67g Rimless Miracles Build

ReefRockerLive

GHL Mitras LX7 Club
So after much thought I have settled with a 36" x 24" x 18" 3-sided Starfire Rimless with an external coast to coast overflow w/ BeanAnimal overflows.

For this build I will be using some equipment from my old 75g which has been down for almost 2 years now. :(

If there is a theme around this whole project, it would be "Silence". I've owned two tanks throughout my Reefing hobby, a 55g and 75g and floods have been all too common. With this new build, I hope to make that a thing of the past. I plan to only have the quietest equipment my money will allow. The BeanAnimal overflow is suppose to be super silent, so that is how I will design the overflow.

My drains will be 1" and two returns, 3/4". I will use spa-flex for the return and hard-pipe for the drain.

Here's what I have so far in terms of equipment:

Maxspect G2-170w
Fauna Marin UltraSkim 2
Tunze 6105
Profilux 3 EX
GHL Dosing Pumps

I am going to build my stand soon and design it with a simplistic yet modern look, Elos style. Within the stand, I will have it sectioned off. The right side will hold the sump and left will have all the equipment such as LED ballasts and powerstrips. Above the sump I plan on building a shelf that will hold the Profilux and dosing pumps. The controller will be on the Right and dosing pumps will be on the left. Under the dosing pumps, I will have 1g space-saving containers which will hold my Ca, Alk, and Mg.

In my last tank, I've had salt creep on equipment and luckily it wasn't enough to damage any equipment. I want to keep it as clean looking as possible.

I've decided to not hang my fixture from the wall and have built a light rail using 80/20 products I found off of Ebay.

For anyone looking to build an affordable light rail under $100, here are the products I purchased:

T-Slot Aluminum Frame (1501-LS)
Four 80/20 T-Slot Endcaps w/push-in plug (2030)
Two T Slot Aluminum Corner Connector (3364)

I will post some pictures of the light rail tomorrow, fully assembled. I will also give a brief explanation of how I managed to connect the Maxspect hanging kit with $3 and a few mods.

For flow, my plan is to have an Ehiem 1262 return and when I financially recover from all these expenses, buy a second Tunze 6105.

According to Miracles, the build time is 6 weeks and I am already 3 weeks in. I am expecting the arrival date to fall within the second week of May! I should also mention that I've also placed an order for a 24" x 16" x 16" sump, also being built by Miracles.

Here's a sketch of what I am going to have:

TopSumpView.jpg


FrontSumpView.jpg


When I have the tank running which should be by the 3rd or 4th week of May, I plan on using Seaflor Aragonite Sand. In order to speed up the cycling time, I plan on buying this sand soon and having a friend add his tank water to it to seed it.

BTW, this tank will be Acropora dominant.

More to come in a few days...
 
How the hanging kit was installed

How the hanging kit was installed

In the middle of putting together the aluminum frame, I realized that the piece of the hanging kit which connects to the ceiling was not going to fit since it was too big.

DSC_0053.jpg


To fix this, I went out to HomeDepot and bought a pair of screw caps. I brought a part of the light rail with me to make sure that the piece I was looking for was going to be a good fit. Below is what the cap looks like.

DSC_0052.jpg


The next step was to drill a hole through the cap and use the screw shown in the above picture to hold onto the cap and hanging kit piece. After both holes were drilled, I connected both pieces and placed the cap inside the opening of the light rail.

DSC_0054.jpg


DSC_0057-1.jpg


Here are some pictures of the finalized light rail with the slight mod included. I think it looks pretty decent.

DSC_0061.jpg


DSC_0062.jpg


From here, the next step is to begin building my stand. I will post some pictures of that as well once it has been completed.
 
nice! I've got the same size tank. You think the 1 maxspect will be enough to cover the tank? I've been thinking of going maxspect as well but wasn't sure if I'd get enough spread with a single fixture.
 
I know the single fixture would not cover the width of the tank if it gets mounted with the included light rail. However, I am confident it will cover it just fine since it will be hung about 8-10" off the top of the tank.
 
hmm thanks I'll keep an eye on this thread and see how you like it. I am tempted to go with AIs. .but that price tag hurts to much.
 
