Oh wow, thanks - I knew that White's are aggressive eaters but I was under the impression the coco husk/sphagnum were safe! I will definitely go with the eco earth type substrate instead. It definitely sounds like the false bottom setup would be the way to go, with that.

How hard is it to do the siphoning if necessary? With the egg crate bottom, is that the purpose served by the pump? And what kind of pump is that? Sorry, I'm not very "handy." It's sounding to me like it might be easier and cheaper to use the Hydroballs, but does that make for harder long-term maintenance? Does the setup ever need to be completely removed and cleaned/replaced with the Hydroballs or egg crate false bottom?

It also just occurred to me to wonder if, with the pump and egg crate setup, the pump could be set to continuously recirculate the water from the bottom over a sort of waterfall feature back into the substrate? But would that make the substrate too soggy where the water ran back down? Not sure if I'm making sense.... :/

Thanks again for the info! I know I'm full of questions but I am really excited about making a great setup!