Go with a used established tank or a brand new tank?

[mardeebo]

Hi!

My first post here...I'm glad I found this forum.

It's been a good 10 years since I had my last aquarium - a small fish only saltwater tank and a 55 gal freshwater.

We decided to get back into the hobby and would like your opinions on whether it is better for a newbie to start by purchasing all new items and cycling your tank from scratch or to buy an established tank from the local classifieds.

Budget is a concern, of course, but not if doing one with less cost initially just cuases more problems and money in the long run.

The system we are going to look at on Saturday is a 72 bowfront with 2 power compacts, 2 aquaclear 300's, a protein skimmer (not sure of brand), oak stand, with live rock, a couple anemones and some other fish. Plus all of her other stuff like books, test kits, salt, coral, etc etc etc. The lady wants $400 for the set.

So it seems like a good buy, but I'm wondering if the established tank would be initially much harder for me to get the hang of, or if it is actually easer than starting from scratch.

Thoughts?

Thanks!!!

 

[pearsont74]

WELCOME!!!!!!
Thats not a bad price and I doubt you can get a tank and stand for that...I would do it in a heart beat!!!
I would suggest a few things to do in the future with that set up though.
1st thing is to get a sump(wet/dry) and overflow w/ return pump and take out the 2 aquaclears. good luck and definently get it before someone else does. I got my tank, wetdry, & skimmer all used and built the rest so I know what you mean by having a budget but it is possible to do.

 

[ClamKnuckle]

I'm all for getting the used setups...saves you a ton of money
I would wait until you find exactly what you wanted though before you went and purchased it, don't under or over size what your looking for just because it's a good deal, because you might regret it later

Any livestock that you could get with the tank could always be sold to a LFS if you don't want it

 

[mardeebo]

Thanks very much for your replies!

The size of the used tank I'm going to see is right where I wanted it to be - between 70 and 90 gallons. The fact that it's a bowfront makes it all the more appealing to me. I'm pretty excited about finding it. Let' just hope it's as nice as the lady has described it.

She said there is a sebae clownfish that is very territorial that bites her when she hand feeds her .... oh I can't remember the name...an octopus 6 legged thingie....oh well. So I probably will trade the clown in on something smaller.

I guess she a lot of anemones in this particular tank but the cleaning service guys have been gradually taking them (with her permission) since she was planning to sell the whole thing.

Now I have to figure out how to make a sump for it....back to the archives I go.

I imagine I'll have to figure out a way to transport as much of her tank water as possible, right?

Thanks again.