New barebottom nano, need advice/opinions

[LockeOak]

So after a long distance move I've re-established my 10G tank. I was originally planning on setting it up nearly the same as it was before, with 20lb. of live sand (~2" deep). After putting in the rock, however, I find I really like the bare-bottom look, and after a bit of reading I've decided to go bare-bottom on this tank. Besides aesthetics the (more important) reasons I took into account were that I may be moving frequently and the sand bed seems to be the hardest part of moving a tank or transferring rock from tank to tank, etc. Since it's a 10G I can put all of the LR in a bucket with water and move it easily, sand complicates things. I was also battling a bit of cyano on the sand and it wasn't really deep enough to function as a DSB anyway. Anyway, since I'm new to BB tanks I would like some opinions on the viability of my setup:

10G AGA
2x65W PC 10k/20k
15lb. LR
AC110 HOB fuge filled with chaeto
MJ 600
75W heater
Tank is in window, 2-3 hours natural sunlight per day (w/fan on timer during sunlight period to keep temps down)
Top off with lab RO/DI +kalk
*No skimmer*
1.5G water changes weekly

Livestock:
Mixed corals, zooanthids, frogspawn, montipora, acropora
Cleanup crew (ceriths and hermits, 1 peppermint shrimp)
1 pair ocellaris clowns

My primary concern would be the lack of a skimmer, I know that's often seen as a crucial part of the "barebottom method". The HOB fuge puts out a lot of flow as does the MJ600, enough to keep the majority of particulates off the tank bottom until they can get sucked into the refugium and settle to the bottom there, where I can siphon them out during water changes. I'm close to religious about my water changes. Unless I can DIY one I don't see a skimmer in the cards in the foreseeable future. Right now the glass bottom really reflects a lot of light around the tank from both the fixture and sunlight, until coralline takes over the bottom glass anyway. Anyone see any problems with this setup? I may add more LR at some point. Also, I will be keeping a 2.5G in my lab in the window with just softies, zoanthids and such, using only sunlight. That tank will also be bare bottom but will not be fed (maybe a pellet a week) as there won't be any fish, just soft coral and maybe a snail and a hermit crab. Thanks

[LockeOak]

Any BB gurus want to chime in?

[hulley]

You dont need a lot of live rock, just make sure you have good flow so to keep water moving. The more rock you have gets in the way and disrupts flow. I went from 252lbs to 120lbs in my 180g and the tank is much healthier. I now have NO dead spots. I went from 1.4lbs per gallon to .66lbs per gallon. Many BB people apply this rule as oppose to 1.5-2.0lbs per gallon of rock for the sand people.

[LockeOak]

Good advice. I'm going to be moving the rocks around to give more platforms for corals and I'm trying to figure out an arrangement that will let me put the maxijet at the bottom of the tank blowing across the bottom to prevent detritus from settling.

[wayne in norway]

Why are you only chaning 1.5 gals water a time. Assuming you can consistently make seawater from salt, why not go larger. It worked a treat when I had a nano, I would routinely swap 50% of the water (I changed ~50% as that's how much a bucket of water wa in relation to the size of the nano)