Welcome to R2R!!! and we are glad you are joining us all in this hobby!
*Edit:
@helen ann just gave you the definitive link. Thanks Helen!!!
Luckily, you will get a LOT of answers here, and you'll decide what's best, what you can afford and what you like. There are a lot of options. #reefsquad help always welcome. The Reef Squad is made up of members that know a ton about tanks, so listen to the reefsquad when they give advice, but you will still ultimately have to make your own decisions...
Let's break this down into what your tank inhabitants need:
1. Light
2. Flow
3. Clean Water with good chemical parameters
4. I'm forgetting something that someone will add here.
1. You need different kinds of lighting for a reef tank than FW, which you know already. Research a LOT before making a decision. You don't have to go expensive now, but you will eventually spend money on better lighting. I personally recommend ATI T5 fixtures.. There is a big push for LED only right now, but be careful when purchasing one. Some are cheap and some expensive, but make sure to research a lot: spectral diversity and intensity. Color doesn't matter; color and spectrum do not belong in the same sentence. Look at PAR output of your lights and ask the manufacturer for a chart of PAR readings to help you choose.
2. Flow. Corals need flow, so get some powerheads and a good return pump. Don't break the bank here, it's your first tank. Research return pumps and powerheads.
Flow plays into #3 Clean Water too, which includes filtration.
A sump certainly adds water volume, but it allows you to put the various pieces of equipment in the tank that you need:
Protein skimmer
Potentially GFO reactor, or just a bag of it to save upfront costs
Carbon, or GAC
Heater
That's good enough for now for starting.
I use a canister filter to clean my sump, not for constant use. Except on my quarantine tank, which doesn't run all the time like my DT.
Canisters can be nitrate factories, as they suck up waste that breaks down in the canister and then releases nitrates into your system. Good for FW, very bad for SW... You can use a canister but have to take it apart and clean it weekly or else it'll make your tank a mess.
You need some sort of nutrient export. The GFO will help remove phosphates, but nitrates will be a concern.
With a really strict water change schedule (10% weekly is sufficient for me, although sometimes I'll do a bigger one if parameters are off). And you DON'T need to supplement anything with good WC schedule. Stay very strict with your husbandry of the tank and you'll have an awesome tank!!!
also get a refractometer to measure the salinity of your water and mixed up salt water for WC's. Make sure to keep it at 35 ppt or 1.025 to 1.026, or close to natural sea water levels, and your WC's will replenish needed supplements. As your tank grows, WC's may not keep up, but that will be a long time from now, so just do weekly water changes of 10 gallons to 15...
Start with Reef Crystals (RC). They are common, cheap and everyone has used them and most still do. Red Sea Coral Pro is another choice, but this will come down to what you want in your tank and the parameters you need RC have high alkalinity, which shouldn't matter to you initially, but may as you add corals and other things that thrive with different parameters...
I hope this helps!! Good luck! We are really happy you joined us!!!!
