60 gallon AIO Predator-ish Tank

[bigbugoutfiters]

Quick intro:

Ive had 5 saltwater tanks over the years

- 55 gallon fowlr (as a 10 year old a couple decades back, very little experience gained, gained a love of eels with my snowflake)

- 20 gallon tall failure tank (college me didnt want to do waterchanges)

- 30 gallon frogfish and mushroom tank

- 29 altered biocube seahorse tank w/mangroves and lots of macros

- 90 gallon reef, leopard wrasses, gorgonians, lps heavy, some sps mostly montis(started getting into acros in the last couple months i had it up) 40 gallon diy sump with big refugium

 

I havnt had a tank for the last 5 years. My wife actually helped me with my last water change when we first started dating (ive got a keeper). Fast forward to a few weeks ago, we are moving into a new house and I realize that part of the house was built for a 30 gallon aio, drilled for an area below to house a sump. Well, it got my wife and i talking and she gave me the go ahead to put together a new tank for the house. 

 

I spent a few weeks thinking about what I would put in a biocube for the wall area and I realized something that I think might be common in this hobby... I wanted more... Instead of an in wall tank we will be putting a 60 gallon breeder (definitely excited to see it for the first time in petco a few weeks ago!) between my fly tying desk (I am a fishing guide and outfitter so i spend a lot of time at the table) and my wifes work table ( she is a gunsmith, i shall say it again, she is a keeper). Rather than against the wall I like the idea of the narrow end of the tank being against the wall creating a sort of divider between our two desks but we still get to both enjoy it.

 

Space is a bit of an issue as are cost so rather than drilling the tank and putting a big sump I have decided to do a DIY sump in the back of the tank. SO, with that introduction/explanation here are my build plans:

 

Tank/sump- Aqueon 60 gallon breeder tank

          - 48"lengthx18.5"widthx16.25"height

                    - 8"x18.5" footprint for the sump/ 40"x18.25x16.25 for display dimensions 52 gallons-ish

Lighting- 2 ai prime used for a very good price. If the seller backs out I am thinking 2 viparspectra 165w full spectrum

Outflow pump - Syncra SIlent 1.5

Heater - Aqua EL Ultra heater (I like how thin it is but I am not sure if anyone has any experience with it)

Skimmer - bubble magus z8 skimmer (I have read lots of mixed reviews on this one, but size will definitely be an issue for this tank)

I am sure there are some items I haven't decided upon such as circ. pumps, maybe let me know what I am forgetting? Its been a while since I built a tank.

 

I sketched out the sump design on paint. I think it will work however I have a few concerns.

- This tank will have a large bio load, as you will see with my planned stocking list. One big concern I have is the balance between fuge size and skimmer. The z8 is rated for 75 gallon with a heavy bioload. I went with this skimmer to help deal with the bigger bioload. The z6 is built for a 40 gallon heavy bioload, however it takes up a much smaller footprint which would allow for a larger refugium. My question is would you stick with the larger skimmer or would a little extra space in the fuge be more valuable. 

-Where do I put the heater!?!?

- Any tips for how I should cut out the inflow? The pump is rated for 357 gph so I want to make sure that it circulates properly.

- If this sump idea is garbage, let me know!

 

For the vibe of the tank I am definitely pulling from all of my previous tanks. Eel, predator, macroalgae, mangroves, gorgonians, mushrooms, lps, sps, hard to keep wrasses, etc. aaannnnnnddddd 10% weekly water changes, perhaps 1% daily.

 

Planned stocking list (definitely likely to change quite a bit)

fuzzy dwarf lionfish
ghost eel
spotted puffer
pixy hawkfish
2x maroon clowns
ornate leopard wrasse

 

Coral colors will largely be purples and oranges. 

 

All I can think of at the moment, if you have any questions please ask and if my stocking plans are insane definitely let me know!