Quote Originally Posted by SpaceNeedle
Ok, I've had the buckets, ebb and flow and now to drip. Been doing drip for quite a while. I have 2 4'x4' trays on top of each other with a couple of 2 by 4s separating them. 1000w hps light . The bottom one is the reservoir, the top one is where the girls sit. I have square pots about 7" x 7" at the top and are about 10" high.
there is a 3" hole for drainage in the top tray.

Using a 500 gph pump I have connected to a 1/2" pvc pipe that goes around the perimeter of the top tray, in other words its also 4' by 4'. I then drilled some holes in that ring of pipe and stuck the 1/4" tubing in there which then goes into each pot. The pot is hydroton, and there is no dripper involved. I just let the water rip thru and the girls love it. No more problems with dripping, no leaks, and the temperature is a lot easier to keep cool in the summer time than 5 gallon buckets being run around all over the place.
Above all its simple. I usually turn the pump off when lights are out. If i'm not home pumps are running 24/7 ...no difference. I find that as long as the plant doesn't have a big rockwool cube attached to it, works fine. Small starter cubes are ok, but I recommend nothing bigger, as a big cube sitting inside the hydroton is too much for the girls and they don't get enuf oxygen.

SpaceNeedle
I use a very similar setup.

6 leach trays
5 2 gallon grow bags filled with hydroton per tray
1 5 gallon bucket for a rez for every 2 trays
1 132gph submersible pump for each bucket
1/2" vinyl tubing to feed from the pumps
1/4" tee's and tubing to feed from the 1/2" vinyl tubing

No drippers or anything. Just let it rip into the growbags filled with hydroton. I don't have any problem with leaks or clogs. I only have 1 moving part in my whole system, the pump.

Additionally the cascading action of the water waterfalling from my leach trays into my 5 gallon buckets aerates the water VERY WELL so I don't need an air pump or air stone.

Hydro should be so simple that you could leave it for 2-3 days without there being a problem if you can't check on it. That's my philosophy anyway.

I can't take credit; I ripped off that hydro setup from Stinky when I was looking for a cheap quick setup. I've made some changes/improvements but the idea was still hers. Check out her "darkside" log.