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I think you've got about every possible opinion here by now. Probably the best suggestion is to get a look at a tank that's similar to what you have planned, and judge for yourself. The only thing I'll really add to this is you may want to stay away from 6 foot T5 fixtures. In my opinion 4...
fwiw, it may be time to give Danner a call about the pump itself. I've owned something like 15 magdrives in the last 4-5 years, 5 all the way to a 24, and all I had issues with was a broken shaft on a 9.5 a long long time ago. If you're gonna stick with it, it might be worth buying a spare impeller.
I too am sorry for your loss, but I'm equally stumped. With only 5 fish in the tank, it shouldn't have been that bad. You mentioned a lot of corals, were they large? Honestly, even with no power for 12 hours, my head tells me this shouldn't have happened. Since this was a case of the powerstrip...
What AGA and the rest have done in the last 10 years or so is make the tank trim more of an "integral part" of the tank's "structural integrity". In other words the glass has gotten thinner because the trim prevents the glass from bowing. The thinner glass obviously saves them manufacturing $...