Help on how to set up a FOWLR, equipment, etc!

You going to want a powerhead, a filter, a heater, sand/gravel , id use sand atleast enough for a good 2-4 inches deep worth alot of fish love to dig in the sand and move it around, a good little thing i do before adding the sand is i place the rocks in where I want them first than I add the live rock and throw the sand in after that way its hard for the rocks to move becuase its covered in sand, sucks when a fish makes a rock that weighs 5-20 pounds crash down, live sand is great helps speed up biological filter since the sand has living organisms in it, and little sea critters love to shift through the sand and eat. Im not sure if you would need more than 1 power head since you got a bow front, iv never owned one.in my 75g tank I got 2 power heads dont want non moving water becuase bacteria will grow that kills the fish. erm..... really in all honesty you dont need much but its expensive, your going to also need a hydrometer and a thermoniter. erm.... ponders what else is needed......salt and fish o.0 lol sorry but thats all the info i can give you i havnt been into salt water fish for to long now my self, you might want a skimmer to help with water quality but i dont even have one for my 75g they cost alot.

 

If you get enough live rock in there it can act as a filter in itself (but I like to use filters for the media options when/if a issue arises).

Pretty run of the mill checklist would be:
[*]Aquarium
[*]Stand to put the tank on
[*]Canopy - I've always gone with glass
[*]Surge Protected Power Strip & a grounded outlet
[*]Heater that is saltwater safe (most are...but I know there's older ones out there that aren't)
[*]Thermometer to monitor temp
[*]Special Salt for saltwater tanks & refractometer or hydrometer for checking salinty (refractometers are much more accurate).
[*]Container for mixing Salt, additional heater to getthe water to the proper temp, an airpump & airstone to keep the water aerated (if you plan on making it up ahead of time and letting it sit 1st)...a new garbage can works great!
[*]Live Rock (the more the better as it can act as a filter in itself)...depending on how you plan on stabilizing them I'd place egg crate/lighting diffuser on the bottom to defer some of the weight and probably run some skinny pvc pipes "connecting" the rocks to one another so no fear of toppling when doing maintenance and some reef safe putty to seal them in place.
[*]Substrate (type and amount depends on what your keeping & whether you are going with a deep sand bed or not)...can read more about the deep sand bed vs. regular sand bed here--> http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/filter ... ussion.htm
[*]Appropriate lighting (wattage & type depends on what you plan to keep)
[*]Saltwater Master Test kit
[*]PowerHeads (as many are needed to prevent dead spots within the tank)
[*]Protein Skimmer (optional...but recommened)
[*]UV Sterilizer (optional...but recommended)
[*]Filtration (optional..but recommended--I'd go canister filter, much more media options there and if it has a quick stop/disconnect servicing/maintaining it will be sooo much more easier)
[*]Siphon (for partials)
[*]Algae magnet/long handle with razor at end to remove algae
[*]Net
[*]Turkey Baster--Helpful for target feeding and "blowing" away cyano if you end up with it
[*]Quarantine Tank-Heater-Thermometer (fish are too expensive not to properly quarantine them)
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YES, it gets expensive very fast!
I'd check on your local craigslist...your bound to find a setup which someone has given up on or can no longer maintain/keep for much less than you'd spend at the lfs.

My advice is to purchase one thing at a time...get the best that you can afford that way there's no need to upgrade and you'll have a better chance for overall success...plus you won't break the bank!

 

the LPS i went to the other day, he had a little cube tank, maybe 20 gallons ??? had lots of coral and live rock in it. said all that tank had was a filter on it and a heater and has run that tank with out touching anything in it for over a year, same dirty filter in it too.

but he also had tanks that were heavily equiped with equipment so im deff not saying its that easy.

 

did he have any inhabitants in there (the 20g)? Sounds more like the nano cubes I see sold in a box.

 

it kinda was like a nano cube, you talkin about fish i guess for inhabitants??? ha yea it had fish in it.

i got to askin him how hard salt water was and he pointed to that tank and said he has not touched it in a year. filter, heater, corals, fish, water and that was it. thats my kind of set up

but like said he also had some set ups with a bunch of equipment, we did not really have time to talk about all of them.