Replace it with 1/4" tubing and regulate the flow with the valves

What is causing the blockage....nutrients? Salt? Media? Once you figure that out you will know what you need to filter better. From previous experience silk screen placed in line with socks will keep drippers clear. Silk screen can be bought in small amounts at any local print shop

The tubing that delivers the nutrient is called 1/4" but it is really 1/8" ID and 1/4" OD. The main culprit of the clogs is perlite. But it only takes a tiny piece. I have the pumps in filter bags and the return filters through one of these set in a bottomless bucket in the sump. http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=24071&catid=685.

I think the issue is pressure, without breaking the bank on a pump they are all low pressure. Enough to make me remove all in line strainers and in line washer strainers.

This is the system. The pumps feed into the manifolds and the tubing directs the flow.

To increase pressure have you thought about building a water tower and using gravity to help build pressure?

I did try that. I pumped into a 5 gallon bucket mounted at the ceiling. The bucket had an overflow to return to the sump and always provided a full bucket of water at the ceiling. A bottom mounted bulkhead allowed flow straight down into the manifold. Since the piping was 3/4" and there was resistance in the manifold it wasn't much better. Maybe if I had enough ceiling height to pump to the pumps max height I could have gotten more out of it but with the restrictions I have, there was no gain.

I run hydroton and only run a sock on my low pressure pump. I am using a ebb&flow setup. If you have tried everything you can think of and running out of options switch the configuration to flood n drain or buy you a high pressure pump.

The hydroton does plug up less than the perlite system. Because of space and the fact that I can run one or all of my buckets on vegetative or fruiting nutrient, I hesitate to switch to ebb and flow. I'm thinking I'll try a 1/4" ID hose first before I start researching higher pressure pumps. Thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate it.

No problem, looking back at your pics....what lights are you using?

The lights are LED's about 250 watts each. They are on a track and light an area 9 feet by 30". I am away for the holiday but in a few days I will post the details of the lights. I've had great success with them, growing peppers, tomatoes, beans, and all sorts of leaf crops. The lights can be right on the canopy and not burn them. Not like the old HID's. Didn't see any change in productivity when I switched over and the room is a lot cooler.

It doesnt take much to block an 1/8" bore tube, a few weeks worth of biofilm would be enough. The safe bet is to run a larger bore tube and regulate the flow to what you need.

I'm very familiar with LEDs but it looks like its white light. I've used plenty of the dark red/red/blue/purple combos but i have yet to find a LED that has spectrum for plants that is white.

The lights I use are made by Apache Tech. apachetechinc.com They have both red and white LED's and are 160 watts each fixture. I took a picture of the light output so you can see the red to white ratio.

I have seen no difference between these lights and the HID's I used before I bought these. The thing that sold me on these lights was the color. I really don't like the effect the heavily red blue lights have on my eyes, they may be better for the plants but they drive me nuts. These seem to work very well.