To Answer Some questions
The Tank i dont know about personally but i say go for it
For lighting it all depends on what you would like to keep in your tank. So softies Id go with PC lighting. Its fairly inexpensive in comparison to others but still good. For more light demanding coral like SPS or some lps i would go with either a 70w or 175w
Metal Halide System,.
When asking anything about substrate here you will get a lot of different answers. SOme say a deep sand bed, others say a thin one, and alot say none at all. I would say just do a
shallow sand bed of a fine substrate. You will get good results and later on it wont be very hard to switch to bb (bare bottem) if you want to.
For Liverock it really depends on how much you want. Get as much as you need to make a really nice aquascape that you can place coral on and is attractive. Its good to keep it spaced off the glass enoulf that you can get something in there to clean the glass without moving around the LR.
You NEED a filter, Heater/chiller (depends on what the temp is), Power Head, Water Testing Equipment. You might WANT a Protein Skimmer, RODI unit, Sump/Refugium.
For Salt i would use Instant Ocean Brand. Ive used it from the start with no problems.
As far as advice id say take you time. Go slow. The only thing rushing gets you is trouble down the road. Do lots of reading/research on the forums and books and people just to get a good feel. I myself switched from ciclids and personally would never go back. And the number one Rule is HAVE FUN. If you have anymore questions or anything feel free to PM me. Any one else wanna point out whatever i may have missed...
