Miracle Aquarium Owners

thenissantech · May 1, 2016

Hello and thanks for stopping by! So I'm finally graduating next weekend and its time for an upgrade. My wife and I made a deal a few years ago. When I finished school and she had a new kitchen, she was cool with me building a fish room and upgrading to a bigger fish tank (I have a 90 gallon now). The Kitchen was completed earlier this year and school is wrapping up. I did locate a used 220 gallon aquarium on CG. I got it home and cleaned it. The tank was about fifteen years old and I was concerned of it leaking. I was going to reseal it but after reading through tons of threads I came to the same conclusion, tanks ended up leaking the majority of the time. So I started to talk to my wife and to my surprise she said, "why don't you just order a custom new tank the way you want it?" So here I am. I'v gotten estimates from multiple vendors and I'm thinking of going with a Miracles's tank 70x30x24. I would like anyone who has or knows someone with a Miracle aquarium to give me your input of the quality and pics of your tank if you can. Thanks and I look forward to keep everyone up to date on the progress of this build.

Acrononomus · May 1, 2016

I have a Miricles , I feel like they did a great job! The tank didn't have any scratches or issues with the glass, silicone work was pretty good for the most part, there were a couple things with the tank I really didn't understand with the seams, but after talking with Adam he reassured me things would be fine. I had never seen a tank as big as mine till it arrived.... Pictures can be found in my build thread. Overall I am very happy and would recommend them !

thenissantech · May 1, 2016

Thanks for your input. I actually have read through your whole build. I really like the metal look and how you made a concrete pad for your supports.

revhtree · May 2, 2016

I was happy with mine but not amazed like I thought I should be for the price. I have seen better tanks from Planet Aquariums and Reef Savvy.

thenissantech · May 2, 2016

Thanks for the input Rev. What is it about the tank you didn't like?

StikHedRon · May 2, 2016

I love my miracles tank, I quoted a reef savy and they wanted almost 3x as much money than miracles. The tank came, all seams looked great, the external overflow looked great. I couldn't be happier and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg. You can also see my tank in my build thread if you take a look.

StikHedRon · May 2, 2016

Oh and the lead time was very reasonable. I don't think it was even a month.

thenissantech · May 2, 2016

Ya the lead time and price are two of the factors that I'm considering. Their customer service so far seems to be pretty good from our communications. I haven't heard from planet or reef savvy yet. Glass cages called me directly and they were very nice, but the miracle aquarium is only 700$ more. Thanks for your input buddy

-Logzor · May 2, 2016

So long as you closely inspect the aquarium upon delivery you should be fine. The glass was not perfect on mine nor were the seams but it's holding up fine now 5+ years later. At the time of my order they were having issues with their polishing machine. I also just saw a brand new Miracles tank and it looks really nice. I wouldn't hesitate to order from them. But again, closely inspect the glass before you sign for delivery make sure there are no pits, bubbles, or scratches and make sure it meets your design specs relative to overflow placement, etc.

Miracles tends to recommend these giant overflows that take up half the aquarium, go with something more lean, I have a glass-holes overflow.

Those are great dimensions to work with. My reef is a 150 with the same dimensions but only 48" long.

foxt · Jun 2, 2016

Great topic.

Logzor - are those giant overflows internal or external?

Can anyone with a Miracles external overflow report on the depth of the slot that was cut in your glass? I am wondering where your waterline is in relation to the top edge of the glass. I think I read somewhere that Miracles sets the waterline at about 2" below the top of the tank?

Acrononomus · Jun 2, 2016

I just checked mine is about 3/4 " from top of tank... Not more than 1" I have an external overflow box with notches cut in back glass

foxt · Jun 3, 2016

Acrononomus said:
I just checked mine is about 3/4 " from top of tank... Not more than 1" I have an external overflow box with notches cut in back glass

Thanks!

Hey, nissantech - have you ordered your tank yet?

StikHedRon · Jun 3, 2016

Yeah, mine is an external overflow as well and the water line is about an inch down. Very low profile grate covering the slot.

foxt · Jun 3, 2016

Stik - beautiful tank, is that black or clear silicone? Miracles uses toothed weirs on their tank backs, and according to this thread https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a-perfectly-successful-failure.210798/
there was a problem tied to these - kinda scary, but I think I read that Miracles has changed the way the fit the toothed insert. How does yours look?

StikHedRon · Jun 3, 2016

Yes it's black silicone. They bonded the grate to the glass on my tank. I'd give it an 8 outta 10 on appearance as there's a bit of bonding agent coming through one of the slots but it's hardly noticeable

coralfarm123 · Jun 3, 2016

One of our local club members had a Miracle's tank in the 750 gallon range that had all the seams start separating after he had it for only a few years. Miracles did come and replace his tank and their customer service seemed to be good, but it was a huge pain to take down the tank and put it all back together again. Some of the fish were over a foot long as were many of his colonies. It took several of us a whole day just to get the livestock out of the tank.

Battlecorals · Jun 3, 2016

I can echo what Rev said pretty much exactly. The tank is nice, built well for sure, but considering their reputation i was expecting little more perfection. a few hard to miss bubbles in the seams ands of course there was the overflow failure last summer detailed below. Good company? Yes. Reputation well deserved? Not as sure about that. I have over 12 custom tanks from another manufacture, and not one has leaked, nor has a single bubble in any of the seams. For what its worth.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a-perfectly-successful-failure.210798/

stunreefer · Jun 3, 2016

We install a fair amount of Miracles aquariums. We've never had any issues on ~25 tanks over the years, but they're not up to par with Reef Savvy or MRC. I would check out pricing from MRC; they build some of the nicest tanks around, and pricing comes in close to Miracles every time. Most of their business is in the zoological/museum world which is why there's not as much chatter on forums about their tanks... but there should be

ws6kid · Jun 4, 2016

It was hard to when having the tank built. Miracles was $3000 for a Starphire front 210g. Reef Savvy had 4x the lead time and 3x the cost. I don't think that the bubbles in the sealant on my tank are an issue and it will likely last as long as the other name brands. That being said, if you are a stickler for details like those, it would likely be better to pay more. I think my tank is pretty

thenissantech · Jun 25, 2016

Thanks for everyone's input. Its invaluable and experience has more meaning than any other input. So for the same exact tank, I have 4 quotes.
1. CTC (coast to coast) 4,000 shipped to my door
2. Miracle aquariums 2,700 shipped to my door
3. Planet aquariums 2,518 shipped to my local terminal
4. Reef Savvy 5,200 shipped to my door

The top three tanks don't include ghost overflow which is right under 300$ shipped from synergy reef. Other than that all of the details are the same, eurobracing, starphire, and drilled holes. they are all less than six weeks lead time while option 4 is 6-8 months.

Lots to think about, from all I have read about option 3 and 4 are similar in quality but the price is very different. I've been fortunate enough to club members with options 1,3 and 4. actually they all look fantastic. Please please please speak your mind i would like your input!