Those brown patches, were they first a golden-yellow color? If so, then I think you have bad magnesium deficiency in the soil grow. Check the contents of the fert you've added and the contents of the bag of soil if you still have it, and see if there is any mg and calcium in those. If not and the spotting started off as gold yellow, you might consider going to a hydro shop and getting some calmag and give one shot of the recommended dose on the bottle and see what happens. It's kind of expensive to do that and you'd like to think that the ferts you have already have enough in them to make plants grow, but that's not always the case. It looks like you're doing great with the hydro bucket but you're getting a little leaf tip burn, which means that you're over-ferting some. Could be because the time you run the pump is too often, or could be because you're using too much fert in the water. Perhaps try backing off a little on how much fert is in the water and see what happens. Since you have a good hydro bucket, stick with it and build another if you want to grow again. Soil is a good way to grow, but go with what works. You're right about the spraying action putting enough oxygen in the water. It's all you need and them some. This method is so good infact that it might be the reason why you're getting leaf tip burn and the solution is to reduce the fert content some as more oxygen make nutrient take up more active, so you don't need so much. Good job on the hydro bucket.