So here is the set up I ended up deciding on. I did not add the sump. I didn't think that drilling the tanks (and buying the diamond hole saw), buying the plumbing, prime/cement, etc etc was worth the extra whopping 10 gallons. I wanted to keep the set up pretty minimal, so here it is....
Equipment:
HOB skimmer ran by a maxijet 1200
Heater
Powerhead (maxijet 1200)
Auto top off system that is ran right into my 65 gallon RO/DI storage tank, which is just off to the left
I have the output from skimmer running into a small filter sock (to help with micro-bubbles) as well as a bag of carbon
Live rock, currently about 5 pounds. But if I move forward with the frag tank, I will be adding a 10 pound rock covered in red 'shrooms
Planning on having a maroon clown and some CUC
Thoughts on this set up for a small frag tank? Would probably mainly be LPS and softies. Maybe a few SPS. Nothing major though.
I kept all the equipment in one spot because if it's decided this isn't a sufficient enough frag tank set up, my next thought was to still put the clown in there and purchase another carpet nem. Then i could put up a egg crate "wall" to keep the nem out of all the equipment
Let's hear your thoughts!