dab,I am a noobi and you needed help "problems you can't figure out" so I got the Ladies attention and got them over here for you. you can either accept the help or not, but you should be thankful as they definately have lots better things todo,and since something your doing is'nt working rite maybe you should listen, they just might know what they are talking about.
Looking @ your root mass picture,you say you keep it in a 5 gal bucket looks like it would barely fit in a 5gal bucket maybe it needs to be bigger. I know absolutely crap about hydro tho don't listen to me, but those nice Ladies know ALOT. good luck on solving your sudden death syndrome....:jointsmile: