good buy for beginner?

[[ryan]]

im new in the saltwater aquarium community and am looking to buy this set up from a friend:

55 gal all glass aquarium (no stand or hood)
wet dry filter with pump and bio balls
UV sterilizer
water test kit
heaters
coral
substrate

the tank was torn down about 6 months ago, but before that it was established for 10 years he claims. He has kept everything wet in the meantime. All that for $125. Think its worth it?





what else will i need to get for this to be complete and i can start setting up? i know i need lights and a stand.

[wlam18]

what else do you need? a lot of sleepless nights to set that up.

[lando]

Hi Ryan...Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com!
$125 for the equipment seems like a good deal. Do you know what type of lights the tank comes with? I am a bit leary of the "wet" suff. If it has been in the rubbermaid tub with no heat, water movement or water changes it may just be wet dead stuff. Let me know about the lighting set up it comes with and we can give more info.

[scuba_steve]

he prob paid more than that just for the wet/dry what pump came with it ?
imo thats a good deal !

[X the Outsider]

Thats a very good deal. I'd take it in a second.

[RocketSeason]

Good deal!

now you will need a decent stand and hood. lighing (prefrebly starting out with PC lights or MH lights.) $400 ish

A decent Protien Skimmer (aqua C Urchin is a good one for that size tank.) $160

A couple of decent PowerHeads. (2 maxi jet 1200's to start.) $60

You will need some argonite sand. $4-$75 (depending on if your home depot carries it or not. LOL.)

R/O water and a big bucket of salt. $40 ish

You will want to set up your tank and let it cycle. The dead stuff on the rock should probibly cycle the tank for you. The cycle could take over a month to get the parameters under control. once they are under control, add some more Live Rock ( I suggest liverocks.com) to help seed the old stuff and that should help get the tank ready for livestock.

good luck! let us know if you have any more questions.

[aquafreak]

don't hesitate on it

[Edmonton Eskimo]

An excellent deal IMHO

[[ryan]]

well i picked up the setup today. It did come with a light, but the fixture was no good, and i cant tell about the bulb, i wanted to get new lighting anyway. Is it possible to just get a 2-4 bulb fixture form home depot, then go to the fish store and get the necessary bulbs? I spent a bit of time cleaning everything and i actually made a beefy stand for it. Im in no hurry to get fish in this yet, so im ready to take my time and do it right.

What steps do i take now? can i just set all the equipment up add salt water and let it go? Is it advisable to reuse his old substrate? Can i let the tank run with just salt water in it, no substrate or rocks. Money is a limiting factor right now, so no skimmer till i get in a bit more. And how do i set up this UV stabilizer? does it go inline with the external filter? If so, before or after filter?

Thanks for the advice so far!

[Thumper]

With no ls or lr just adding sw would be a mistake in my oppinion. You have the right idea about taking your time and doing it right but you will be overcome with algae with nothing in it to control it. Maybe add some sand to the tank and cycle it so you could add a cleaning crew and it would be ok, Good Luck

[mastershake]

i think that there is a big difference between the ballasts at the hardware store used to light a room and the ones we use to light a tank, im not positve but maybe someone else can chime in there, as far as running it with no rock or substrate, i would say if you have it and its not stinky or just dirty and gross, then it might be ok to use, what was the substrate? and how was it stored? same with the rock? if it was stored in stagnant water then you might need to get new stuff, or put it in and let it clean itself during cycle,

as far as the uv sterilizer, depending on what kind of tank your doing you might not even need it, and this early in the set up i wouldnt even worry about setting it up, same with a skimmer, you dont really need it until theres soemthing for it to do, and when first setting up its not gonna have any affect on the tank,

id say hook up the filter put the water in and let the salt dissolve for a day, then add your sand and rocks, once all thats running, figure out your lighting situation and get your tank cycling, HTH