Some experienced guidance needed

I'll try to help. I'm kind of a newbie at saltwater too, but there are a few things you can nix and you'll need a few other things.

First, What kind of light bulbs are you getting and will you be wanting coral in the tank?

You'll want the snails to go in first so they can start cleaning up the algae and diatoms that you end up while the tank cycles. I'd also suggest you get a few more than just those. Again, though, I'm going reef and you might not want all the snails and hermits crawling all over.

Delete the Royal Gamma... that will probably harass the cardinals to death. Angels rally do not get along with each other. So one of those, if at all, you're tank is the minimum suggested for a dwarf angel. Double check your aggressiveness on the fish. You'll want peaceful fish, even one SOB can really mess up the others.

After that, delete the air pump. Air bubbles will disturb the fish too much. You'll need sufficient powerheads to provide a turnover of about 500 to 1000 gallons per hour.

You can probably delete the heater as well, unless you live in the very far north. It's harder to keep a SW tank cool rather than warm.

You'll want a lot more salt. One bag will get you started, but you'll need salt for water changes. Where will you be getting your water from? RO/DI water is best. I really suggest you don't use tap water. Most local fish stores can provide RO water and pre-mixed salt for a nominal fee. My LFS charges a quarter a gallon for RO and $0.75 a gallon for ocean salt. Reef salt is little more expensive, but has more supplements for corals. I've got a 44g tank and I have 3 five-gallon water jugs. Two have reef salt mix and one has RO water. The salt mix is for water changes (and I refill them as soon as the water change is done) and the RO is for top-offs due to evaporation.

Personally, I like sand, but I'm doing a reef with some sand loving fishes. Based on your fish plan, crushed coral would probably be good for you. It's easier to siphon, which reminds me, you'll need a siphon for cleaning the tank. I would suggest some heavy, elbow length gloves, and a mag-float algae scraper (be sure to get the acrylic version).

That's all I can think of right off hand. Finish your research and you'll be in good shape... oh and TAKE IT SLOW!

I'll go ahead an add on to what Ogre said and hopes to give you a little more guidance. First off, you livestock choices. The cardinal and the Royal gramma would be fine together, given the amount of live rock and the amount of hiding spaces. Gramma's are more or less solitary fish and as long as they have sufficient hiding space with no other basslets treading on their turf, they'll keep to themselves. If you want an angelfish, it will have to be a solitary angel. Angels do not get along with each other and especially not 2 of the same species. Flames are pretty fish, but they are also very terretorial...most of the Centropyge genus are that way, basically all pygmy or dwarf angels. If you're looking for something a little more docile, you might invertigate angels of the Genicanthus genus, such as the swallowtail angels. They're certainly more docile, however, you still wouldn't want to keep more than one in your tank.

As far as inverts, Ogre makes a good point, are you at any point going to want to add corals? If so, you'll need more than 3 snails, especially in a 50 gallon. I have a 29g reef and a 37g FOWLR and my clean-up crews are significant. In my 37 I have 15 cortez hermits, 5 nassarius snails for siffting the sand bed, 5 cerith snails for the glass, a tiger brittle star, and coral banded shrimp. You'll want something substantial, whether or not you add coral later down the road. Also, back to your fish stock, if you want to add coral, you can't have any angelfish other than the Genicanthus genus. Anyway, you'll need to cycle your tank first, make sure you'll fully cycled before adding any inverts...also, don't just throw them in the tank, there has to be ample food for them otherwise you'll be sending them to their death. Hermits will take care of detrius on the live rock but snails will require some algae to sustain life. Good thing to know.

Remove the air pump, it's not necessary as long as you have ample water movement. The water movement will take care of the oxygen levels in the water. Placement is important so that you keep detrius from settling at the bottom of the tank. Get a heater. Some people may say it's not necessary, but do it. I maintain both of my tanks at 80F, it would be impossible to keep them at that temp without. The lowest temperature that's safe would be 77F, at the lowest! With 50 gallons, temperature will be very important.

Water is your biggest hurdle. Depending on where you live you're going to run into problems with your tap water. Check with your LFS and if they offer RO, Purified, or pre-mixed saltwater, go that route unless you want to invest in your own RO unit. IMO, tap water is a disaster waiting to happen. If if you treat it with water conditioner, it's never fully treated and you're subject yourself to high silicate levels and hair algea, or red-slime algae of significant levels. IF you have to use tap water, treat it with Prime, it's the best out there on the market. But I would HIGHLY recommend you do anything and everything to avoid tap water...but for some, it works. Use RO or Purified for top offs, no salt is required. With Evap, your specific gravity will rise slightly, so the purified fresh for top off will help with that. Speaking of which, you're probably going to want to invest in a nice refractometer. The hydrometers with the swing-arms are not the best choice, salt can get clogged in the arm and will probably result in an inaccurate reading. Refractometers can be a little pricey, but it'll be worth it in the end.

