my overflow leaks slightly when flooding, but thats fine, it drips right into my rez a-ok.

Let us know if that answers your questions or post back if more!

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whuh said:

Are these the only fittings I need to build an ebb & flow system? http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/ebb-flow-float-table-fitting-kit-p-1651.html

When I drill the hold in the tray and put them in wont they leak? do i have to seal them somehow?

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Silicon caulk is your best friend. Either aquarium grade if your using it inside the tray or generic tub and tile caulk for out of the res.
Get the hand squeeze tube so you don't need a caulking gun. Hand tubes will usually store well after being opened as they come with a cap.

If your handy at DIY, you don't need those fittings as you can make your own.
Go to a hardware store and find a threaded plastic barb nipple sized for your hose (about $3.00). Also pick up a larger threaded plastic lawn sprinkler head riser (about $0.70)
Trace around each fitting on your table and use a razor knife to cut just inside the line. You was the hole tight but where you can thread in the parts. On the nipple (in flow), thread it in just a thread or two. For the riser (overflow), screw it to where you like the height. CAULK THE HELL OUT OF THEM OUT SIDE THE RES.
My res has holes cut larger than the fittings so it sits right on top of the lid. You need to be gentle when pulling off the pump hose as it is easy to pull out the in fitting. If needed, caulk some window screen over the fittings for a strainer.

Here are some pics of one of my smaller ones. Meta tags are stripped for those trying to find GPS info. There is none

Oh yea, for the overflow, twice the size of the in flow works well.

Let me add if you DIY and your pump has the power to jet water out of the tray, loosely caulk a piece of plastic cut from an ice cream bucket over the in to diffuse the water sideways. Don't make it water tight, just enough to hold it in place.

hmm, let's see I am no expert new to grow myself, but I think i can answer some of your questions...

The location is not important for the valves, I tend to like the middle, but thats if your tray is sloped for a mid drain, some are - kinda nice. Mine is not sloped, drain is an one side of the square tray along with the fill, I just put a 1-3 degree shim under my tray for kicks. I am using cinderblocks as well if that helps you out for a stand and such, ther great, cheap and sturdy.

The 2min flood...If it takes 2 min to flood to your desired hgt, thats great, nice and fast flood, its then up to you to decide on how long it stays flooded before turning pump off. You may run into issues with your pump since it seems pretty large if you keep it going past your optimum flood level, the overflow may not be able to keep up, do a test run...

Generally the shorter the flood and full drain cycle the better, roots start to drown after 30min I believe. I would do: 2min flood + 3 minutes pump on past full flood, then drain. Prolly a 10 min cycle total from flood to drain. thats average good.

robjones1 said:

...Generally the shorter the flood and full drain cycle the better, roots start to drown after 30min I believe. I would do: 2min flood + 3 minutes pump on past full flood, then drain. Prolly a 10 min cycle total from flood to drain. thats average good.

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Good tip! Time how long it takes to flood to the level you want, and them keep timing until it drains out. That is you flood time. Then you can decide how much longer if needed.
I run 10 min floods and it takes about 5 min to drain. I have one with a smaller pump so it takes longer to flood so I have adjusted the timer for that.
You don't need to flood until overflow, just until the water get to the level you want + a min or two.

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those are the two exact fittings that came with my bigfoot complete. the grey outlet head is nice because it comes with a spacer that lets you place it at whatever height. if youre gonna get into hydro, id say these pieces are indispensable.

whuh said:

if im using 1.5" square rockwool in 6" netpots how high do i flood? thats that main thing confusing me. Thanks

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I would go for half the net size height. So three inches. Once you root out of those little cubes, put them in the pots so the bottom is just under or touching the flood line. Any roots sticking out at the time, let them go deeper.
The roots will grow down and then out of your pots.

I have a 196 gph pump for my 4x4 and it takes about 6min to flood, another 8-10 to drain, so I am looking at a roughly 15min cycle. My setup for flood tubing is setup so that I can turn a cutoff valve to the tray to drain the res for changeouts, so I have a T inline to the tray, this slows draining down a bit, but it works for me as I can use the existing pump to changeout the res...

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