Not that I know a lot about this stuff (just getting started myself), but I gotta believe there is a reason that most commercial nurseries use NFT setups.
Maintaining several different reservoirs will require more work, but it can also provide some insurance should you have a problem with one of them. With several different ones, you can customize your
nutrient solution for the specific plant variety (all your tomatoes together, all your lettuce together, etc.).
In Arizona, I'd say you'll need to bury as much stuff as you can (reservoir, pipes, grow containers, etc.)
