Pirate Monkeys 200g Deep Dimensions

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The Deal was too good to pass up.

$500 for a 200g Deep Dimension Tank 48x36x27, the stand, and a 50g acrylic sump from my trusted LFS owner, And my first large tank!

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My wife and I have been talking about getting a 120g tank in the house. She's a planner and likes to have specific direction weeks or months in advanced so I built a mockup of our living room in Blender to work on rearranging the living room to accommodate the aquarium. No sooner did we finally settled on a layout when the 200g tank went on sale I told her that it was only another 12 Inches in depth she ok'd the purchase! She has been a little skeptical about having an aquarium in the house but after almost 6 months of having a smaller tank in my art studio and slowly falling in love with it, she has bought into the hobby! She would go out to the studio just to look at the tank and the idea of relaxing at night next to one in the evening and having giving our son something to watch all day won her over.

Early yesterday I went to the LFS owner's house where he was keeping the tank to inspect it and everything looked great. No bubbles in the seams but the tank and stand could certainly use a little TLC. The LFS owner said he was selling it low just to get it out of his house as it was taking up room. I've known the LFS owner for over a decade and trust him to be honest selling me a quality tank.

After Paying him for the tank and checking out his personal at home tanks I got home and cleared some space in the garage and made plans to pick up the tank later in the day. My father and I went to pick it up with two trucks. The drive home was nerve-wracking but it made the 15-mile drive safe!

When my wife first saw it she said: "wow that's a lot bigger then I thought it was going to be!" (TWSS) She was a bit apprehensive at first but later that day she was actually getting excited about working on getting the stand refurbished and then when I brought up aquascaping she got super pumped! Today she started working on getting the space prepped to move the tank in and really wants to get the ball rolling! My wife is a rockstar and Its so exciting that she's enjoying this hobby with me.

The current checklist is
-Brace the Floor
-Scrape, Sand and Stain the Sand
-Cut out the corner overflows ✅
-Drill back glass and install ghost overflow
-Aquascape
-Plumbing
-Figuring out Lighting

When I first got into this hobby I dreamed of being able to put my kid in a large tank and I finally got the opportunity!
So Pumped for this adventure!

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Billldg

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Look forward to seeing this come together. The kid in the tank was only temporary right, LOL!!! :) ;Hilarious
 
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PirateMonkeyReefer

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Look forward to seeing this come together. The kid in the tank was only temporary right, LOL!!! :) ;Hilarious

That’s where he sleeps now . Just kidding I might get a wetsuit and an air line so he can jump in and clean when he gets older! (Just kidding of course)

we’re already working on the stand I should post an update tonight.
 

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I love seeing new tank threads as I am about to go thru a upgrade myself, and it brings back memories.
 

Billldg

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Nice what are you upgrading to and from? I’m graduating from a 40 Breeder but my last largest tank was only 75g.
I currently have a 120 gal tank, upgrading to a Crystal Dynamic Aquariums 225 gal 72x30x24 tank. ;Jawdrop
 
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Update time!
Jill (my wife) and I have been sanding down and repairing the aquarium stand! Whoever had it before sprayed some really cheap spray paint over the varnished oaks and it was peeling up when I bought the tank and stand. I’m a artist/carpenter and my wife enjoys furniture repair so we’ve been enjoying sanding the gunk off! We will stain the outside a darker reddish brown to match our existing furniture and paint the interior of the stand white.

Any recommendations on what kind of white paint would work best for that? I was thinking a few layers of kilz.

Anyway that’s all for now the next immediate tasks are removing the bulky overflows and capping them, then drilling and installing a diy ghost overflow and returns so we can regain the almost 12 gallons of volume Or 6 percent that they take up!

Before
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After
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PirateMonkeyReefer

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So thinking about lighting this beast for SPS dom. My initial thought is 4 Radion XR15s on 2 36” aquatic life fixtures. With x4 ATI Blue + and then x2 Giesman Super purple and x2 ATI True Actinic

I’m partial to the idea of a hubrid and also t5 getting the Diffused light around the coral as well as making up for any spectrum shortfalls of the LED fixture

Thoughts? Better way to do it? Let me hear your recommendations!
 
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Last night I cut out those ugly baffles and regained the 13 gallons of water they took up! It looks like a proper aquarium now! All of the bulkheads where purchased from my LFS last weekend as well so things are moving along on this build!

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When to mix up fish meal: When was the last time you tried a different brand of food for your reef?

  • I regularly change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 39 23.8%
  • I occasionally change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 57 34.8%
  • I rarely change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 49 29.9%
  • I never change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 15 9.1%
  • Other.

    Votes: 4 2.4%
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