Pro Star Rimless 200

[Big C]

Glad to hear the tank is working for you. And most importantly, "No major Complaints" . Any 'minor one's' ?

A bit of rust on a few hinges on the doors. I kind of expected that after looking at the sub quality China 304 hinges at the end of the sump where I don't have a cover. A few screws that hold down the tabs on the sump. I do need to relevel a door, not sure if its the rusty hinge. Looks ok but bothers me a bit as it's not exactly inline like the other two

Overflow was a bit noisy but settled down. Is it dead silent, no. Personally would never install valves on the overflows as both are the same level so there is no emergency drain setup in the event they slowly blinded off.

Other than that no real issues. Love the large size of the sump and how easy the cabinet is to wipe down.

 

[flyfisher2]

A bit of rust on a few hinges on the doors. I kind of expected that after looking at the sub quality China 304 hinges at the end of the sump where I don't have a cover. A few screws that hold down the tabs on the sump. I do need to relevel a door, not sure if its the rusty hinge. Looks ok but bothers me a bit as it's not exactly inline like the other two

Overflow was a bit noisy but settled down. Is it dead silent, no. Personally would never install valves on the overflows as both are the same level so there is no emergency drain setup in the event they slowly blinded off.

Other than that no real issues. Love the large size of the sump and how easy the cabinet is to wipe down.

I agree with the screws being misaligned and the same with my middle door.
The size of the sump is great and just allows you to keep everything neat.
I’m not crazy about the way the refugium is tucked in the back and under the ATO.
I really wish the ATO off were bigger
That’s water for three days tops.
I refill mine every two days just to be safe.
As far as noise is concerned I find the drains to be very quiet unless you remove the silencing covers which I do in order to clear the film which forms on the water surface

 

[Big C]

I agree with the screws being misaligned and the same with my middle door.
The size of the sump is great and just allows you to keep everything neat.
I’m not crazy about the way the refugium is tucked in the back and under the ATO.
I really wish the ATO off were bigger
That’s water for three days tops.
I refill mine every two days just to be safe.
As far as noise is concerned I find the drains to be very quiet unless you remove the silencing covers which I do in order to clear the film which forms on the water surface

I use a gravity system from my RODI storage system (40 gallons) which has an auto make up. Works slick so far and zero issues. Covering the sump I get about 1.5 gallons evap a day.

I skipped the refugium and when with the Tunze macro algae reactor. Would do something else as it's way to small and doesn't spin anymore.

 

[flyfisher2]

Thanks. It boiled down to insurance and not wanting to kill my back. I think I could have pulled it off, but if I drop the tank, I'm just screwed. If they drop the tank, they buy me a new tank.

I'm surprised the 230 is much heavier than the 200. I came very close to getting the 200, it doesn't seem like that much more. I found the 230 for $2700 shipped and jumped on it though.

My sump is a little bigger than the 200. It has 6 socks rather than 3. It seems like it's going to be hard to clean that area if it needs it. Does your sump come with the covers on the top? They fit well all the way across, and also has the glass area for a refug, but I'm not sure where you are supposed to move the slides in order to remove the socks. Also my heater cords are an issue. I could use my dremel and cut some notches out easily, but then that makes that panel kind of stay in 1 place, unless I do the very edge of one - which may be my attempt at a solution. The other solution is just remove a panel to give things room to move.

The return pump area and the refugium area seem to share the same water. Like there is a panel there between the refugium and the return pump area, but it's just a panel that is lifted and water goes under it. So when the water pump area drops, the refugium area also drops. Not sure how I feel about that.

The instructions if you want to call the diagram that are terrible. But at the same time not that hard to figure out. I would have just liked more instructions so I could be sure I was doing it right. Like I just happened to notice the 3 gasket rings that were around the return pipe end. If I hadn't noticed them, it probably would have leaked there. And I assumed the 3 gaskets were for the 3 unions, but that's not the kind of things I want to be assuming. I was able to email the place I bought it from and get confirmation which made me feel better, but there should be some instructions IMO. Otherwise, it doesn't get much easier than screwing in a union for the plumbing.

I added a couple of close ups so you could see how I cut the holes and notched the cover

 

[flyfisher2]

Can either of you see into the top of your cabinet when you open your doors ?

 

[flyfisher2]

I use a gravity system from my RODI storage system (40 gallons) which has an auto make up. Works slick so far and zero issues. Covering the sump I get about 1.5 gallons evap a day.

I skipped the refugium and when with the Tunze macro algae reactor. Would do something else as it's way to small and doesn't spin anymore.

Thinking of putting my 10 gallon ATO from my previous setup on the open side
That will give me at least a weeks worth of water
Will have to look into the Macro Algae reactor

 

[flyfisher2]

About the seeing between the cabinet frame and the tank frame question.....
Anybody?

 

[mindme]

Can either of you see into the top of your cabinet when you open your doors ?

What do you mean exactly?