Lastly, do no...DO NOT use crushed coral. Sand...ALWAYS sand. Whether you go reef or not, sand should be your only option. There are different grades of sand and you can also go with "live sand" although, it doesn't offer that much more beneficial material than just regular aragonite. I used a mix of aragonite and cruched coral in my reef and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't look at my tank and wish to God I hadn't used it. It depletes your buffer (pH for saltwater should be between 8.2-8.4) and it makes it very difficult for inverts, especially snails, to get around on it. It's not worth the hassle, don't even entertain the idea.

Bottom line, research research research. Remember, saltwater animals are much, MUCH more delicate and are more susceptable to changes. The ocean is a big body of water and therefore it experiences very few chemical changes. The goal of the saltwater hobbyist is to try and maintain the cleanist, healthiest environment with as little change in water chemistry. You can not rush saltwater or you'll pay for it down the road.

Best of Luck to you!

If I am reading your measurments correct the tank will be 36" tall?
If thats the case the lights you have chosen are not going to be strong enough to reach the bottom. You use a refractometer by placing a drop of aquarium water on the lense - closing the cover plate - and look into the eye piece - there will be a color seperation and at that seperation is your level. Shoot for 1.025. Also be aware that most (not all) acrylic aquariums have a wide lip that runs around the entire top of the tank and makes a HO filter impossible to use.

For a FOWLER tank, Power Compact florescents would probably be OK.

The refractometer measures the salinity of the tank. Use it to make sure the salinity doesn't change (due to evaporation, water changes, etc).

The skimmer/filter and RODI units are totally different things. A good RODI unit will cost upwards of $200. That'll buy a lot of water from the fish store and you don't have to play guessing games when you mix it.

A couple of suggestions.

Assumption - you are not keeping any coral and going pure FOLR

Salinity: for FOLR you should look to keep a lower salinity of around 1.019. Reef systems are best at 1.025.

Lighting: Not that important for this type of system, while I hate to use the measure you can use PC's or T5 at 1 or 2 watts per gallon.

Skimmer/Filter: typically on a FOLR you will need the assist of more than the biological filter and while a Skilter provides you both, you really won't get the performance that you want from a separate filter and skimmer.
Question: are you going to add a sump? or will everything be hang-on?

I emphatically support the NO CRUSHED CORAL. You are just asking for trouble. Sand only and once you have determined the fish you will keep at the start and then later you can figure out the kind of sand. Aragonite is the basic sand used and there are many grades from sugar fine to oolitic spheres. If you keep wrasses that bury (leopards) then you want a very soft sand.

You do need a refractometer and a test kit. The basics that you should keep track of are Salinity (via refractometer) Temperature (some type of temp probe) PH-Nitrate-Nitrite-Ammonia (via test kit). An easy to find and fairly good kit is made by API. There are many other parameters, but as I noted these are the basics.

DO NOT add anything until your tank cycles, so you will be holding off on snails et al. For a clean up crew I would add hermits and more varieties of snail (for algae, sand stirring) so Trochus and nassarius. These are just a few thoughts to help you along.

STOCKING Suggestions: the Banggai are terrific fish and I would seek out tank raised they will acclimate better. They are a shy fish and you will want to choose tankmates carefully so they are not bullied and then cease to thrive.

Responses noted after question.

Vampiero said:

-Whats the benefit of using T5 and PC lighting? I will let someone more qualified to answer this one, I believe that you can have T5 lighting that can replace the MH's....andmuch less heat. The PC is very standard and cost effective.
-What is the difference between 50/50, 10000K, and Actinic light bulbs? 50/50 refers to half actinic and half daylight (or 10000k) bulbs. The 10000k are the brighter daylight bulb and the actinic provide the blue balance.
-Would it be enough performance if i get the Skilter Filter/Skimmer combo with 400gph instead of the 250gph model? I will let someone else answer this one. If it were me I would go with a HOB filter and a HOB skimmer like a Urchin BakPak Skimmer.
-Is 40 lbs. of Tahitian Moon Sand ok on a 26x26 base? Should be fine.
-How many lbs. of Live rock do you recommend considering the fish that I want and the tank size: One would typically get 1 lb of rock for each gallon. You could certainly use 25# of LR since you will have the external filter. And I think you mentioned getting base rock and LR - don't forget it will take some time for the base rock to "go live" from being seeded by the LR.

26x26x36(height)
1 Banggai Cardinalfish
1 Royal Gramma Basselet
1 Dwarf Flame Angelfish

And yes this will all be hang on...could that be a problem? The hang on is not a problem, just is what your configuration is. You will still have a really nice system. Just my opinion, but I would get at least 2 of the Banggai - they are happier that way in a small group.

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See responses above