Hey deftdrummer ,
If you bury the dripring in the hydroton you wont know when holes in dripring are plugged by salts , residue etc... Every grow I've done so far w/ the dripring setup = the roots in the res. grow up the 1/2" dia. pump col. and into the bottom of the lil 1/8" air feed line that actually pressurises the col. so it cant drip . A cpl. of us on here use raincoats on smaller plants to subdue the spitting and splashing too - heres a pic .
Peace
Crispi :jointsmile: