Gimme The "low-down" on Equimpment

[CoryDude]

There's a lot of good companies out there, so you're going to get a lot of recomendations and personal preferences. But, you'll usually get a consensus from reefers on the bad ones. Here's some to stay away from IMO:

Protien Skimmer - Like Ping said, get the largest skimmer you can afford. Stay away from brands like Kent, Coralife, RedSea, and CPR.
Heater - no need to get real expensive in this dept. since you'll only use it a few nights a year. Maybe look at getting 2-300W heaters
Chiller- expensive no matter which brand you're talking about. If you do end up needing one, just make sure you don't get an underpowered chiller. I'd recommend a 1/3-1/2hp model that that size tank.
Water Pump and Powerheads - Stay away from Rio, Powersweep, and Hagan Aquaclear pumps.
UV sterilizer (maybe?)- not a fan of them, so Ping or someone else who uses them can help you on that.
Lights- There's a lot of bad brands so watch out. I'd mainly stay away from Coralife