Well, I guess everyone knows it now... Maybe I am a little insane
I'll try to answer everyone's questions in this post. If I miss anything let me know.
There are 4 closed loops. 2 Sting Rays push water through a 1.5" actuating ball valve. The third closed loop is another Sting Ray that pushes water through the 4-way. This loop will be responsible for keeping detritus off the bottom of the tank. The fourth closed loop is an Iwaki MD 100RLT feeding a 3/4HP CSL in-line chiller. The chiller was placed on a closed loop so that the it would still keep the tank cool should the return pump fail.
Yes, I did consider fewer but larger pumps. What I want in this tank is a LOT of RANDOM flow. The kind of flow I will achieve could never be accomplished with only a couple BIG pumps. And, actually, going with fewer larger pumps wouldn't have been any easier on the electric bill.
There are a total of 8 pumps on the system. I already explained the closed loops above.
The remaining pumps are a Sting Ray for the return pushing through a 1.5" actuating ball valve, a Blueline HD55 feeding the clam tank upstairs, an Iwaki MD 30RLT feeding the calcium reactor and rowa reactor, and a Sequence 3200 feeding the MR-6 skimmer.
Every pump intake and output, and also every bulkhead is plumbed with a true union ball valve. The true union ball valves allow me to easily remove any pump for servicing while only spilling a minute amount of water. The true union ball valves near each bulkhead allow me to remove or change any of the plumbing in the future without draining the tank.
And yes, I am a little scared to see the first electric bill.
However, it's not the pumps that will be sucking the most juice. That will be done by the lighting.