Generally here are some typical lighting requirements for livestock. However, you should check the requirments for the specific animal you want. There are plenty of exceptions, and some overlap.
High light is necessary for most of the clams, SPS corals, and anenomies. Usually this is in the form of MH lighting.
Medium light is necessary for most LPS corals and many soft corals. Usually MH, VHO, or PC lighting is used, with multiple bulbs for VHO and PC.
Low light is usualy used for mushrooms, and zoos. Usually VHO and PC.
Generally you can keep lower light requirement livestock under brighter light, as long as you acclimate them to the more powerfull light over a period of time. Also, low light is still much more light that what is needed for FO or FOWLR systems.
I do not recommend the use of canister filters on reef aquariums. All to often they turn into dirt traps and "nitrate factories". Since canisters must be taken apart to clean them, it is a job often neglected. Then they accumulate dirt, and become a biological filter consumeing oxygen and produceing nitrate. This is undesirable in a reef system.
If you do plan to use a canister filter, it should be cleaned weekly. Double isolation valves on the intake and output from the canister make the cleaning task easier.
One last thought here. The tank is often the cheepest piece of equipment used in a reef system. I recommend that you price out all the other equipment you may need to purchase, and see if you might be better getting a larger tank also, and maybe using the tank you have for a sump or refugium. Just about everyone I know that is into reef aquariums wish they had a larger tank.