NFT system setup for more space?

So I'm planning to switch over to a NFT system setup and still want to more have space. instead of main 1 res and 1 pump beneath the plants to catch the runoff like normal NFT set up I was thinking of putting just 1 small and short container with a pump to catch the run off and pump it back to a main 20 gallon drum reservoir outside the tent. I want to do this because it seems way more convenient and I would save a lot of vertical space. I understand I would have to buy an extra pump and a large container but is there any problem with this idea? assuming that both pumps move the same amount of water the smaller container should never over flow because the plants take some of the water away. I just want to make sure theres nothing wrong with this setup before going into it.

The pumps wont move the same amount of water. Good luck though. I feel that any difference in incline, elevation of pumps, and length of tubing all play vital roles in the actual amount of water a pump will push/pull. Getting them to match up perfectly, well, good luck.

Hmm I see what you're saying but it doesn't have to even match up perfectly as long as the runoff is less then the amount of solution going in right? I just want to make sure that the small container for run off wont overflow and if its not completely full of water the submersible pump wont break down

that dual pump setup is like welcoming failure

If you need a res only 20 gallons, don't use an upright one,use one thats lower than the nft

- Jiji

I don't use NFT, but 20 gallons seems like small res unless you only have a couple plants. Also the NFT systems I've seen usually have the res located pretty much under the rails so they really don't take up much more space then the rails them selves.

I use roughly 14 gallons for 6 plants on 4x4'. 20 gallon would be plenty for 6 plants, 9 would be doable as well but not ideal.

jijiandfarmgang said:

that dual pump setup is like welcoming failure

If you need a res only 20 gallons, don't use an upright one,use one thats lower than the nft

Click to expand...

Exactly. And can still place it outside the tent.

@Dr.StickyFingers: tilt the tray the other way, so left is up and right goes down. Pump the solution in the tray on the left side, so it flows down to the right. Add some 2inch or 40mm pvc to connect the tray to the rez, which can still be outside the tent.