(beginner) starting a new saltwater tank

Question
I'm attempting to do a 56 gallon saltwater tank (reef & fish) and would like some advice  on which products to consider (good quality + affordable). There are so many different brands of equipment (wet/dry filters , protein skimmers, pumps etc) ranging from very cheap to very expensive. Should I consider buying things in combo (wet/dry with skimmer) or individually. I'm trying to get the right equipment required the first time to successfully establish and maintain my tank. Any advice you can give me to achieve this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Answer
Hi carlos...

congrats for taking the time to try to plan and setup your system... It is kind of simple to actually do this, and I will gladly give you my riccomendations and thoughts, BUT, I know you will end up changing and tweaking and liking and disliking things as you go on...

There is usually no BIG savings for buying in 'quantity' of as a complete system.  There are 'system' deals' but, being able to pick and choose what you want, what brand you want, and what you can do without is in mumble opinion more important...

To start out the plan, you need to figure out what you are going to want to keep in the aquarium...  Do you want an agressive species tank?  Do you want SPS, (colored stick/hard coral)???  Do you have room for a 'sump', or are you even thinking about a sump???  Where do you live, and is it normally hot or cold or both???  Do you have access to several local fish stores for supplies and livestock?

And many more questions like that...

please let me know some of the info above and i will get some items together to suggest

ttyl

bill