MammothReefer,
I too was going to go with AI, but the price of three fixtures was way over budget and it wasn't going to provide me with the flexibility I get with my Maxspect. FWIW, I went with Maxspect for price and the simplicity behind changing the leds to accommodate taste in overall color.

Kirklan,
What are your tank specs? Since I am still in the planning stages, maybe there's room for slight improvement. :D
 
Looking good so far bud, im really digging the aluminum frame you are using there. I was just getting ready to buy some conduit to hang my T5/LED fixture i made but im much more liking this idea. I saw that Joe at puppy center is also using the same material, wonder if its available locally or maybe he got it off ebay too.

Great work!
 
Tank size and dimensions are the exact same as yours.

1 - 1" Drain
1 - 3/4" return ran by a Tunze Silence 1073.040
Maristar 36" 2X250w HQI 10K with 2X39W T5 Actinic
Bulk Reef Supply 5 stage RO/DI filter
SpectraPure® Single Tank Liquid Replenisher for auto top off
Bubble Magus dosing pump for two part alk and calc
ReefKeeper Lite L3 Plus
29g sump
Bubble Magus NAC7 protein skimmer
Two Little Fishies Phosban Reactor 150 running PhosBan, but may switch to bio pellets.
Ecotech MP10 and MP40
Lowe's Kitchen sink Hickory cabinet for the stand with a 12volt fan to vent moisture.

I just got everything up and running last week and the aquascaping done.

TopDownSump.jpg


Sump-1.jpg


Aquascape4.jpg
 
P.S. The tank was my first build and while the seams won't compare to your Miracle, I think it looks alright.
 
MADtanks, all the parts, including the slight mod cost about $60. At first I thought that the frame wasn't going to be strong enough to support the Maxspect, but I was wrong! It is super sturdy and has some weight to it. If your looking to buy the materials, checkout Ebay and do a seller search for 80/20inc. Send them a message and they can setup a package for you.

Kirklan, you just happen to have the same return pump I am now considering! How do you like the Tunze 1073.40? If it's just as good as the Ehiem, I'd rather save some money and get this pump.
 
The return pump has been great, it is very quiet and seems to be putting out a decent flow. It also has a very small footprint and the flow is adjustable, so it can be ran full on or dialed down to next to nothing. It also is pretty energy efficient and hardly puts out any heat. I don't know what flow you looking for from the display to sump, but it is working fine for me.
 
Thanks Kirklan. I'm always looking to save on electrical costs, so the Tunze 1073.040 will be my return. I'm not looking to get a lot of flow from the return, I just want to utilize it as a circulation pump.

I'll be going with either 2x6105 or 1x 6105 and 2x MP10.
 
Dual 6105's will be plenty, but you could also stick with 2 MP10's and will be enough as well... as small as they are they move some water!
 
How thick is the glass going to be on your tank? Mine is 1/2" and the MP10 is only rated up to 3/8" I believe. It works, but I think my flow is reduced somewhat. I just added a MP40 and it makes a huge difference. I plan on running the MP10 @ 100% and the MP40 on a lagoon or nutrient export mode.
 
The glass is going to be 1/2" all around. I happen to run into a great deal on a pair of MP10w ES pumps and was going to buy them, but I hesitated because I didn't know if they would fit the 1/2" glass. When I decided to go ahead and buy them, just had just been sold. Oh well. :)

I'm going to keep an eye out for another 6105 or Vortech. Which ever good deal I find first, I'll buy it.
 
I ran 2 MP10s on a 36L X 30W 3/8" acrylic with an additional 1/4" sheet just to see if it would hold bc i read that it would in some post, and granted that it did hold, I feel it barely hung on by the zip tie holding the wire. So at 1/2" i would say stick with 2 6105's if you already have em.

Come to think of it i remember you now, I picked up some coral from you when you broke your tank down a while back. Welcome back and if you want to make the trip i can hook you up with some frags.
 
Thanks for the offer, I'll keep it in mind. I don't remember exactly what corals you bought from me, but if it's acros, there's no way I can say no. :D
 
well really it was for my pops.... i had my kids with me too, but he pretty much took remaining of your rock, and i bought the colony of Duncans you had. I do have some Acro frags healed up nice, but lacking color since the lighting in my sump area is not so great. Just let me know if you ever wanted to come over and pick them up.
 
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