Ok concerning your CFL question:
CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamps)
Grow clones, seedlings, and vegging plants with CFLs. Keep CFLs close to flowering plants so they develop big, tight buds.
Wattages available: 26 - 200 - inch lengths from 6 - 20 inches.
Brilliance: CFLs produce very bright light with relatively low wattage. The best values are the 55 - 65 watt bulbs. These bulbs are bright and inexpensive. Smaller wattages are less bright and very low wattage. Larger wattages are bright but more expensive.
Spectrum - The color spectrum is delivered at 2700K (warm white) to 5000K (cool white) in a selection of bulbs. Warm white CFLs (2700K) have more red in the spectrum and can be used alone but are best used in conjunction with cool white lamps to avoid internodal stretching during flowering.
I am excited that you asked me for advice on building a Hydro system. This type of growing is all I grow in so I feel like i know some good information about growing in this medium.
Ok to start off there are different type of hydro set ups. But the most popular methods are Flood and Drain (Ebb and flow), DWC (Deep Water Culture), Top feed hydro, NFT (Nutrient film technique), and finally Aeroponics. By far the easiest of all these hydroponic methods is the DWC method.
In DWC, seedlings and clones are held in net pots full of expanded clay (hydroton) pellets, rockwool, or other growing medium. These pots are nestled in holes in a lid that covers the reservoir. Roots dangle into the nutrient solution and a air stone connected to a air pump oxgenates the reservoir. Roots easily absorb nutrients and water from the solution in the oxygenated enviroment. This method is low maintenance and simple by design, they require no timer (except for lights) because the pumps are on 24/7.
This is the method I recommend because it is the method im currently using and the one I've had the most success with. I tried a hybrid method of top fed and dwc but noticed no difference in growth of the plants. So instead of complicating the grow with tubing and a submersible water pump i decided to take the top feed method out of the grow.
Ok DWC is really really simple and a joy to set up. You will need only a power drill to make the holes for the plants in the reservoir's lid. Here is a list of the materials i used to get the DWC up and running:
1 Rubbermaid tub (roughneck line of tubs are the best ive found) The 10 gallon size works best. Make sure the color of the tub is opaque. The solid blue ones work great.
4-6 net pots 3inch pots work well but also smaller net pots work great too depending on how many plants you plan on growing. Just make sure the hole you are making in the lid is compareable to the size of the net pots you have.
4-6 rockwool cubes again dependent on how many plants you plan to grow.
1 aquarium pump, you can get a cheap aquarium pump from Wal-mart or any pet store.
1 roll of aquarium grade tubing. This can be the clear type or opaque. Opaque is better cause then light cant penetrate it so alge build up in the tubing won't be an issue.
1 or 2 air stones. These can be the cheap air stones or the more expensive bubble curtains, I like the bubble curtains due to the fact the bubbles spread out more. Just make sure they will fit in the bottom of the tub.
Any amount of hydroton rocks that is needed to fill in the space around the rockwool cubes in the net pots.(These are critical cause it allows the plants to grab hold of and grow down to reservoir).
That's all the material needed. Total you are probably going to spend around 50 dollars. If you already have your lights and nutes for a hydro grow then you are set.
You can get a good set of hydro nutes for around 35 - 40 dollars. General Hydroponics 3 flora set works great.
Assembly is easy and takes only about 2 - 3 hours.
1. Take the net pots and trace an outline as to where you want to make the holes in the lid. This is key so you dont screw up your lid for the tub.
2. Make the holes with a power drill and test by putting the net pot in the hole you just made. If you did it correctly the net pot should sit snug in the hole.
3. Make another smaller hole off to the side on the lid for the air tubing.
4. Place the air stone in the tub and connect the air pump.
5. Fill with water and nutrient solution. Remember to follow directions of the nutes.
6. Turn pump on and add plants. YOu are done. Congrats!
Now that set up is complete you are going to want to change out the rez every week. This is key because water evaporates and plants drink the water. Dump and Replenish the rez every week and remember to add back pH balanced water 5.8 - 6.0 is best and add in the right amount of nutes. You will notice that the faster the plants grow the more they drink so its ok to add pH balance water to rez without having to drain and replenish. There you go its that easy. Air pump stays on 24/7 and lights are on a timer 18/6 for veg and 12/12 for flower. For draining purposes you have several different options. Some people like to add a drain valve at the bottom of rez. I however have found that annoying for two reasons. One tipping the rez to get the water out is not cool at least for me and the other reason the valve sometimes leaks. I opted for a top drain method where its basically like syphoning out gas. I have no experience in syphoning gas but someone that saw me do it said it was like that. The other thing you could do is find yourself a small hand pump or aquarium tank drainer. Drill pumps work great too and only cost 8 dollars at Lowes or Home Depot. You know the rest because its the same thing you do for a soil grow i.e. ventilation, lights, odor control.
If you have any questions let me know I can clarify on any points I just made
Peace and positive energy to you.
, But for a starter I should be good to go. I've got plenty learning to do so I'm well on my way. I'm about to take some pictures now and post them so stay tuned!
. She had a tap root but when i was transplanting her from the paper towel to the rockwool her taproot severed. I guess I didn't notice at the time and she ended up rotting and had mold all over her. I was sad sad sad. This time to replace the dead seed I put another White Widow but straight into the rockwool. I am seeing if this is a better method for germination compared to the paper towel method. I just have very clumsy hands i guess. My res had a leak in it so I had to run to the store and pick up a replacement. I went ahead and picked up some more CFLs and repositioned the lights so they are more efficient. The other seedling that hasn't broken the surface looks like as if its going to die. 
I was watching tons of vids on DWC! This is gunna be my next project once this first grow is done! and the bad ass thing about it is I've got everything but the pump & Nutes.
But I will be investing in that very soon!!!! By this week! Arg! 
I'll break it down like this and you can decide for yourself which you like better
It will def be a next project of mine once this soil grow is done. I wanna at least complete a few grows before i dip my stick in anything else ya digg? I wanna learn the plants & be one with nature "hahaha", And sleeping in the same room with the suckers is a dream come true. The aroma the plants give off is a wonderful smell to fall asleep to 
. I was also thinking of picking up some auto flowering seeds and doing an entire Rubbermaid op of auto flowers for one big harvest?... =]