Is this a good deal?

[Angel93PGT]

Hello everyone. New to the site and to the hobby (well not really started yet). First post.

I am looking at purchasing a 55 Gal tank and set up from a friend for $300.00 I was wondering if you guys could tell me if its worth it, or if I should start from scratch.

Includes: 55 Gal tank, hood w/ 2 bulbs, stand, Emperor Dual bio wheel filter (dunno the model number), 2 aquaclear 500 power filters, 1 JetSki? protein skimmer, 1 triumpf (sp?) heater core.

He is selling because he bought a 90 Gal and needs the money. One thing that concerns me is that he had the system crash on him. Is it ok to use the equipment that he used now, after the system crash? I am looking at making a fish only tank with live rock. The fish that I want is Loin Fish.

Any and all feed back would be great.

Thanks

Angel

[mjvincent]

Sounds fine... Just clean it well, wait for the lion fish...

[Phyl]

How are the tank and stand? Free of scratches? To your liking/decor? The protien skimmer is not one of the big name brands, the bio wheel is probably not something you would buy if you were going to set up a tank from scratch. The 2 aquaclears? Are they wet/dry filters? Is the tank drilled/reef ready? If not you should price it out in the stores before you move forward. I wouldn't have anything other than a drilled tank.

As for the tank crash unless he put meds like copper into his tank most everything else is chemical inbalance and a good cleaning will make the system good as new.

Make sure you cycle your tank well before adding the lion fish and look carefully at compatibility charts. They are great fish but will eat anything that fits in its mouth (and that's most fish, lol).

Last but not least Welcome to AA!

[lando]

Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com!!!
Do you know what type of crash the system sustained? Has the owner ever used any copper-based meds in the tank? What kind of skimmer is it? Honestly, for a used 55gal setup I think $300 is a bit steep. Offer him $200 and settle on $250.

[Fluff]

I was thinking the same as lando. I would offer 200. 300 is a bit high.

[mastershake]

WOW someone else from ma! its amazing,i havent seen anybody here yet from mass, and not even far from me at that... as for the tank, aquaclears are good filters, not the best, emperor...i hated mine, noisey and didnt work to well...personal preferance though...a heater is a heater , just make sure it hold temp and it should be fine, same as a skimmer, theres the expensive skimmers and the cheap-o. never heard of that, so try it out, would be interesting to get a review on it somewhere down the road, check the tank for scratches and chips and cracks...wouldnt want a mess on the floor... and a system crash can be caused by o so many things besides copper...he might not have payed attention to it, he might have overfed and killed everything, he might have underfed, if he had a dsb maybe that rare occurance of the gas buildup was released killing the fish...

theres many things to consider...the copper thing will just stay with the tank even if its emptied...im pretty sure a good cleaning will fix it, but correct me if im wrong
also if you go to petco by the holyoke mall you can get a brand new 75 for i think its gonna be around 250 - 300...just tank and stand, but its a bigger tank and new, also check out if the stand is particle board or real oak/wood of some sort, to me particle board isnt worth a dang...

[mastershake]

oh yes and if your ever in hadley, stop in at exotic fish and pet world, i work there, great store, and my boss knows a ton and can really help you get started, along with me and everyone here...plus were cheaper than james' tropical fish...a lot cheaper,

[lando]

theres many things to consider...the copper thing will just stay with the tank even if its emptied...im pretty sure a good cleaning will fix it, but correct me if im wrong

You can never really remove 100% of the copper once it is introduced into the tank. It is absorbed by the silacon seals and remains there.

[Phyl]

Originally Posted by lando

and remains there

Until it slowly leaches back into your system. If your going to keep a predator like a lionfish, no inverts at all and no corals then will the copper still be a problem? Not sure. Hopefully someone else will chime in who knows the answer.

[Jason]

lion fish don't like copper to much. that's copper as in if you were dosing a system, not copper as in it were leaching back out into the system.

that's just what I have heard others say in the area...... I swear all these people's tanks around here must look like an evil villians fish tank from james bond... "yeah man i've got 2 lion fish and a moray eel"

But yeah, i don't think it would really be smart to DOSE a system with copper if it had a lion in it, but i think you may be able to get away with it leaching back in.

*disclaimer* I don't have a lion fish, and I am only going on what I've heard.... i know someone who killed one with copper.

[SquishyFish]

Copper is dangerous to inverts and scale-less fish. A lionfish is a scaleless fish. So, I would definately consider that as a major concern.

IMHO, this set up is not ideal. There is no live rock or live sand. This is a major part of your filtration that is missing.

A lion fish is a live-food preditor. That means there will be ALOT of DOC's in the water. A protien skimmer pulls these docs out of the water. Your gonna need a good skimmer, otherwise your going to have cyano and Red slime.

The lights will be sufficient for a fish only tank. Any kind of corals will require at least power compact or VHO lighting.

The filter will be good for water circulation and pulling particles out of the water, but wont do much for the nitrogen cycle. That is mainly from your LR and LS.

If it were me, I would offer him 150.00 for the whole deal. You can get a 55 gallon tank at petco, with stand, for around 150.00. So the tank, and the used equipment...150.00 max and then use the other 150 to upgrade your equipment.

[Angel93PGT]

Thanks alot guys (and gals ) for the feedback. I was planning on buying all the liverock and substrate later (before starting the tank up). After reading all the replys, I will not take any chances and buy a new tank. I was at Petco looking at tank prices and noticed that it will cost me atleast $300 for tank, stand and hood. I started to think that since I was going to upgrade or replace alot of the things he is including, I might as well start from zero. I continue with my research and continue to post any future questions (which will be alot ). Again, thnkx.

Angel

[lando]

I continue with my research and continue to post any future questions (which will be alot ).

I hope you stick around...we are just getting started!

[Angel93PGT]

Originally Posted by lando

I hope you stick around...we are just getting started!

I will be bugging you guys so much that you will be telling me to bugger off 8)

Angel

[midiman]

I will be bugging you guys so much that you will be telling me to bugger off

As pleasurable as that sounds, it's not true on this board. Occasionally, you get a jerk who posts a LOL response to a serious question, but most of the people truly want to help, and the advisors are great.

So, keep posting; keep asking questions. That's what I did, and my tank is REALLY starting to look good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[aquanaut]

Mass here too Brockton Ma