So I thought I'd update now that I've got the system basically up and running and post some pics.
Everything has cycled nicely. Being a previously established tank, I had a solid cycle to nitrates within a couple of days, and nitrates were high for the first week. Since then, I've started dosing with vodka, and they've come down to practically nil (a little spike when I added the livestock). I also had my calcium hovering around 350ppm so I've been adding Kent Liquid Calcium, and that has been a steady 420ppm since.
I've got a firefish and a green hammer frag in there, as well as a sea cucumber and a clean up crew. There's live rock and macro algae in the sump/fuge, which is running Chemi-pure elite and purigen between the first set of baffles. I got a Sunlight tek light running 4X54W T5's, 2 actinic and 2 10k. They're running on a two separate timers to simulate dawn/dusk.
The protein skimmer is a chinese knock-off (Boyu is the brand name) that I got from amazon.ca for $100. I had read a couple of reviews on the product which said it performs admirably, and I have to say I agree. By day 4 I have a nice thick dark greenish brown foam coming out of it. I also like how it has two returns, each with its own adjuster knob, which makes fine-tuning the skimmer a breeze. Nice and quiet, I'd highly recommend the product to anyone.
http://www.amazon.ca/Underwater-Trea...=11TBRBHFA0WWG
SO yeah. I'm gonna do a full water test tonight, so I'll post the results, but so far so good. Looking forward to stocking now...next big purchase: Reefkeeper :P