Is this 90 gallon tank worth the price and work?

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Ryan5

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Mar 20, 2012
Messages
62
Location
Terre Haute, Indiana
I have someone I know that offer to sell me their 90 gallon tank for $500 for everything (tank, stand, live rock, lights, coral beauty angel, brown saddleback clown, yellowtail blue damsel, and 2 coral banded shrimp). Now I think all that is worth it but the tank has seen some better days as you can see in the pictures algae and other things I I'm not sure what it is are growing in the tank and taking over. I'm wondering what I need to do to treat the tank and clean it up. My plan is to move my 55 gallon tank over to the 90 gallon tank which has 2 percula clownfish, flame angel, staghorn damsel and a banggia cardinal, my 70 lbs of live rock and a fire shrimp and a cleaner shrimp, and my coral some mushrooms, a chili coral, Kenya tree, a few polyps, and sun polyp in it right now. I was wondering what are some of the things I would need to do to clean up the 90 gallon tank, and what some of the stuff that is growing in the tank actually is. And also is the tank worth the $500 and all the work I'm gonna have to put into it? I think this would be a good buy for me but I guess I need some reassurance that I'm not going to have to continuously pour tons of money into the tank to keep all the things that are wrong with it over and over.
 

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I would jump on it
just be sure you have a place to house the fish
till you get it set back up cause you will see a small mini cycle
you can address the algae during tear down and set up
keep live rock in tubs with tank water during transport
5 gal buckets with lids for fish
another tub for corals ect
nothing about saltwater is costless
but yes that is a deal I wish I could find
 
I would go for it if I were you. I'm going to assume that the algae and other stuff is from lack of maintainance since he wanted to sell it so probable didn't take care of it. You should be able to clean it up.
 
That looks like cyano not a big deal just needs a few water changes You may want to rehome the clown as three in a tank is never a good thing. IMO thats a good buy.
 
What components are you getting with it? If they are junk, it might be better to just buy new. That said, algae can be eradicated, as well as cyanobacteria.
 
What components are you getting with it? If they are junk, it might be better to just buy new. That said, algae can be eradicated, as well as cyanobacteria.

I agree, you can get a new 125 for $500, unless your getting a good lighting system with fresh bulbs and a good skimmer I dont think it is worth it. You spend $500 and you get no warranty, not uncommon for older tanks to develop leaks after being mored. The sand is no good but the rock can be saved.
 
I agree, you can get a new 125 for $500, unless your getting a good lighting system with fresh bulbs and a good skimmer I dont think it is worth it. You spend $500 and you get no warranty, not uncommon for older tanks to develop leaks after being mored. The sand is no good but the rock can be saved.

you are looking at roughly $300-$400+ for a new 125. (depends on what style, measurements)
that's just for the tank itself. theres another prob $150-$250 for the stand. then you need the live rock...you can see how a new 125 setup would cost exponentially more than a $500 90g setup. Even at $3/g, he could sell the live rock off, then either start fresh with the tank/stand, or even sell the tank/stand for a profit.
Id say just from the setup itself and the liverock in it, if you were to decide to buy it (and later not want it) you could easily make your $500 back, if not more.
 
Very nice setup and well worth the money.i would get new sand,fill the tank with rodi water and distilled white vinegar for 24 hours to rid any living organisms,go to Home Depot and get yourself some muriatic acid to soak ALL that live rock.being that your going to have to start fresh as that tank looks overgrown with so many different kinds of algae we can't even pronounce.as far as the livestock you are getting,if you have a tank running already I would house them in there till the tank,rock and equipment is cleaned and the tank is done with its cycle.
 
With an algae infested tank like that I would..then again people tell me that dry rock needs to be in an acid bath also.I know if that was my rock I would
 
Reefer4eva said:
With an algae infested tank like that I would..then again people tell me that dry rock needs to be in an acid bath also.I know if that was my rock I would

Why would you soak a light porous rock in acid? Thats just asking for trouble down the road. The neglect and apparent algae issue can be taken care of quite efficiently by nothing more than weekly water changes and the use of rodi water (possibly a reactor to speed it up) no need for acid soaks, bleaching, etc
 
Why would you soak a light porous rock in acid? Thats just asking for trouble down the road. The neglect and apparent algae issue can be taken care of quite efficiently by nothing more than weekly water changes and the use of rodi water (possibly a reactor to speed it up) no need for acid soaks, bleaching, etc

Ok I really don't get it...I hear people complain about using dry rock and not cleaning them properly and now your saying its asking for trouble when obviously the rock is in terrible shape! Would you put a piece of that rock in your well established tank?to start I been using that method for years with POSITVE results.
Follow the link:
Muriatic Acid Bath - Live Rock "Rebirth"
 
I never said one shouldnt cure or clean rock when purchased. But to suggest that someone use an acid (hcL at that) is a bit dangerous and irresponsible. Among the numerous caution and warnings that the article gives, in the responses its even stated that bleach is a much safer alternative that gives you practically the same results without the danger, without the reaction, without actually cutting into the rock. Not to mention what kind of damage HcL would do if even a drop got into your tank
 
I could be here all night posting link after link after link about the end results of using the acid bath all I said was "I"WOULD give them an acid bath.i delt with every other method bleach bath,(doesn't work)if there is a bad infestation of aiptasia they will live even after a 10 day soak and a week in the hot sun,vinegar bath (doesn't work) phosphates still leech out of rocks and aptasia will still stay alive.IMO an acid bath "when taken all precautions"and safety measures in an outdoor environment can be accomplished in a safe matter with positive results.the rocks will only be in there for 10 minutes tops.and let's look at it this way what benificial bacteria do you think is left in those rocks?im sorry if I offend you with my dangerous ways as I take life by the horns!
 
It's just cyano. No reason to kill everything on the rock to take out cyano. There is plenty of beneficial bacteria on those rocks. Why would you think it's gone? There is still livestock in that tank.
 
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