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The sulphur denitrator uses sulphur to feed anerobic(sp?) bacteria which also feed on nitrates. Not much downside to them besides the cost(unless you make it which is pretty easy) and it helps control your nitrates which makes the coral colors better. Coupled with a phosphate reactor they will greatly reduce the need for water changes on more heavily stocked tanks. Which in large tanks is a serious cost saver.
Honestly there isnt much to making skimmers
If it were me, for a your size I would say your two best/most cost effective options are
1. find a 120ish gallon cylinder holding tank(pretty common for under $150 on craigslist), get a sheet of 3/8" acylic, some uniseals, and bulkheads.
2. Just make a square one whatever size you can fit.
To make the cone.
get three sheets of plywood and cut out a hole in the middle of two of them about 4" larger in diameter(or square if your doing #2) then the holding tank. Sandwich the acrylic in between.
On the third sheet of wood trace out the same size circle and in the middle attach a 4-6" long piece of pipe(note PVC will melt a bit, but not a problem for one time use) that is 6"(or 8" depending on what size union you can get) diameter.
Heat up your sandwich till the acylic is floppy, if it fits in your oven then do it at 350, if not a heat gun and time will work.
Then take your sandwich and press it down onto sheet 3 with the pipe in the middle and clamp it down till it cools(this will make your cone)
For bubbles and current just get two dart needle wheels and make em suck from the top and push into the bottom in a swirl motion.
You can add a bubble plate/chamber if you like, but unless your going for skimming efficiency there isnt much beyond that.
If you want anything more complex then that I would say just talk with spazz.
Ground loops - Very easy as well. Either bury a pipe(about a 100+ feet of 3/4" thin wall PVC) in the yard about 10 feet down, or put it in your concrete floor when your poor it. Get a coil of Titanium tubing(expensive but you can find it on ebay) and a small pump on a temp controller. Put some water and antifreeze in the loop, put the Ti coil in your sump and set the controller. Only thing to watch out for is make sure the connections to the Ti coil are outside the tank in case of drips or leaks.
My old boss has a green house with some clam tanks in his yard, and he just ran the return pump through a ground loop and when it was 95 outside the water temps never got over 80.
For wavemaking look into a reverse carlson surge device(if i spelled it right) Its a simply system powered by an air pump that will get that tank moving.
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