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It will all depend on your corals and there consumption of alk&Cal as to weather or not to dose. If your levels stay consistent between water changes there is no need to dose.
That's what I did with my last set up. Went bare bottom . I love it. My wife prefers the sand. But there are just to many potential issues with the sand.
I switched back from reef crystals to reg. IO cause I always found that the ALk& Cal were very high and I dose so there was no need to pay the extra money..
My honest opinion is I think you are asking for trouble trying to drill a used tank. You are much better off getting a controller & float switches to shut pumps off in case of a clog..