yea the one guy scott at aquactinics is helpful on the phone, but a bit of a slacker with emails. i still havent gotten a UPS tracking number. if it went out wednesday as it should have, i am thinking it should be there today! (but to be fair to them, i did a special UPS request using a business account, so it was not their regular operation)
Reef - i plan on adding a PVC reducing Wye after the Ball valve, and before the pump. the wye split off will come throught the top of the tank and act as a drain for easy water changes. this should clean out the sediment no problem. any remaining goop will get blown back into the tank when the pump is installed, and it will eventually dissappear.
thanks for the input wango - post #117 represents my current final bulb plan, which follows your advice.