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WPG is a horrible rule. I could put a 5W light over a 1 gallon tank and keep absolutely nothing photosynthetic. Its all about actual light saturation and specific light intensities in the tank. T5s, WITH individual reflectors, are much more efficient than CFs. Good T5 readymade fixtures are SLS...

Salinity: low side, I'd recommend running at 1.026 for most tanks. Change this slowly if you decide to. pH: Good Ammonia: Unless the tank is cycling there should be no detectable ammonia Nitrate: Through the roof :) Would be "ok" for fish only tanks, but not much else. Methods for nitrate...

I run an autotopoff, probably the best thing I did (especially since it now runs through my kalk reactor). Having that water container of 30some gallons of RO water ready to go in emergencies is also great. But yes, you need to topoff water lost in your tank with freshwater. If its straight...

Pythons will work. What exactly are you siphoning?

T5s are better especially if you're using them for actinic/blue. Most blue/actinic PCs I've had have been pretty poor and have very poor lifetimes (only 5-6 months, vs 12-16 for T5)

T5 refers to the bulb diameter (5/8th of an inch). T8 is normal household bulbs, etc. T5s are very efficient in their ability to radiate light and not lose it inside the bulb, as well as very efficient use of per-bulb reflectors. If you're interested in T5, I'd recommend looking at the IceCap...

VHO is still the best pure actinic bulb (from UVL - they say so themselves :)). T-5HO is the way to go for all other fluorescents.

My pick would be T5 fluorescents. They drive more light per watt to the tank due to their individual reflectors (if the light fixture has a single common reflector its not worth getting), and have a large variety of bulbs to choose from, AND the bulbs maintain their color and light much longer...

Thats not going to kick up much heat at all. Unless your inside house temperatures start exceeding the mid 80s, no chiller needed. If the water gets too toasty, get a fan and blow it over the water. Evaporation will go up, but temperature down.

In all honesty, my AquaC Urchin has alway been quiet compared to my new Octopus NW

Only real difference is the moon light. So either way. What were you thinking of keeping under the light? "Decent corals" can be anything :) I'd get the legs for the light and not run the glass top either. Yes, you want some powerheads. I'd add 2 MaxiJet 600 or 900s to the tank.

The Coralife SS is not a bad skimmer. Other options would be an AquaC Remora Pro for HOB useage.

And make that RO+DI water :)

You may have a recirculating skimmer (maybe?). These type have a much smaller feed pump to supply them with water (enters 2/3rd the way up, exits on very bottom, and the bigger air injector pump which recirculates the water in the skimmer and produces the bubbles/foam.

Every time I think of "sand" I think of the sugar fine stuff I use in my reef. Which would simply fly out of the tank if I attempted to vacuum it. Coarser sand is ok :)

5x turnover is fine a freshwater tank unless its a special stream biotope or heavily stocked (needs more oxygen exchange). Or unless you go into crazy saltwater land where 20x turnover is not unheard of :) I've never used the shrimp method myself, but one good sized shrimp should do it. Your...

Good to hear! Its important to have fun as much as possible :)

Depends how high the lights are up really.

Light? Flow? What is your nitrates at?

Flatworm eXit all the way. You have to be ultra vigilant on the siphoning and the water changes right after dosing, but I haven't lost anything (besides the coral that they smothered before hand).

Its really a tossup for what they will host. Some love hosting to pumps (which is strange really). Mine host to Xenia <----

My clowns host in Xenia <---

T5 is most efficient when you have an induvidual reflector per bulb. http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=SL2113 Its $19 above your max though, and does not include bulbs. With the induvidual reflectors you are getting more light then the CF fixture, and it uses less power too...

Filters aren't really needed when you have enough rock. You're on the light end, so I'd keep it in the system. How much water are you moving around? I find 1 per lb is usually overkill. They may have enough food at first but will eventually starve off. Get a handful of algae grazing snails and...

Reefs are expensive. But well worth it :) [goes to extinguish smoking PG&E bill] But anyway, to answer your questions. 30g is the smallest I'd recommend for a first timer. Clowns are a good fish, so are small gobies, a flame hawk is also a possibility. If you want a pair of clowns (small ones...