450 Gallon Miracle Ray/Shark Reef Build Thread

[pandaparties]

So sometime last year I promised my son we could upgrade our 40g mixed reef tank to get a stingray if he hit some personal milestones, all the while thinking that mid 100 gallons would do the trick and come in at a pretty reasonable price. Well he hit his personal milestone and I started the process of researching everything only to find out I needed WAY more space than expected to accommodate those fish and some reef. So here I am 12k deep starting my build process on my 108x30x24 Custom Miracles Aquarium with a 72x24x24 sump for a total gallonage of around 500g! Tank has been ordered and should be in within a few months so I will be documenting my plans and build here and updating you all on the process.

The plan is to have a cortez ray and Coral Catshark along with some mixed reef thrown in as best I can while still giving them space and not having them destroy my precious SPS. Also probably throw in some tangs and larger docile fish. Going to be running 4 ReefI Duo's with T5's hybrid setup for lighting, im thinking an reef octopus 5000SSS for skimmer, and starting with 6 MP40's for flow. Varios s8 and m2 vectra for two returns.

¾” glass all around
Starphire all around
Tempered bottom with 5 holes (animal bean w/ 2 returns)
internal overflow
Armor seams
Eurobraced starphire

 

[revhtree]

Congrats on the new build!

 

[748S911]

Congrats on your new Miracles, I just ordered my 120x60x30. Will follow your build.

 

[pandaparties]

Congrats on your new Miracles, I just ordered my 120x60x30. Will follow your build.

Wow thats massive! And i thought I had gone big! How much did the tank run you for that (not that i would even have the space to accommodate such a tank)?

 

[b4tn]

Can’t wait to see this go together!!

 

[pandaparties]

Sump Design all done and got most of my equipment in, just waiting on the tank which will be about another month.

Lights: 5x REEFI Duo Extremes, 2 g6 x15, 1 reefi uno 2.0 pro
Filtration: Reef Octopus 5000SSS, 4x filter sockies
Return Pump: Varios S8
Power Heads: 4x MP40, 2 mP60, 1 xf350
Rock: 200lbs brs reef saver
Sand: Fiji Pink, need soft for sharks but dense enough for SPS to avoid sandstorms
ATO: Tunze osmollater
Controller: Apex + neptune
Dosing: having pulled the trigger on the yet but thinking of aquatic engineering calc reactor once i have enough demand

I'll also have to post a picture of my mixing station which got pretty intricate. 2 150g containers one fresh one salt, but its outside in the AZ heat so i have a chiller set up inside a chest freezer (with the lid replaced with fans that pull air out) that recirculates the water at 1500gph and keeps it reasonably cool so far (though its only hit 90 outside, with me luck).

Also, this hobby is way to expensive. I spent way more than I thought possible on this stupid tank

 

[pandaparties]

Tank getting closer, only eurobracing left and attaching cabinets and then it ships out!

 

[revhtree]

Beautiful!

 

[pandaparties]

Beautiful!

I agree, can't wait to post when it's all settled in place!

 

[pandaparties]

Built a floating canopy with removable front panels. Super happy with how it came out, i was going to go with magnets at first but didnt love the feel so i went with inserted dowels on the front panel and holes for hanging on the front beam. Feels really sturdy and not afraid of it falling anymore but easy to take off. Also went with magnets for aligning the two panels on the bottom corner

 

[pandaparties]

Canopy still needs paint and i still need to run a new circuit for some added GFI outlets, but almost done. Tank ships in a week!!!

 

[pandaparties]

Display done

Sump done

Second tank and ATO done

 

[Tumey]

Also, this hobby is way to expensive. I spent way more than I thought possible on this stupid tank

But encouraging and supporting your son to meet his milestones is priceless!

Following along to see this come together

 

[Dcal]

amazing! milestones deserve to be rewarded and family projects when i was growing up (still am) are something i wouldnt trade for anything

 

[pandaparties]

But encouraging and supporting your son to meet his milestones is priceless!

Following along to see this come together

Absolutely, wouldn't trade it for anything. Seeing my son super happy and excited is worth all the money in the world! More being tongue-in-cheek about how expensive this hobby is and how poorly big tanks scale LOL. If you had told me 5 years ago I'd spend more on a fish tank than a nice new car I'd have called you crazy

 

[748S911]

Display came out beautiful! Whats going in the second tank? frag tank?

 

[pandaparties]

Display came out beautiful! Whats going in the second tank? frag tank?

It's replacing a non plumbed tank in my son's room so I can add a sump! Plus just a lot nicer look and quality. It's pretty close to breeder dimensions 36x20x20

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

Those MP40s aren’t going to cut. Probably need MP60s for this tank.

 

[pandaparties]

Those MP40s aren’t going to cut. Probably need MP60s for this tank.

Flow charts I looked at said it would be fine but we will see, i liked the idea of having more MP40's that are a little more configurable area wise. Plan on having two on each end and two on the back with returns covering the middle for a grand total of six. I think it will be pretty obvious but having a greater number lets me go easier on areas where i want i want to do low flow softies and euphyllia.

Also there are neeeever mp60s on the marketplace whereas i got all 6 mp40s mobius enabled for like 1200

 

[pandaparties]

Finished two little wiring cubbies on both ends of the floating canopy. Hides all the fixture and LED wiring and bricks. Magnetic removable panels to access outlet and an open top in case of heat