How am I doing

[Felony7603]

I'm brand new at this so I'll start from the beginning. I have a 75 gallon tank that is pre-drilled with an overflow. I will be building a reef tank and plan to place between 50 and 75 pounds of Fijian live rock and approximately 50 pounds of live sand. I have started to outfit the tank and so far I will be using an Amiracle SL-150 wet/dry sump equipped with a Mag7 pump. I plan to light the tank with a Hamilton VHO retrofit 4X48" 96 watt power compact tubes. Two being daylight and the other two being actnic blue. It will be heated by twin 150 watt heaters. I was told that was the best way instead of using one 300 watt. I plan on using at least one powerhead to direct water over the rock. Livestock has not been decided at this point but I hope to include soft corals and a few fish. What I really need help on is the skimmer. I have read so much and everytime I think I have chosen the right skimmer I read where someone had a problem with that one. I do have a space limitation. I only have about 18 inches in height with with any diameter skimmer. But, I only have about 4 inches diameter at 23 inches tall. Based on what I already have, plan to have and my limitations can anyone recomend a good skimmer? Also, any recomentations for changes in the equipment would be appreciated as well.
Thanks
Ron

[Skipper]

Hey Ron.

[welcome]

I would pass on the wet-dry. They have a tendency to trap detritus and produce un-necessary nitrates. With the live sand and live rock, the wet-dry will not be needed. I don't know the dimensions of your tank to advise you on the 50 pounds of live sand, but if you go here (http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/SandBed.htm) and enter your tank dimensions, it will tell you how many pounds you need. Four inches is the minimum recommended depth for a DSB.

I am confused on how much space you have for a skimmer: 18" or 23"? At 18" I don't have a clue. At 23" I bet we could find one.

[Felony7603]

Thanks for the reply and let's see if I can clarify this a little.
I am using cabinet that is approximately 22 inches from front to back. There is a drawer just above the sump area causing the first 18" to have a clearance of just 18" and where the drawer ends the clearance goes up to 23 " to the back of the cabinet for approximately 4 more inches.
I guess that means I can use any diameter skimmer 18" or less in height or a skimmer 23" tall with a diameter of no more than 4". Now that is very tight. I don't know just how much room is needed to remove the collector cup.
I hope this clarifies this a little better.
Thanks
Ron