New to SW, a little help

[blert]

Have had FW for years but am new to salt. Was at the LFS the other day and my son really likes the colorful SW fish. My wife likes the pretty corals and such. Well, I made the "mistake" of saying that when we move to the new house I would consider converting my 40b to salt, my son got very excited about that. This won't be for a couple of months but I would like to get some things together.

Here is what I have right now:
40b aquarium
10g standard aquarium
36" Nova Extreme dual bulb t5ho
50watt heater
100 pounds PFS

I am looking into either a 20 or 30 long for a DIY sump and BeanAnimal's DIY overflow system.
What size piping for the standpipes and return?
Can/should I use a spray bar on the return?
What model/size return pump?
I need a protein skimmer but not sure which models/sizes to look into.
Can I use the PFS in the DT and for a DSB in the sump? If not, what kind of sand do I need to get?
Will need one or two more heaters.
How much live rock will I need and can I keep some of it in the sump?
Is the lighting good enough and what can I keep under this lighting?

Can't think of anything else right now but I am sure there are more things that need to be addressed. Feel free to advise. Sorry for the long post. Thanks a ton.

 

[melosu58]

That equipment list looks pretty good. So this is going to be a reef tank right?

 

[blert]

Ultimately, yes. I figured I would go with FOWLR until the tank matures some months and I learn about SW and tweak the hardware. But I want to do the hardware properly first so I don't have to replace this and that later.

 

[kdpuffer]

If your starting with a fowlr your light should suffice but before you go reef you will want to upgrade to a minimum 4 bulb t5ho, metal halides or led. You could also just get another 2 bulb and set it beside your existing one. I just started my first reef build so I'm following along and happy to input if I know the answer.

 

[blert]

I have decided to go a bit different...

I am not really up for taking on another large tank so I'm going to go nano. Weekly PWCs are not a problem, I already do four large ones per week so one more small one won't be a big deal and this SW tank will have a protein skimmer and a chamber in the sump for macro algae.

So, the tank is basically a 20 long with a 10 gallon sump.
My questions are:
1) What return pump would you suggest? Head height will be about 6-8 inches (yes, INCHES). Quiet is very important.
2) What circulation pump(s) would you suggest? Again, quiet is very important.