I HIGHLY recommend a pre-drilled reef ready tank (a 55g is fine and
MUCH better than a 10g tank). Your incidence of flooding will be
drastically reduced going with a reef ready tank. You won’t even know to
thank me for this suggestion because you won’t have experienced the
overflow box flooding that I’m talking about.
A protein skimmer is way up on the list of important pieces of
equipment. I would recommend the Bermuda Aquatics BPS-3C (linked
below).
20g sump is fine. Just make sure you don’t use the entire volume with
operating water. You need to leave enough ‘vacant’ volume to
accommodate water flowing out of the display above during a power
outage.
Heater – use two for redundancy. This is the #1 piece of equipment to
fail in our hobby. Use two 75w heaters. Technically all you need is one
single 150w heater, but the above statement WILL effect you at some
time in the future. If the heater fails in the ‘on’ position, it will
cook your tank. If it fails in the ‘off’ position, it will get
drastically cold. Two smaller heaters (even two 50w heaters is fine),
will not be sufficient to cook or freeze your tank individually.
Together they are more than adequate to run your system. Also consider a
Ranco temperature controller in the future.
Powerhead – You can spend a lot or a little. You can get some that
are capable of creating wave patterns or some that just move water. I
would recommend at least two in your tank. The Koralia 3 or Koralia 4
would be cool and very affordable.
Salt – the biggest debate in reefing on the planet. Instant Ocean is
widely accepted…..but not totally recommended by me. Pick one that you
can find locally. Buy the bucket for whichever you decide on. It will
contain enough to mix from 150g to 200g of saltwater. You’ll need it for
regular water changes.
Refractometer- Don’t cheap out here by buying a hydrometer. This is
one of the most important measurements you’ll need to monitor. A
refractometer is infinitely more reliable. No matter what size tank you
start with, please don’t start with a hydrometer. As a matter of fact,
the smaller the tank the more important it is to use a refractometer.
Test kits – Salifert makes the best, affordable and efficient test
kits for the hobby. You’ll need ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH,
calcium, alkalinity/hardness, magnesium. Any more than this is not
really necessary but available if you want them.
RO/DI water filter – Your tap water contains loads of TDS (Total
Dissolved Solids) that are prime for causing algae outbreaks. If you get
a TDS meter you’ll be able to test your tap water. Mine comes out of
the tap at 105 ppm. We want zero. ‘Nuff said.
Lighting – I could write an entire book on reef lighting. Depends
upon what animals you want to keep. Metal halide, T5, Powercompact (PC),
LED, combination of MH & T5 or MH & PC is a great combination.
Thermometer – The Pinpoint Wireless thermometer is very reliable.
Return pump – Depending upon the amount of vertical height you’re
pumping your return water will determine the size pump you need.
Remember, as water is pushed up vertically, as well as the friction of
the pipe it is flowing through as well as the # of fittings (elbows,
unions, ball valves, etc) will reduce the flow you get through the
discharge in the tank. A 1″ pvc pipe overflow can handle NO MORE THAN
600 gph. Therefore, you might need a 1000 gph pump to compensate for
vertical height plus backpressure from the fittings used

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