Looking good s far. Since you asked, here are a few suggestions. Of course they are biased given my own experiences from one end of the spectrum to the other, but take them for what they are worth to you.
1. Stand is overkill as I told you the other day, but already done. I suspect you could have used the extra height on it since you are "anti-gravitationally challenged".
2. Lighting: given what I have used and learned in the past, and more so given where you live, I would make every effort under the sun (no pun intended) to place it where the tank gets direct sun light for as long as possible during the day. You live in Miami, so use it to your advantage for a change LOL........ I would concentrate the T-5 bulbs in the "white" and "blue" only for lighting during tail ends of the day and for your viewing time. It adds color to your eyes too. That will considerably cut on heat issues seen with MH as you are aware since you've used them before. I know you don't have MH now, but knowing you they will be going up next month!
3. Your tank is already drilled, so I would go with an external pump for return. I would use "internal power heads" (whichever you choose to use) for simplicity. Heat will be negligible unless you go mental adding a boat load of them. It will also give you far more choices of where to angle flows. I would also do my best to use the overflow to feed other equipment (skimmer at the very least) if at all possible. Less pumps and less points of failure. Gravity is constant, so less fiddling and tweaking too.
4. Don't know about your choice of fish in the future, but given your previous history, I think it would be OK to have a very thin layer of coarse CC for aesthetics only. Easy to disturb and allow any collected material to come into suspension and be taken out easily. This is a personal issue though.
5. I would seriously concentrate on LPS and softies in addition to fish and completely forget about wasting money on SPS. One thing It is very clear in my mind is that there is something in the water in south FL that does not allow SPS to flourish like they do elsewhere. I am yet to see the first tank in FL that looks like the dime a dozen SPS tanks int he rest of the country. Even with the gargantous volumes of water and dilution I had in my own system for year, I was never able to replicate what I easily did with plenty of neglect while living in MD with a system half the size. I am willing to let anyone prove me wrong though............
6. I still have a lot of stuff here you could probably use and could have if you are willing to do the drive to come get them. Least I could do since I owe you a chiller!! God knows I am not driving down there if I can help it LOL.................
7. Sorry, but did not read much of the thread, so I am sure it I missed what you have planned for fish??
8. I would do dosing for the next few months at least. Kalk is very cheap and easy to mix. A bit of work to keep up, but far easier than to try to set up and tweak a Ca reactor you won't need for months. In a year+ maybe the Ca reactor will be needed, but you'll also need to replenish evaporation then too, so why not start there now and kill 2 birds with one stone!
I left plenty of room in the event I need to upgrade my skimmer down the line. The skimmer compartment is 13.5" x 17.5". Let me know what you think. And the refugium is 12.5" x 17.5".
