If you had a friend who was looking to start a small fish only tank, what would you recommend by way of equipment?

[DaddyFish]

I would start with...

28-gallon bowfront
Seachem Tidal-110 HOB filter
Nicrew LED bar light
Vivosun 300w Titanium heater

The tank looks nice, and then later when the obligatory upgrade bug bites, it makes a very nice looking and appropriately sized QT setup.

The Tidal-100 HOB includes plenty of capacity for biomedia, super easy to service, has adjustable flow rate and adjustable balance between siphon and skimmer functions. IMHO best HOB made.

The economy bar light makes a great garage workbench light when you upgrade to a bigger or reef tank.

The economy titanium heater is a workhorse, and can realistically make the move to something bigger later on. And titanium is THE way to go for breakage/damage resistance. Newbies smack stuff around often.

 

[vetteguy53081]

As I set one up - The basics:

Basic lighting
RR tank
sump
titanium heater
controller (optional)
powerhead(s)

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

A particulate filter and a skimmer, and minimal lighting.

 

[AZMSGT]

Best method: A nice AIO that has a skimmer and ability to run UV.

Will do the job: an oversized HOB filter with bio media in it works on any tank.

I’m a firm believer in running a skimmer so a Hangon skimmer or magnet mount is a good idea.

Add a light of some kind, nothing fancy for just fish.

A heater

Lastly, add a power head of appropriate size to give flow.

I would do a sand bottom with some sand stiring snails and a algae eating blenny to keep algae under control.

For what it’s worth, I kept 15 fish up to 5” long in a 55g with 1 seachem 110 HOB. A aquatop heater, 1 powerhead and a Reef Octopus hanging skimmer. The tank came with hoods and white LED lights. I ran this to cure ICK and also when my tank seem failed. Found it very dooable