well for starters; 1 thing most people CAN agree on is that reef tanks cost more & require more to maintain; there are exceptions of course of peops who have just jumped into it & don well or those who reached level to go skimmerless, filteress, & rarely non fed tank w/ top odd added only...best thing to do is ask around & decide what exactly you want to keep & will it work w/ your budget...lighting tends to be 1 of the most important things...get the best you can buy...preferably buy as much of your LR as possible up front BUT shop around for it; 50/50 on having a DSB; have not really heard much against having it; try getting carrib sea sand & add as many bags of LS you can afford; could just use 1 though; chemical additives will greatly add to health of reef for LR & inverts, but a must exxcept maybe the calcium; some feel you should have wet/dry; your choice; we only use eheim pro II on the 135; have q tip sponges everywhere now; mushrooms are fairly easy & some others; SPS's maybe little harder due to food/lighting/current needs; should have good current in tank to reduce dead areas; SWF.com has some of the best cleaner packs around
