Thanks everyone, I wasn't really expecting the results I got...was one of those 'leds can't flower' guys. My hydro shop guy swore on these, so I got one...he was right. This was "Kinky Cheese" from escobar seeds, not known for being a yielder.
Yeah, that is more water movement than most RDWC kits, but this is a venturi bucket system. The ~800 gph pump was the smallest that would get the pressure high enough to get the venturis to work. I have a smaller 2 plant kit that runs on a 33 watt pump (or one size smaller if you take off the filter), also fits nicely under the Illumitex (rectangular footprint), just need to veg out a little longer. These plants showed some nutrient burn above 360 ppm, should give an idea of how well oxygenated the water was. Heaviest feeders like it under 400ppm. The way I figure is this is similar to the under currents which come with a big air pump to start with (100watts at least, right?) and this aerates better than air pumps without worrying about clogging air stones. And it is near silent operation if I put a silencer on the venturi air tube, just hear a little splash if i let central res water level get low and a minor hum from the water pump. Overall it should work better than the UC with less power and noise. And each bucket's drink gets stirred up more than using a waterfall method for aeration, which I think would be better as well.
If the power goes off, the water will stop moving around...have to make sure the air hose for the venturis go above water level or they'll drain out. O2 will slowly leave the water until the pump comes back on...have around 30 mins before it gets detrimental to nutrient absorbtion, a few hours before the roots will start suffering. I'm pretty lucky where I live, haven't had a power outage last longer than 10 minutes, happened twice over the last 10 years. Was told I'm on the same grid as a hospital and that means my section of grid is a high priority to keep up, has extra safeguards than normal.
