I'd turn the 60gal into a rimless planted tank with a smaller SA cichlid as the center piece and a bunch of dithers such as tetras. Go for an SA biotope type tank.
i.e. a tank like this, though not necessarily a riparium style.
as for a planted aquarium I love em but I have been having the biggest headaches with them I had a planted 10 gal for a year...and I kept getting this weird algae that looked like grass growing on it...the plant would be fine but it just looks gross :s
I looooove polys and have been really intrigued by geos...hrmm..do you think the lower tank would be ok as a mixed sa or ca community? cause I do want to get a few of the smaller new worlds...like rams and kribs...I have always liked them...and the guy I got the tank off of threw in a Fluval 304...is that enough water flow?