I'm new and have a question...or two

[TheReefGeek]

Excellend advice so far for you.

If you are going to use a 55 with 30g sump eventually, buy your protein skimmer according to that water volume. And you cant use the published gallon ratings, come here to find out some models you should use.

I would go skimmerless for now, then get an in-sump ASM G3 skimmer.

For lighting, buy metal halide or T5 from the start, don't mess with PC lighting fixtures you will replace it eventually.

I like to over-buy so I dont have to upgrade as much (I learned the very hard way, I am on my 5th skimmer, and have used VHO, PC, and metal halides for example)

Just keep posting questions, you will get good answers here, they might vary depending on people's experiences but take it all in and decide for yourself from there.