nano experts chime in,10 gallon nano reef

[elgordoinavw]

hey everyone, ok i was wondering if this sounds good to anyone else. i have a ten gallon at work that i want to turn into a reef.
would a 96 watt power quad be too much light? it would be housed in a custom canopy, with to 3" fans. also for water circulation i would use a aquaclear 200 w/ no sponges, could i place a 25 watt submersible heater inside the aquaclear? would the heater be alright if it stuck out of the water a little (heater exposed a little to the air)? 10 pounds live sand w/plenum, 20 pounds live rock.
inhabitants: (1) shrimp undecided yet, (1) green chromis
mushrooms, maybe xenia.
if the powerquad is to much light then what about using (2) 18" flourescent bulbs (1) 10000k (1) actinic 03 i thinkk each one put out 15 watts, or maybe i could go (2) actinic, and (1) lights of america 36 watt light fixture.
also i have a spare 55 pc outdoor fixture, now the bulb is too long could i use say a 36 watt bulb in the 55 watt fixture? please help as it seems there is an infinite amount of options for lighting.
also for protien skimmer will i need one? if so is air driven good enough?

i was told that with mushrooms they don't require a lot of light, what do you think? should i use calupera to control nitrate and do with out a ps? i know a ps removes organics, but what if i just let my tank cycle it w/ the help of calupera and weekly water changes f 2 gallons?

[bamann345]

the 96 watt quad will be nice, not too much light, and the 2(30 watt) bulbs will be not enough. The aquaclear is a good idea, but I wouldnt have the heater sticking out past the waterline thing on it, it would overheat.

I would skip the plenum and just use some dead sand and seed it with good live sand, not the stuff in the bags... 20lbs of live rock is a good choice, make sure you get the best stuff you can get your hands on because you arent getting much of it.

The shrim would be nice, but I would stray away from a green chromis, get a clown or something like it, once you put the chromis in you wont be able to get it out without destroying your tank....

You dont have to have a skimmer but you will have to stick to strick water changes every week-10 days...as far as calupera I wouldnt mess with it, unless you wanted to or had a nitrate problem.

Site to check out.

www.nano-reef.com
www.hellolights.com

Hope this helps you out some!!!

[elgordoinavw]

thanks for the help bamann345, i will definetly keep all in mind.