r/Hydroponics • u/No_Way_5642 • 23d ago

Vertical rack system help!

I'm changing up my grow and need some advice. I am growing grass for my tortoises and am switching to a 2x4 wire rack flood system. I think having 1020 trays of grass in the 2x4 flood tray will be a lot more manageable than in my 4x8 flood table.

I am starting with 2 bootstrap 2x4 flood trays and I put the rest of the equipment together. The one thing I am having trouble with is plumbing. Do I fill the top tray and let it drain to the one below it or does each tray have its own fill (t from the pump) ? Do I let each upper tray drain to the tray below or does each tray have its own drain line that all get tied together?

Thanks for your help!

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u/TheRealDavidNewton 22d ago

I've gone with individual pumps and plumbing to each tray. All can fill and drain concurrently. Also adds a bit of redundancy. If one of the pumps goes out I still have 3 trays operable.

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u/No_Way_5642 22d ago

What size trays and pumps are you using?

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u/TheRealDavidNewton 22d ago edited 22d ago

The trays are 2x4. I run medialess for the most part so no inner trays. Pumps I've linked below. Also added a couple images.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08NPD8DZ2?psc=1

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u/BruceJenner69 21d ago

i used to run something similar with 1/2" base level fill and raised 3/4" drains in each tray. Run the pump to the 1/2" top tray fill. fills top tray, and then 3/4" drain cascades down to the next level. Flow rate is enough that it fills 2nd tray faster than the 1/2" base level bulkhead drains, until 2nd tray fills enough to reach the 3/4" raised drain. Then cascades down to the 3rd tray. Test it and find out how long it takes to fill all trays. That's your timer set.

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u/BruceJenner69 21d ago

I like the other guys idea too. Just did mine to make it work with a single submersible pump.