Constant circulation vs timed refresh

PREMISE:
I have what I call a recirculating bubble bucket/.DWC setup. I have an 8 gallon res constantly being pumped up into a 5 gallon bucket with a 6" net pot lid. There are two bulkheads in the bottom of the bucket, water is pumped up through one and drains down through the other. To control the height of the water in the bucket, I have a standpipe that allows about 5" (about 2 gallons) of water in the bucket. The bucket is heavily oxygenated with two good air stones.
While under power, water flows through the system at about 12 GPH.
THE ARGUMENT:
A friend of mine came by today and said he thought my design was inefficient and would rush nutrients through the roots too fast for uptake. He suggested a controller/ bucket with res and a timed refresh, basically pumping out the bucket once a day and allowing it to refill and level with a float valve, reasoning that the roots sitting in the water would have a better chance at uptake.
THE REBUTTAL:
I say the entire 8 gallons of nutrients are available at all times and the flow won't inhibit uptake and the 8 gallons versus the 2 gallons will have less of a potential pH swing.
THE QUESTION:
What do you think?

Check out under current systems, the smallest setups run at around 250gph and keep the flow constant. From the threads I'm reading at thcf, they are yielding.

My current setup (in testing) consists of three 5gal buckets. One as a reservoir and the other 2 with net pots.. etc. The pump I'm running is rated at 295gph and it sure is flowing. So far, no problems at all, if anything I think the constant turbulence keeps things mixed up nice with no sediment at the bottom of the buckets.

But this is just from my experience...