OK, tell me what to do, step by step.

[Shaggy]

I got a 50 gallon. Ready to go.

Now, step by step. Tell me what is my next move. What do I need to go and buy. I am not putting coral in yet, but might later on down the road (probably a year). I will only be using distilled water from walmart(this is all I buy for my freashwater and its cheap). Now what do I need to to next.

I'm sticking this, because I can..

[blixem]

Shaggy,

When you say "ready to go" what do you mean? You what do you have besides the actual tank/stand? Do you have a filter, skimmer, refugium, lights (what type/wattage), etc?

Just asking because "Ready to go" can mean a lot of things and depending on what you have really changes what your steps are.

[fishfreaks]

its cool with me shaggy, i think it makes a great sticky

[redpaulhus]

If possible I would look into the "drinking water" from walmart as opposed to the distilled water - the "drinking water" says it is Reverse Osmosis purified.
Distilled will contain more impurities I believe, and copper is often used in the distillation coils - not something you want in your water...
(I wouldn't use either one as the ONLY source of water for a freshwater tank, unless you are adding buffers and electrolytes, but thats another discussion.)

Other than that, my recommendations on the first few steps:

1. Buy or borrow some modern aquarium books - Fenner is good, as is Tullock, but they are far from the only good ones. Avoid anything overly thin, or published more than about 10 years ago.
2. read
3. re-read
4. read again
5. decide what your goal for this tank is - just fish ? corals ? both ?
6. make a list of livestock you "must have", livestock you "really like" and livestock you "kinda like"
7. find out as much info as possible on said livestock - online and in books. If something on your "kinda" list would kill something on your other two lists, cross it off.
If something on "really like" would kill something on "must have", cross it off.
8. then pick out a realistic blend of those three lists - now you've got some ideas on what you might be keeping.
9. Now figure out what equipment you'll need for them -- skimmer ? metal halide lights ? a refugium ? the answers to #5-8 will affect your equipments needs greatly - if your keeping (for example) acropora corals you will want bright lights, super clean water, and lots of calcium, so you may need metal halides, a big skimmer, and a calcium reactor. On the other hand, if you really want a mandarin goby, you will need lots and lots of live food -- meaning lots of liverock and a refugium filled with rubble and macroalgae, but you may be able to go skimmerless and with lesser lighting.
etc etc etc

Then start looking online for product reviews - whats a good brand skimmer, light, etc.

then you can start getting into the real "meat and potatoes" -- setting things up, adding liverock, cycling the tank, adding livestock, etc.

I'm sure I'll have more to add, but the missus just got home so I'm going to go be social

[Fishfirst]

Basically I'd get some good books, but I'd suggest reading them while you do a fishless cycle on your tank. 4 weeks of it just sitting there is a great way to get some reading done while you have the down time. I'd first read about sand depth, you decide whether to go shallow sand bed or deep sand bed, then get some sand, aragonite is best, 50lbs for a shallow sand bed, 75-100lbs for a deep sand bed. I'd buy 3-4 maxi jets or some other high quality powerheads, a refracto-meter if you have the money or a hydrometer, and some instant ocean salt. Put one powerhead in the bucket/rubbermaid trash can that you are mixing the salt in, add the salt, then the water, turn on the power head and get it mixing. Wait 24 hours and test it with your refracto-meter/hydrometer, refer to your book on the correct refractometer reading for salinity. Specific gravity (the thing you test with a hydrometer that is sorta like salinity) should be around 1.023-1.025. Adjust it now by adding water if its too high, or salt if its too low.
Fill the tank with this saltwater by using a rock or shallow dish to pour it in (this will prevent a lot of sand mixing into the water column
Put the rest of the powerheads in the tank and turn them on (powerheads are key to keeping algae undercontrol via current)
Then add about two or three raw shrimp and let it cycle
Then you can look for good skimmers, I recommend the aqua c remora
the skimmer can go on after the cycle is done
in those 4 weeks, collect as much money as you can so you can buy some liverock a bit of livesand and a fish or two.

[Shaggy]

Ready to go meaning..just the tank..

[Fishfirst]

Go get those supplies!!!

[redpaulhus]

Some great new articles from Rob Toonen on substrate depth, particle size, and plenums:

Part 1:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/6/aafeature
Part 2:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/7/aafeature

Is this tank pre-drilled (ie "reef ready") ?

What dimensions ?
Is there a center brace on the top, or is it open topped ?

[TheOldSalt]

The purple-capped distilled water from Walmart is fine, as my exploding snail population will attest. The other water is acceptable too, even if it does have a lot of extra stuff in it. To be extra sure, just get some "Cupri-sorb" type resin and put it in your filter along with the phosphate/silicate remover.

Well, I guess the other guys have already covered most everything. it's hard to make recommendations when we don't know just what you're shooting for, but I'm going to asume that you eventually want corals since you said so, which means you want a fullfledged reef tank.

Aw, nuts..I have to go to the post office. I'll be back soon.