Ahhh yes I see what you guys are saying now about the ATO. It took me a minute to understand it but that would happen if it failed in the on position. I like that failsafe idea of only running the ATO for 5 minutes at a time at 6 hour intervals. My tank and cabinets are going in about 10-15' from my kitchen sink, and my friend who is an actual plumber is going to plumb the RO/DI, so hopefully I can achieve the correct pressure for something like that. It eliminates the need for a ATO reservoir at all and for that matter, I guess it would eliminate the need for the Tunze Osmolator at all which saves me money
I'm not going to lie, I'm a technology nerd and love what things can be achieved with the Apex so that is part of why I came up with some of these ideas. The auto-water change idea came from a combination of years of dealing with weekly massive water changes in my freshwater systems and reading the various studies that I've found on the web about the benefits of daily smaller changes. I will of course still have to clean detritus out from rocks, sand, etc. so I will need to do some manual/larger water changes from time to time.
In regards to the fish stock list. It's definitely not set in stone and very likely could change. The tangs would also not be the first fish I add to the tank. If I do decide to go that route, I would likely add those down the road after I've gained some experience in the difference between reef and freshwater husbandry and let the other inhabitants get settled. After years of dealing with aggressive and territorial African Cichlids that can stress each other out, I've grown accustom to researching each species endlessly before deciding to add them. I would never rush anything in any aquarium, let alone a reef system.
For those that are curious, I'm planning to use dry rock (with a few pieces of live rock) and taking my time to cook/cure them in rubbermaids first. Once ready, I'll add a CUC and then eventually a pair of clowns. Of course this is all a long ways away. I have a stand to build, a sump to finish and a lot of equipment to purchase before any of that that happens lol