Well i decided to take the leap.

[Pig8enis]

I would size your skimmer around your pump. I was going to suggest avast marine. I have a couple of the diy reactors that I use for biopellets and zeo stones. Easy to assemble and work great. I was have been tossing around upgrading my skimmer to one of those or adding it in as well. They perform well for the price I have heard. You also get a deal if yOu can afford to get the whole kit with skimmate locker, swabbie, recirc upgrade. A very gOod deal.
Anyway, your probably going to need at least 18" for your reaction chamber and then how ever big you can get your collection cup. Bigger is obviously better.

 

[tjfish]

well i have a feeling i will be doing it diy from pvc to save money, then eventually upgrade to a better one down the road.

 

[FLESHY]

Bigger skimmer is always better and the bigger the pump you can put on it the better.

Force as much water through there creating as many bubbles as possible through there.

Glad I could help a little.

 

[xRage10]

Try fishneedit.com for your lights if you're going for MH or T5/T5HO; they're a little more than the Odyssea lights, but they're a big step above them for quality. Actually, I'm pretty sure that FLESHY got either his MH and/or T5HOs from them and said that they were pretty good.

As for your sump, I would use the 20 high rather than the 20 long in order to ensure that you have enough space to prevent flooding in the case of a power outage; in a 20 long, you'd end up with some pretty low water levels if you factored in that space. If you can fit it, get a 29 gallon or a 40 breeder; if not, stick with the 20 high.

Too many people play down the Odyssea lights. I have a fixture myself, with two 250w MH's and 4 blue T5's and they've worked like a charm since I've gotten them. You'll need to replace the MH bulbs sooner than later, but aside from that it's overall cheaper and still a great light fixture. I highly recommend them for the price.

 

[tjfish]

@ Fleshy, i would really like to run a lil bigger sump under this tank, but i only have room to put a 20 gal in there, the 29 is too big so im stuck with 20 gallons for now unless i decide to go totally ugly with the system and set the sump on the floor nedt to the stand, but i really dont have room for that either lol.

@ Ryan. Thanks for the infor on the odyssea units, i've really been lookin into them and was leanin that way pretty heavily. I mean i know there are other ones out there that are higher quality, and maybe a lil brighter and so on, but i think for what im doing the odyssea will do just fine, but i wont be going with MH lighting for now simply because i think T5ho will probably provide the light i need. The one thing i wish odyssea would do is put the tilt up mount on the 4 bulb marine set up like they have on the 3 bulb plant light, would make tank access alot easier.