I recently set up a 55g reef and here are some things I encountered. If you can afford it go with a 75g reef ready tank. It's basically the same tank just deeper front to back which is a huge difference when doing your rock scape. With that you can use your 55 as a sump. If you decide to just go with the 55 that's fine too. As far as the canister goes if you get one remove all the media and fill it with filter floss and perhaps some carbon and GFO. The carbon and GFO are there to control phosphates and nitrates which will help with algae. Or just run your HOB with floss, carbon and GFO. In saltwater you only need one source of mechanical filtration as your rock is the bacterial filtration. In freshwater they say more filtration is better well in salt it's more rock and more flow that wins. As far as skimmer goes I use the remora aqua c and it works well. I would suggest getting an overflow box that attaches to the tank by suction cup and run the skimmer in that. Get two if you opt for the canister filter. Also before you do anything get a RO/DI water system as this will save you headache down the road. Purified water is important to having a happy healthy and beautiful saltwater tank. Another good investment is an auto top off system which keeps your tank topped up due to evaporation. Most people run either open top tanks or screen top tanks to promote good gas exchange and this increases evaporation. Now as far as flow goes if you start with a FOWLR then flow doesn't have to be as high, they say 10x volume in turnover per hour so a 550gph powerhead would suffice. I would recommend more however especially if your going reef down the road. Start with one 1050-1500 gph powerhead or two 550. I personally have 2 1050 running alternating between the two(I have a wave maker to turn them on and off) and have a 1400 that I use for mixing and will be putting in the tank when not mixing. I personally prefer koralia powerheads, the look decent and have a magnet base that holds them in place and the price is way better than a vortech. Now as far as rock goes its purely your choice. Live rock needs to be cured especially if it's recently been shipped. Cured live rock from your LFS is more likely to have a short cycle time. Both forms of live rock are good but carry a risk/reward. Live rock has the risk of carrying hitchhikers some good some bad. You often find coral or feather dusters and various worms snail and starfish in the rock. However you also often find crabs shrimp and aiptasia. Personally I got all cured live rock but I knew the risks involved and ended up with some nice hitchhikers and only pest I got was aiptasia. Now base rock is proffered by many as it is basically live rock that has been dried out completely and is now dead. This kills everything on the rock good and bad. Once added to the aquarium it will become live again but only with what you add to it. The bacteria cultures will grow back as part of the cycle but you don't risk adding harmful critters to the tank. So the choice is solely yours and what you feel comfortable with. Hope this helps some and if you have any questions fire away on here or send me a PM.
