Flooding time and frequency

[Salton]

I’m about to fire up my ebb and flow bucket system, and have a big question.
How often to you fill the buckets, and how long do you leave them filled? I read that as soon as they are filled they should drain, but I need to know if that’s accurate.
I have 18five gallon buckets, so it takes over 30 minutes to fill. I was told to only cycle them twice a day, and I’ve been told every two hours during light on and once during dark.
So could someone with actual experience fill me in please?

I have a 10X13 foot room. 18,000 btu split A/C, three 1000 watt HPS lights with flow through ventilation. I have a water chiller, and CO2, although I’m not going to use the CO2 until I have a bit more experience. I am growing in Hydroton.
Using Aqua Flakes A and B.
Thanks in advance.

 

[dj1714]

I really don't know about the buckets as I use a 3x3 flood table and have the timer set for 15 minutes 3 times while lights are on.

 

[Salton]

Thank you. It can’t be that much different for buckets. I appreciate your reply.

 

[dj1714]

No problem man.

 

[Pinktiger777]

What I do is similar: I do it for 5 minutes every three hours. I timed it, and it takes five minutes to flood the table to capacity; It seems to work with no problems.