[tyoung]

hello,

I am new to this hobby and wanting to build 180 gallon reef system. Starting out with fish and liverock first with inverts, then corals at a later time.

I have deciced to go with a live sand/liverock set up for the biological filtration and have deciced on glass over acrylic for the aquarium. Also, for mechanical filtration, I plan on using a high quality skimmer and a nice sump set up.

Where I need advice is in the area of price vs performace and quality of equipment and what has had the greatest performance and that you have had the best luck with. As you well know, there are a million choices out there and I want to go with proven equipment that works.

Please give me your opinions on the following and recomend what type I need to go with for best results:

oceanic vs all-glass aquariums
euroreef skimmer (best modle to use and best place to purchase)
lighting-what is the best one to use? I like the combo orbit type
sump-which one would do the best job and easy of maintence?
chiller-this set up will be in a basement, and the weather is seasonal, will I need one with the type of lights I will be useing?(-15-low 100's)
wavemakers-what is your opinion of useing these and which one works best
pumps-which ones are the best to use to keep heat at a minimun and low energy cost, how many will I need to meet 3600 gph circulation?

I am hopeing that starting out with good equipment, I will save money down the road. Getting started, I need advice on what is the best way to invest my money and get the best results, "the most bang for the buck."

thanks