hydro medium

[KandyFlippa']

I'm setting up my first grow. I have my growspace, lights, and ventilation. I need to know what kind of hydro system is the best. I want to do this right. I know people are always like just use some vermiculite and perlite or rockwool, but i dont know how much to use or what ratio.
My other problem is I'm not sure how to setup a real "hydro" system. I thought you could just plant them indoors and water them, but I see these really badass setups where you guys have hoses running into and out of your pots. It looks like the hoses run to a pump or something. I want to build one of these to get a real system, but I'm not even sure what it is to be honest. what kind of a pump is it and what are all those hoses for?

thanks to anyone who even attempts to help me out on this, i'm really trying to learn and get this perfect.

 

[KandyFlippa']

ok, so...i need a water pump and an air pump?
im still confused on what type of medium my plants roots need to be in. i assume i need something a little more advanced than miracle-gro or some generic hardware store brand. i mean arent there specific amounts of different types of fertilizers needed?

 

[KandyFlippa']

cool man, thanks!

 

[goldenzippoj]

the only job the growing medium has is provide support for the plant, you can use anything from rockwool to packaging peanuts, to my favorite, the white styrofoam coolers. rockwool and all the fancy shit are good but anything that will support the plant and not give off any typeof residue will work. as for the pumps and fancy tubes and what not...there are only like 3-4 basic types of hydroponic set ups, they can look different but the purpose is all the same.... deliver oxygen and nutrients to the roots. you MUST have both. and the more oxygen the better(so long as the roots not dried out) google types of hydroponic systems. But basicly you can either have the roots in the nutrient solution and add oxygen with the fish pump or have the roots in the medium and/or air and run the water over them. hope I could help, any other questions feel free to ask