Welcome back to the hobby and to R2R! I think @NeedAReef summed things up nicely. There are a lot of newer mfgs that are making quality products and a few of the old ones still around that still make quality products. I would say if anything there are fewer 'junk' products than there were twenty or thirty years ago.
Specific recommendations? Salt is salt, there are lots of good ones. Just pick one that closely matches your preferred target for dKH, calcium and magnesium. Pumps, again a lot of good ones EcoTech, AI, Sicce, and of course Tunze. RODI is still very much a thing. I'm not big on skimmers so I can't give a good recommendation based on experience but I currently use a small Tunze one. I don't use a controller. I'm not really a fan of micro-managing my tank. There have been a lot of new heaters introduced in the last few years. I would say that enthusiasm for the old style breakable-glass heater is waning. Good luck and put up a build thread. You will get lots of advice as we journey with you.
Specific recommendations? Salt is salt, there are lots of good ones. Just pick one that closely matches your preferred target for dKH, calcium and magnesium. Pumps, again a lot of good ones EcoTech, AI, Sicce, and of course Tunze. RODI is still very much a thing. I'm not big on skimmers so I can't give a good recommendation based on experience but I currently use a small Tunze one. I don't use a controller. I'm not really a fan of micro-managing my tank. There have been a lot of new heaters introduced in the last few years. I would say that enthusiasm for the old style breakable-glass heater is waning. Good luck and put up a build thread. You will get lots of advice as we journey with you.
