Welcome to Reef Frontiers and back into the hobby!
The first step, which you've already done is determining what you want to keep. You want to start out as a fish only with live rock, but are considering corals at a later time. If you are sure you want to keep corals, then make sure the fish you choose are "reef safe" meaning, they don't eat corals or other invertebrates (if you plan on keeping snails, shrimp, crabs, etc)
. Do you know what types of corals you are interested in (mainly SPS, LPS, softies, mixed reef)? Depending on the answer to that, will modify the amount of flow in your tank. Most SPS keepers like to have alot of flow moving about in the tank. Do you think you want to have a bare bottomed tank, or have a type of substrate (shallow sandbed, deep sandbed, crushed coral, plenum). Here is a link that I feel is helpful when deciding what type of filtration you want:
Let's Talk About ~Filtration Concepts~
In my opinion, a skimmer will be one of the most important pieces of equipment for your tank. You will want to use the total water volume for determining the size of skimmer you need. Here is a thread about skimming:
Skimming 101. I also like this thread. There is a good post about manufacturer's overrating their skimmer's capabilities:
My SKimmer? Thinking of Getting Euro Reef
Sometimes, its difficult trying to figure out how to plumb a tank. Here is a workshop you may find helpful:
The Plumbing and Water Flow Workshop. I would suggest getting a tank that is drilled for an overflow. This will eliminate the need for a hang on back overflow. You can drill a tank for a closed loop, or do a hang on back closed loop. Powerheads are an option, as are Tunzes, sea swirls, wave box, etc. There are quite a few things to choose from, but placement is important.
RO/DI water is another important part to a successful reef tank. This is a good article about it:
Reverse Osmosis/Deionization Systems to Purify Tap Water for Reef Aquaria by Randy Holmes-Farley
You might want to scan through this thread for information on Electrical:
Wiring and Electrical Design and Safety. There is a link to calculators in the first post, but I'm not sure if it helps to calculate how much difference you'll see. Once you get all your equipment figured out, then you might be able to get a closer estimation....based on pumps, heater, lights, etc.
When you want to get into your lighting set-up, here is a great website where you can compare bulbs and ballasts
Sanjay's Reef Lighting Info Pages
I hope I'm not overwhelming you. There is alot of information out there, so trying to weed through everything is tough. We have a great group of people here, so bounce your questions off of us! I can't wait to see your system come together.
