Hi Phoneman!
Gotta give you a "10" for that avitar! I'm afraid that Boomer D and steve are right, you'll buy a lot of "Junk" in this hobby. Boomer D is also right about the ratings (how many gallons a particular piece of equipment will handle), although I think that your' Prizm Pro MIGHT be up for a 55 gallon. Very few pieces of equipment are up for what the manufacturer says they'll do with the bio-loads that reefers place on them. Your Prizm Pro for example might be ok for 300 gallons of water, IF you have a 4 or 5 inch sand bed, AND 350 lbs of liverock, 2 Gobies and some button Polyps. But if you want some fish and corals in that big tank, you'll need to get a much better skimmer.
Lynns' suggestion of an ASM G-3 sounds great to me. I know that it's tough to spend all of that money for a pump and some acrylic tubing, but if your' skimmer ( which I consider the HEART of any saltwater set up) isn't up to the job, no amount of lighting or other equipment will save you from the heart-ache of constant testing, water changes, and dead or dying livestock.
Patience is a virtue in this hobby, and it sounds like you need to step up to the bar for a really good skimmer, and then save a few more months for your lights. DON'T skimp on the lights either, you'll just end up spending even more money to replace them with better ones.
As an example, when I started out in the hobby, I set up a 30 gallon reef and ran it for a year to see if I was up to it. When I decided that I was, I planned a 90 gallon reef to replace it. Being far from "well-to-do", I had to buy my equipment on what I jokingly refer to as "the easy payment plan". I put $50 a week into a savings account, and then bought different pieces of equipment as the money accumulated for them. The first purchase was the 90 gallon tank. It sat on my livingroom floor for over a year before I got the rest of the equipment that I needed to set it up (and I started spending more each week near the end)! However, the 30 gallon with it's minimal equipment, was a real pain, but the 90 has been a joy for over eight years. I think that it was worth the wait.
Don't mean to discourage you, hoping that this will inspire you to be patient and spend you'r money wisely the first time, instead of having to up-grade to the better equipment later.
Regards,
Dean