craigslist bad finds

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aquandrew

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
May 3, 2013
Messages
1,803
Location
waconia minnesota
so a lot of people on here talk about the bad things people have on craigslist and there is a thread for good craigslist finds so why not bad craigslist finds?

I've got a few for you.
1. today i was surfing craigslist and saw a 5-6 inch painted turtle for sale in a 20 gallon aquarium!!! painted turtles need 90+

2. two oscars in a 26 bow front

3. 4 huge goldfish for pond or for making sushi!!!

let me hear some of the ridiculous things people are selling in your area!!!
 
I found a 30 gallon tank with a tinfoil barb and a 150 gallon tank with 3 bala sharks and 2 small tetras.
 
A few weeks back I saw someone advertising to sell their fancy goldfish for $35.

I can go buy a fancy goldfish at PetSmart for $8.
 
I just saw a 55g for $450 I have to say it was top of the line stuff, The worst was that right next to it was a 75g for $80 that was pretty much the same stuff
 
Yikes -Huge mess!

I bought one!


It was for a sparkling, heavily well planted 40G breeder. Fluorite substrate.

Lady had moved and the tank was at her husband's friends house for around a year. He used to work at a pet store and kept fish and he was taking care of the tank. Originally he was going to buy it from her and then he decided no, so she was selling it.

It came with Red Sword fish, Cories, Cardinal Tetras, some other fish which I can't remember. Hood, light, filter, net air pump all other standard supplies.

Lots of really cool plants. A few very nice ones.

I had to drive an hour one way to get the tank, and when we got there, I was shocked.

The tank was low about 1/3, and there was a THICK blanket of vivid algae on, covered in duck weed.

The guy said yeah I just didn't have the time to take care of it, I used to have a bunch of really big tanks and fish, yada yada yada.

It was so overgrown and dark in there I couldn't see but a couple fish.

I told him it wasn't what the pic was from craigslist and I probably wasn't sure about the purchase.

For sale for around $65-70. I had never had a real planted tank.

Somehow we got the price worked out to $40.00 which was a great price as he threw in some of his old stuff and a canister filter.

Then I had to clean it. A razor blade made short work of the algae. But the problem was the 3+inches of mulm in the bottom.

I sucked that stuff up 5 times in two weeks, I mean covering the entire bottom of the tank and sucking up stuff from the entire bottom each time, like 75% pwc each time.

It just never stopped coming up. I got it cleaned up pretty well, but there was always crap at the bottom hovering over the substrate.

Then I found out I was allergic to blood worms. The lady I had got the tank from had said how much the fish loved blood worms. And I bought a new Hikari freeze dried container too.

Side note - was when I dropped the container on the floor and the lid popped off and I scooped them up and stuck them back into the container and nearly had to go to the hospital from a SEVER allergic reaction. Didn't know why still.

Then a few days later I was cleaning off a book shelf and my book about Betta fish fell on the floor so I opened it and started reading it, and it had a comment about how blood worms can cause sever allergic reaction in some people. No kidding just started reading it and there was the solution. Then I pieced together the events and situations previously, and was so happy for the explanation!!!

This explained how come every time I would clean the tank I would get sick and have bad allergy symptoms, continuing to become more severe each time I cleaned it. Ending in extreme problems. I call it the tank that almost killed me!

Gave the tank to my friend and she took out all the substrate cleaned out the gunk, and gave me back the plants after rinsing them off quite well.

And then I gave her all the blood worms in the house and we all lived happily ever after!
 
Somebody in the Raleigh area was selling her 90 gallon and a filter, she said she would "let it go for $900". I sent her a link which was an advertisment for a 90 gallon NEW aquarium for $275. Then she said she'd go down to $750 but that was her final offer, still makes me chuckle. Some people are so clueless.
 
I bought one!

It was for a sparkling, heavily well planted 40G breeder. Fluorite substrate.

Lady had moved and the tank was at her husband's friends house for around a year. He used to work at a pet store and kept fish and he was taking care of the tank. Originally he was going to buy it from her and then he decided no, so she was selling it.

It came with Red Sword fish, Cories, Cardinal Tetras, some other fish which I can't remember. Hood, light, filter, net air pump all other standard supplies.

Lots of really cool plants. A few very nice ones.

I had to drive an hour one way to get the tank, and when we got there, I was shocked.

The tank was low about 1/3, and there was a THICK blanket of vivid algae on, covered in duck weed.

The guy said yeah I just didn't have the time to take care of it, I used to have a bunch of really big tanks and fish, yada yada yada.

It was so overgrown and dark in there I couldn't see but a couple fish.

I told him it wasn't what the pic was from craigslist and I probably wasn't sure about the purchase.

For sale for around $65-70. I had never had a real planted tank.

Somehow we got the price worked out to $40.00 which was a great price as he threw in some of his old stuff and a canister filter.

Then I had to clean it. A razor blade made short work of the algae. But the problem was the 3+inches of mulm in the bottom.

I sucked that stuff up 5 times in two weeks, I mean covering the entire bottom of the tank and sucking up stuff from the entire bottom each time, like 75% pwc each time.