 

[mindme]

434 vs 269 on actual tank weight is considerable difference. Wise decision!
It is rather difficult to get in certain areas of the sump, that's why I pulled it out and played with it prior to running water through the system. Particularly the "refugium" area in the far back corner.
I also have the plastic covers and I placed them as I thought it made most sense. I feel they remind me of carbon fiber and they cut easily. I used my Dremel to cut the center of one of the panels to run hoses for my GFO and carbon. I'll post some pics to give you a better idea how I placed mine. I also notched one to run the cable for the refugium light. Again no issue.
There are NO instructions.It's a diagram intended for you to figure out. Also, and I just discovered this, You need to go on their website and register your warranty within 15 days of purchase. No where other than in the actual website does it say this is a requirement. Not cool!
I totally agree with you about needing added instructions. The people at Pro Clear are knowledgable about their products and transferring that info to a sheet of paper would go very far.

LOL I found the rubber gaskets the same way and felt relieved that I found them prior to putting stuff together. I do have to say that the pipes went together smoothly and no leaks from the get go. Thumbs UP!

I bet it's the glass thickness that makes a difference on weight. The 230 has 19mm(3/4") glass, and I bet the 200 is closer to 1/2" or 5/8". I'm not sure how I'm going to get a lid on this thing.

My sump is bigger than yours, so my refugium area is inline and just between the return area and the skimmer area. I think I wouldn't be happy with it being in the back corner only as you describe.

The lack of instruction is pretty shocking really.

 

[mindme]

Even the 8000 is too much! lol
I have it at minimum and put a valve to reduce pressure as well.
Have you noticed an oily film on your water surface?

Thanks for your comment on the LED's. I also got them on Amazon for like $15.00 Super easy to install around the inside top edge and they have a built in dimmer so its great.

Mine is currently dry, so no oily film. I filled it up only to do a leak and plumbing test, then drained it the next day.

I hope that's not an issue because the oily film is something the overflow should take care of. Maybe try increasing the pump speed if you can so more is going over the top? My overflow box has 2 rows of slots for water to go in on the sides of overflow box, I don't think the bottom row will surface skim, but the top row should.

Hoping to have water in mine sometime next week. I'm working on the aquascape right now, doing the BRS negative space scape I saw on one of their videos recently. So far it's turning out well.



I paid about the same for the little domes I got. It has a remote and can change colors etc. But the remote basically has to be pointing at each individual dome(I have 4 under total). They suit the purpose and give me light under, but nothing like yours. Might just go ahead and switch.

 

[flyfisher2]

What do you mean exactly?

When I open the doors I can see the top of the cabinet. There is space between the bottom of the tank and the cabinet top

 

[flyfisher2]

When I open the doors I can see the top of the cabinet. There is space between the bottom of the tank and the cabinet top

When I open the doors I can see the top of the cabinet. There is space between the bottom of the tank and the cabinet top

 

[mindme]

Yep, mine is the same.

 

[flyfisher2]

I agree with the screws being misaligned and the same with my middle door.
The size of the sump is great and just allows you to keep everything neat.
I’m not crazy about the way the refugium is tucked in the back and under the ATO.
I really wish the ATO off were bigger
That’s water for three days tops.
I refill mine every two days just to be safe.
As far as noise is concerned I find the drains to be very quiet unless you remove the silencing covers which I do in order to clear the film which forms on the water surface

Lo

Yep, mine is the same.

okay so that’s just the way they make them. I was a bit worried. I come from the old school. Everything had to be perfectly level and weight distributed evenly or the whole thing would explode! Lol

 

[Big C]

Lo

okay so that’s just the way they make them. I was a bit worried. I come from the old school. Everything had to be perfectly level and weight distributed evenly or the whole thing would explode! Lol

I had the same question. The tank sits on a metal frame that is hidden by the white (or black) plastic trim piece. I know my build thread is long but I have some pics of this in there.

 

[flyfisher2]

I had the same question. The tank sits on a metal frame that is hidden by the white (or black) plastic trim piece. I know my build thread is long but I have some pics of this in there.

I read your thread prior to purchase. Awesome detail and great setup. It's comforting to know its doing good a year later.
I’m cool with the aluminum. My concern is the way the tank doesn’t contact the frame evenly. I can literally insert a key in the front and slide it for about 2 feet before the tank contacts the stand again!

 

[revhtree]

Congrats on the new tank!

 

[flyfisher2]

Congrats on the new tank!

Thanks rev. Great to be back. Last time I saw you was at the Orlando Reef aPalooza in 2015. We spoke of Cory girls passing. Hope to see you next year.

 

[Big C]

I read your thread prior to purchase. Awesome detail and great setup. It's comforting to know its doing good a year later.
I’m cool with the aluminum. My concern is the way the tank doesn’t contact the frame evenly. I can literally insert a key in the front and slide it for about 2 feet before the tank contacts the stand again!

I had to shim up my middle feet (I had the older version without adjustable feet) and it raised the middle and ensured good contact with the floor.

 

[flyfisher2]

I had to shim up my middle feet (I had the older version without adjustable feet) and it raised the middle and ensured good contact with the floor.

I tried adjusting the feet but that just threw the doors out of wack further.