With a 33 gallon, it will be much easier to keep soft corals...
sps or stony/hard corals need more light and more flow hence more $$$ for equipment.
There are some stunning soft coral peaceful reefs on this board, a great place to start is to look at the tank journals threads and see what some people have done.
Don't be intimidated by how expensive and ornate some of these systems are, you'll get there on your own time eventually if you get caught by the reefing bug.
There are also some stellar fish for peaceful and lower flow/light tanks (look at royal grammas, chalk bass, wrasses and gobies to start) so I think that a soft coral/peaceful tank is ideal for someone unsure of how far they want to pursue saltwater.
For a tank like the one stated, you would need pc or t5 lighting and about 300-1000 gph turnover in your tank (2 koralia 2's would work great or 2 mj 12's might do it)
A half decent skimmer (like prizm or remora) would work great
You'll find everyone has a different opinion on just about everything so the best is to pick your inhabitants and then build your system to make sure they are healthy and happy via the equipment you pick up from there.
I would consider myself a novice in reefs, only been into it for about 3 years and learn everyday about how much i don't know.
Good luck, happy reading.
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