Congrats on starting your endavour and doing research. YAY FOR RESEARCH!
I have a 28gal long and when i was doing my research i got a lot of differing opinions on everything.
Get 2 powerheads not 1. I was going to do 1 but then realized water would only be blowing one way creating dead spots. I got a K1 and a K2 and put them on each end of my tank pointing in different directions to create turbulent water and no dead spots. Now many people thought i was insane and said it would be too much flow but guess what. It wasent enough. Flow from a Koralia is soooo gentle. I actually had to add another way of pushing water so I added a fluval internal filter so i had a powerhead and filter all in one. No Saltwater tanks dont need filters but they sure do help. You need to clean them very often unless you want nitrate to spike. I do because im doing a macro algae tank so i leave the sponges in. I do filter floss in there when needed or carbon when needed. Yes I learned that late. Make sure you have something figured out if you need to add carbon or any kind of media temporarily to remove medicines or particles or whatever. Most people have a sock in a sump. I have no sump.
I manually top off every few days with... GASP! tap water. You need to know your water if your going to do that. Ours is good so i dont have much for worries.
As for lighting. Seariously... go for a 4 bulb T5HO fixture. I did a 2 bulb T5HO for a year. It was great, I loved it but I learned that some of my corals and macro do better with certain bulb kelvins, etc and it was difficult to do configurations with only 2 bulbs so, I went to 4. I love it. I have 2 Hagen Glo T5HO units over my tank which are on timers.
Oh the skimmer. I love my skimmer. Sometimes I hate it though because sometimes I forget to clean it and then the gunk is harder to remove. I just have it on a 5 hours a day cycle. It does really good. I used to have it on for 12 hours but my macro and soft corals werent really enjoying the super clean water. Now that my water is "dirty" they are really enjoying it... those filthy creatures.
As for corals it really depends on what you like. Beginner corals to me are any coral you can just put in the tank and it will grow. If you need to manually feed or it needs regular suppliments it then its not a beginner. Most soft corals are good. Mushrooms, zoas, colt, kenya, etc. But Honestly choose what you LOVE as corals because once they become attached to your rock and grow your pretty well stuck with them... like xenia, or kenya or colt or cloves. Candy cane corals are nice. I have one that I swear is bullet proof and so i got another one. Guess what... It died. Not all coral, even the same species are created equal.
If you go with only a 2 bulb fixture then go for corals that dont mind lower light.
Always understock your tank with fish and CUC otherwise there isint enough food to go around and they will fight eachother or eat eachother. Also, with an at limit or over limit bioload you will be subject to higher nutrients that can be difficult to deal with for a beginner, heck even for a seasoned pro.
In my 28 gal I had 2 clowns, 1 pep shrimp and 2 hermit crabs. Thats all I wanted but then my hubby went out and got me a coral beauty angelfish (my fav fav fav). So im sure im at or close to my limit now and thats all that will end up in my tank. Many people do more but they also have to do larger and more frequent WC and skim 24/7 and feed less just to keep the tank stable.
Do lots of research. I researched for years before starting my first tank, so I felt prepared but while i was buying and setting up i still researched and asked. Never stop, no matter what.
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