r/Hydroponics • u/No_Way_5642 • 2d 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/BruceJenner69 1d 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 1d ago

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

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u/TheRealDavidNewton 2d 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 2d ago

What size trays and pumps are you using?

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u/TheRealDavidNewton 1d ago edited 1d 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/No_Way_5642 1d ago

I have never seen anything quite like that. Are the pumps glued in or are there threads? That is very cool. Can I see some more and get a little more info?

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u/TheRealDavidNewton 1d ago

I'm out at the moment but Ill see if I can dig up some pics.

Long story short, it's an overcomplicated grow system. Six shelf, 4 tray rack. Reservoir on the bottom shelf, trays on the next 4, and the brain and supplies on top. Plumbed together mostly with push fit connectors and 1/2" HDPE tubing. No glue other than the manifold the pumps connect to. Each pump screws into a bung/port. Two push fit bulkheads on each tray; one is connected to the pump for supply and the other has a standpipe for max level control. All the overflows run into one line and back to the reservoir. LED lights over trays, fans on the sides of the trays, all controlled by a raspberry pi and assorted circuitry in a control box. Light cycles, flood and drain cycles, humidity control, and reservoir purge all written in software. One day Ill get back to it and complete the fill, ph and ec control, and logging.