thanks SN for the response. ok I do have ball valves installed on all the lines going to the control, and I have slowed down the flow to the back row already it is either too much or too little so far. I even tried countering by slowing down first the back row, and then the front row to get even more precise, but no luck! Now if I shut off the pump completely, control fills up almost to the top, and once again the back row of buckets have their baskets in water.

So when everything should be level, it's all out of wack.

I'm thinking this issue has something to do with the size of the control container considering it is a different size completely. or, it needs to be right inline of each row of buckets meaning the return lines would go straight in, instead of bending so much, hence giving it better, even flow.

But i dont want to change my whole setup until someone tells me they had the same issue and resolved it a certain way.