You should check out the sticky in the Saltwater Nano section. It is is a step by step guide on setting up a nano tank and it is based on a 10 gallon tank. A very good post.
I started a 20 gal a few months ago so I can relate to some of the questions you are having. You should put both live rock and substrate in the tank. I used regular aragonite and not live sand. Also with the light you are looking at, you are not going to be able to have any corals with that low of a wattage. That won't really even support mushrooms. I currently have a coralife 130 Watt PC fixture. As far as critters go, I have 2 Percula clowns, 1 Peppermint shrimp, 8 small blue legged hermit crabs, 4 astrea snails, and a small zooanthid. Planning on getting a couple more small polyps and maybe a mushroom in the near future.
But I would definately check out sticky the Nano forum
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46 Gal Freshwater:
4 Asst Angels, 2 Serpae Tetras, 2 Black Skirt Tetras, 4 Rosey Barbs, 1 Pleco
20 Gal Saltwater:
2 Percula Clownfish, 2 Astrea Snails, 7 Hermit Crabs, 1 Peppermint shrimp, Flame Zoo
75 Gal Saltwater:
Clean up crew going: Turbo snails, Cerith snails, Nassarius snails, and Astrea snails. Red Legged Hermits too.
Current USA Nova Extreme Pro T5's 6x54W |