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Heya
I recently have been thinking about getting a reef tank. Since I would like to spend around 500 dollars ( obviosuly less if I could ), I have decided that a nano-reef tank would be best for me. At first I thought all I could afford would be around a 5-10 gallon tank. Then I started looknig into packages b/c I heard that I could do bigger tanks with a 500 dollar budget (exlcuing coral and fish and LR)... One of the first packages i saw was and 18 gal m-tank, here is a link. http://www.finnex.net/pages/product/MTank.html
After looking aorund and talknig to different people, I was told it wouldnt be good enoguh for hard and soft corals, ( I want a lgihting system strong enough for both types of corals if possible, but if not i can deal with it .) After talking in a reef chat, I was told to jsut customize my own tank package and do a 20 gallon long. A particular person talked to me for a long time, he told me I could do this for around $500 (jsut the appliences and tank.)He said for a basic start up list he would reccomend getting 2 AC 401 or 301powerheads http://store1.yimg.com/I/pet-guys_1805_1437295
He also said I would not need a filter because of the live rock and live sand, is this true? For the lighting he suggested metal halides, since they would be strong enough for all corals. Then he told me they are around $300-400 bucks... since im on a budget I cant really do this ...Then he said if i want cheaper I could do a power compact lighting system which he said would be around $150, but with this he said I could do soft corals, and maybe a couple types of hard. Does anyone know of a good cheap lighting system that I could do hard and soft coral under? Is hard coral even worth spending more on to get the better lighting systems? The other thing I get confused about is the difference between a powerhead and a pump? what is better, and what are the good and bad things about each? He also said a protein skimmer is always good but not needed for a 20 gal. He said I could always get one after I have all my liverock set up. What is a good, basic cheap skimmer that I could get? Another product that he reccomended getting is a new thing that makes water current, its 59.99. If i did get it, I woudlnt add it for a while. Here is a link with a video explaining it. http://vmatrix.com/clients/3IQ_scwd/video/


These were the eqipment he suggested getting. Is there any other things anyone can think of, or any substitutes for any of the things he suggested that i would need, or could get? It was estimated like I said that I could get the tank and eqipment for around 500 bucks, is this realistic? I can always increase my budget I have done a lot of loonking around at reef keeping, and I use to have a 29 gallon SW tan without coral, before I switched it to a FW. I just dont know much about the products for a reef tank. When I look around I see so many differnt set ups that people use. Im trying to get a feel for what is a somewhat cheap, but at the same time a very good setup. If anyone knows of any good lighting systems, protein skimmers ect ect, or any other set ups that I could do, I would love to hear. I also could REALLY use any good suggestions on how to start up my tank.

Thank you SOO much to anyone who takes the time to read what i said and helps me ]
----Shaz

p.s. He suggested a 20 gallon long, is there any other size tank that I could get that might be better?

Just wait until the new "deluxe" nano-cube comes out. It will be around $200 and have everything you need to get you started.