Welcome to the best sw bb on the net, and the best advice I can give you is to read! It's good to have experiance with fw tanks before you get into sw. Like posted above, the bigger the better. I went out and bought a 135 after a lot of time and research. Also this hobby takes time, get used to it.
You cannot stock a sw tank the same way you stock a fw tank. In a fw, the fish are used to living in a contained area, with edges and such, but sw fish live in an endless abis where they can swim for months, and not pass the same place twice. In my 135, I'm planning on getting 5 pretty good sized fish, all will get to less than 10 inches (except the eel).
Start small and work your way up, I wouldn't suggest going straight into a reef tank, but try a Fish Only With Live Rock, or FOWLR. It's probally the most common, and one of the easiest ways to keep and mantain a marine tank. Live rock is awsome, it is rock that has spent any time in the ocean, where algea, sponges, sometimes coral, and tons of micro life forms living on it. The most common type is Fiji lr, it the also the generally the cheapest type, but is very effective. The lr helps keep the tank biologically stable. Also live sand is great in sw tanks, it contains millions and millions of denitrifying bacteria that is very benictifial to a tank.
Find a good marine aquarium book to read, a good local fish store, and just read other posts on the bb, and you'll learn alot of valuable info. Marine fish keeping is a highly rewarding hobby, keep it up, and in time, you will have a breath taking fish tank in your house. Here remember that "The only dumb question is the one not asked"
Hows the surf in Florida? Good to see someone else that enjoys surfing.
-Mark
