MagicPenny's Pro Clear Rimless 60 (32 gallon)

[MagicPenny]

Since this is the first time I've had the opportunity to really start from scratch, and the self-control to not just do "whatever" to get it done, I guess it's time for a build thread. new to R2R but not new to reefing. This is my late Christmas, early Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, and 50th Birthday gift from my husband.
* ProClear 60 Rimless - low iron glass 32-gallon tank with stand and 26 gallon glass sump included. it comes with filter socks, a gravity-fed ATO reservoir that sits atop the sump, and a float switch installed.
* Sicce 800 return pump
* Red Sea ReefLED 50 light
* 300W heater
* 30lb. dry base rock from BRS, which is arriving today, and 1KG Maxspect Nano-tech Biospheres (for sump).
* Planning to run a fuge in the sump and skip the skimmer, for now at least. Air-driven skimmers give me nightmares and the AquaC Remora Pro S I used to have is long gone and no longer available (that thing was beast IDK why they are gone). I have the light for the sump already - a good old Amazon gooseneck LED that ran a pretty successful no-tech cherry shrimp tank for me for three years before my brother decided to help me by feeding the shrimp every day while I was on vacation lol. No more shrimp. But at least I have a good plant light.
Trying to decide whether to drop the $ on an RO/DI. Also the stuff of nightmares since I flooded my last house by leaving it running and going to work one day. 13 gallons is not enough to hold 4 hours of water production, just FYI. We are on a well, and while the water is very high in Ca, has a naturally high pH and probably stable that way, it's def not clean enough to just RO and use.
Still a lot of head scratching and what-if-ing going on, obviously.
After much ado and rambling, here it is:

 

[Tahoe61]

Check out Aquatic RO Buddi. You can order them from Walmart or Amazon. For $61.00 it's a good deal.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[MagicPenny]

Check out Aquatic RO Buddi. You can order them from Walmart or Amazon. For $61.00 it's a good deal.

It's on the short list since i have had one of them before. Hubs has also suggested getting a higher GPD model and setting it up in the garage where we can hook it directly to our well and avoid dealing with post-water-softener water at all. I think our well tests around 250-270 TDS so it needs some HELP haha.

 

[Tahoe61]

What fish are you going to have? Did the last tank house corals?

 

[MagicPenny]

What fish are you going to have? Did the last tank house corals?

I am planning on a pair of clowns, a firefish, and one or two other small fish, but not 100% sure yet. I'm thinking about a pair of Clarkii clowns this time. I like their color and the way they swim. I've also developed a love for my sister's long-nosed hawkfish.
I had LOTS of coral in my last reef tank. My clowns (Nemo - orange, and Omen - black) lived in some pulsating xenia and laid eggs in it all the time.

This was about 4 months before I took it down and switched to fresh. I kick myself every time I look at this pic. It was totally HOB - Remora Pro skimmer and a CPR HOB Fuge.

 

[Tahoe61]

I really like the Hawk fish as well, tons of personality.
Well now you have a new exciting adventure.
I just cycled a tank. I strongly suggest the bacteria in a bottle and ammonium chloride cycling method. I used Microbactor7 and Fluval Cycle. The tank cycled in 9 days.

 

[MagicPenny]

Updated FTS with the rock I received yesterday. I asked for larger pieces, and although I could do a more sculpturally artistic job of stacking it, this setup gives me lots of lateral space for coral A few of the pieces have lovely little natural caves, too, and I stacked it so there is a big cave in the middle. I think it will work well!
I ordered an Aquatic Life 4 Stage 100 GPD RO/DI, a 60lb. bucket of salt, and my heater yesterday. All of that should be here this weekend. I need to do something nice for our UPS man lol.
The hubs is going to buy a water tank and build a stand for it so I can just put the jugs under the spout to fill them. He's a useful sonofagun. We are also storing this apparatus in our detached garage so I can't destroy the house this time LOL.
I live near a place called The Reef Farm, and they are having one of 2 "open to the public" days in a couple of weeks. There is a big sale and a hobbyist swap, so I'm hoping I can get my chaeto then for the fuge.

 

[habetm14]

Following! I’m seriously considering picking one of these up, but I haven’t seen much on the 60 spec. Any initial thoughts? The sump looks very tight on the 90 version (and buried in the right corner), not sure if you’ve had the same experience.

 

[MagicPenny]

Following! I’m seriously considering picking one of these up, but I haven’t seen much on the 60 spec. Any initial thoughts? The sump looks very tight on the 90 version (and buried in the right corner), not sure if you’ve had the same experience.

The sump was a PAIN to plumb up. That is my main complaint about the setup. The return compartment is in the back right corner. The ATO came pre-installed on mine, with the float switch installed on the back wall of the sump, so I had this 2-gallon box sort of flopping around while we were trying to get the return pump, the flex hose, and the return pipe stuffed back in that corner without pulling something loose. Like, you have to put the pump in, measure how much flex hose you need to connect it, then pull it back out, pull the plumbing out, put it all together and hope you measured well, and then snake the whole mess back into its spot and connect the return to the bulkhead. The sucker feet on my pump did not aid us in repositioning it. I am glad I have skinny arms and a smart man. The upside is the flex they provide is tight and I am not worried about it leaking, at least.
Now that it's done I am impressed with how much they did fit in that teeny space, but woo - it was a fight.
A GOOD thing you might not know about the tank - the base frame of the tank itself is 2" tall, so the bulkheads don't stick out below the frame. i.e. you can slide it on the stand, or wherever you set it down. Unlike a traditional bulkhead setup. That made it a lot easier to transport home.