It just never stopped coming up. I got it cleaned up pretty well, but there was always crap at the bottom hovering over the substrate.

Then I found out I was allergic to blood worms. The lady I had got the tank from had said how much the fish loved blood worms. And I bought a new Hikari freeze dried container too.

Side note - was when I dropped the container on the floor and the lid popped off and I scooped them up and stuck them back into the container and nearly had to go to the hospital from a SEVER allergic reaction. Didn't know why still.

Then a few days later I was cleaning off a book shelf and my book about Betta fish fell on the floor so I opened it and started reading it, and it had a comment about how blood worms can cause sever allergic reaction in some people. No kidding just started reading it and there was the solution. Then I pieced together the events and situations previously, and was so happy for the explanation!!!

This explained how come every time I would clean the tank I would get sick and have bad allergy symptoms, continuing to become more severe each time I cleaned it. Ending in extreme problems. I call it the tank that almost killed me!

Gave the tank to my friend and she took out all the substrate cleaned out the gunk, and gave me back the plants after rinsing them off quite well.

And then I gave her all the blood worms in the house and we all lived happily ever after!

whoa that is quite the story. I've ver heard of someone being allergic to bloodworms.

i almost forgot to put down the rescue i did last week. my sister found a 65 gallon with stand and filters and everything for 150 dollars and when we get there its got an 8 inch red devil in it. the guy said it had been a year since he had done a water change and he had been feeding it koi food. it took us hours to get the tank clean and the gravel was so disgusting it took 20 minutes to rinse the gravel clear. i am now feeding him nls large cichlid pellets and doing daily 20 gallon water changes, his color is starting to come back. lol my fish get more attention than my dog now, its so funny though my chihuahua papillion mix loves my red devil he sits next to the tank staring at it and he starts crying if i wont hold him next to the tank :)
 
Rescue Operation!!

whoa that is quite the story. I've ver heard of someone being allergic to bloodworms.

i almost forgot to put down the rescue i did last week. my sister found a 65 gallon with stand and filters and everything for 150 dollars and when we get there its got an 8 inch red devil in it. the guy said it had been a year since he had done a water change and he had been feeding it koi food. it took us hours to get the tank clean and the gravel was so disgusting it took 20 minutes to rinse the gravel clear. i am now feeding him nls large cichlid pellets and doing daily 20 gallon water changes, his color is starting to come back. lol my fish get more attention than my dog now, its so funny though my chihuahua papillion mix loves my red devil he sits next to the tank staring at it and he starts crying if i wont hold him next to the tank :)

That fish is lucky you found him.

Cute about the dog! Sounds like an adorable mix.

On my way to pick up two tanks. I have been looking for a Chi Tank to experiment with. One of my DD works at a pet store so can get good discount and great deals when on sale, or returns. But she is out of state though visits several times a year.

So I had been looking for a great deal for one. Last night I found a Chi near new condition for $20.00 dry/empty no fish, that is the good part. There was another tank also available also for $20.

In the ad it said there was fish and a frog. Then she tells me when I call her that the other tank is a 2G, and has a Betta, about 4 tetras, a Dwarf frog, a sucker fish, and some other kind of fish, maybe Cherry Barb... she wasn't sure if there was anything else but thought that was all!!!! So maybe 8 or more fish in a 2 gallon.....:eek:

Although there had been some other kind of sucker fish but it died, and that the tank probably needed another one - because the one in there needed more help to take care of the tank:banghead: ( uuuuhhhh that's what the owner is supposed to do) There is green splotches of algae in there now, like they leave the LED lights on day and night.

Poor fish!!! So She told me I could just have that tank if I could take the fish and give them a good home. I am the sucker!!!! So I said yes! :facepalm: If it is a regular pleco, I will likely drop it off at Petco for adoption. That is if I can even see it in there! Think I will bring a bucket too for transporting them and some fresh water.

Quarantine time. I wanted another frog, but nothing else...I am selling one of my tanks and a friend of mine might like them with it.:whistle:

EDIT UPDATE So they were all in the tank, a 2G Aqueon Evolve LED with one Anubias Nana plant and a bunch of Algae on it. They had changed the water and cleaned the tank.

The frog with one missing eye and a bite on his head, a Cherry barb male, three Neons and three red line tetras, didn't notice any sucker fish so it must have died, and a full grown Crowntail Betta Black and cobalt blue, very pretty, AND one Harlequin Rasbora. So that is 10 living things in there.

Moved the Cherry Barb to the snail jar, hoping there are enough plants so all the shrimp aren't eaten. I don't have Cherry barbs so maybe re-homing it soon. He was biting at the frog when I was there picking them up, and chasing the other fish around. There was no where for the little frog to hide. :( Frog looks poorly. Hope he makes it.

Betta went into a big bowl 2G with the frog for the time being and a big cloud of Java Moss for the frog to hide in.

The Tetras are back in the Evolve tank with a bunch of random plants and moss thrown in for the moment, and the Neons have their color back already. Cleaned the gravel with treated water as well. it smelled like yuck.
 
I just got a really good deal. I needed a new API test kit. I going it on Craigslist for 30. With all this
 

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