Possible Tank from CL

[FishyReef]

Hi

I'm completely new to the aquarium hobby, let alone salt water reef tank, but am thrilled to get started. I'm going to look at a few tank set-ups that I've found on Craigslist tomorrow and wanted to run them by you guys for feedback first! Ideally, I'm aiming to get a 75-90g tank with a sump and skimmer set-up, and that has proper lighting for corals so that I can try some of them down the road. I've read enough to know how important taking my time and getting the proper set up is to being successful, but feel pretty illiterate when it comes to the different brands/types of equipment!

Here's the first potential set-up for $550 (copied from CL ad):

This set includes: 90 gallon glass aquarium, canopy, stand, wet/dry filter system, emergency backup (Hurrican Category 5 model) air diffuser, 2 termometers, moon lighting (Blue light), floating hydrometer. Canopy light (replacement bulb needed). Also INCLUDED in this pice a 45 gallon hexagon tank. This is great for a medical tank. It comes with its own filter system (Marineland Penguin) and lighting system.

The second one for $400 (I can't find the ad right now):

75g tank with solid oak stand, hood, lights (no moon lights), sump (2 years old), 2 heaters & skimmer (1 year old), and some live rock (can't recall how many lbs, but the guy says he paid around $300 for the live rock, though it doesn't look like much in the pictures).

Any thoughts? Does one deal look better than the other? Are they priced well? I'm presuming I'll still have to buy additional equipment (along with supplies) beyond what I get for either of these, but figure if I can get a good start through CL then I'll save myself at least some money rather than starting out totally new!

Thanks in advance for the input :)

 

[fastrd400]

Both seem like good deals. Your biggest questions are going to be lights, what kind are they? Skimmer, what brand and size is it?

 

[FishyReef]

Thanks -- I'll definitely find out those questions tomorrow when I go to see them & let you know! In the mean time, I finally found the other CL post for the 75g, which has a few more details from what I posted above. This is the other tank that I'm going to see tomorrow, offered at $400:

Used now as a saltwater tank with wet/dry sump filtration and a custom oak stand. Approx 60 lbs. of live rock, a Remora "Aqua C" skimmer, one small in-tank circulation pump, 2 submersible heaters, glass top enclosure, Solarmax Lighting, 50 lbs salt, etc, etc.

I know that the sump is 2 years old on this one, and the skimmer & heaters are a year old. How good is Solarmax lighting? Anyone had experience with this type for corals?

I also came across this ad on CL for accessories, asking $350 - what do you think?

48" Coralife Aqualight Fixture with 4-64watt PC lights 2-10000K Daylight Lamps, 2-Actinic, and 4-Blue LED Moonlights. (+260w) This setup has built in ballasts and 2 cooling fans with one big reflector...... I have grown soft corals with this light on a 12 hr actinic and 10 hr daylight cycle, including pink and green zoas and ricordia mushrooms. 2 Zoo Med Powerheads 300gph each, they have an automatic rotating head wich is unbelivable beacause the aquarium will never have a dead water spot where uneaten food will collect and reduce water quality, as this power head will keep turning left to right simulating ocean like wave current. Eheim Pro2260 Canister Filter capable of 300+ gallon fish tanks!!! Marine or fresh. Bought it for backup and used it only for a month. Everything has all the parts included & ready to be installed and work %100.

Thanks!!

 

[SarahSmile]

Canister filters are not typically used for saltwater since they cause nitrate problems so I'd ignore any mentions of those and look for a good skimmer, that's what we use instead. Some skimmers are worthless so if you come across any someone on here can let you know if it's good or not.
Just type in any of the items on google and you can see what they sell for new. The above package doesn't seem like a deal. Try researching equipment and see what has good reviews.

 

[FishyReef]

Well, I went and saw both tanks today and was really excited about the 75g because of everything it came with - Aqua C Remora skimmer, 2 new heaters, sump up and running, a good 50+lb of live rock, powerhead, a gorgeous custom build solid oak stand reinforced with 2x4s, clear lid, and supplies. I came home, emailed the guy that I wanted it, only to find out the couple that came after me bought it! So bummed!

So that leaves me with the other one I saw today - it's a 2-tank deal, the first is a 90g with stand & canopy, & sump set up through an overflow box (no need to drill the tank). The tank is in pretty good condition, about 10y old, but only one visible scratch on the bottom, no cracks, etc. The second tank is a 45g hexagon tank with stand and hood - no cracks or scratches, but the seller has reinforced it with sealer and its a bit messy - not really right for a display tank but nice to have as a back up isolation tank. Both tanks have hoods with basic light fixtures but need replacement bulbs. The deal also includes an admiral penguin filter and a smaller regular penguin charcoal filter, a powerhead, an oddessy moon light strip, a Hurricane 5 battery back-up, and a 200w heater that's several years old (which probably means I have to replace it). He's asking $550 - but I'd still need to get flourescent bulbs, lighting for corals, a protein skimmer, a pump for the sump set-up, live rock, supplies, at least 1 heater for the 45g tank... Just between the live rock and skimmer I'm figuring it will cost a good $600+, let alone supplies, replacement filter cartridges, the return pump for the sump, replacement bulbs and supplies - probably another $200 right there.... I can always buy a new light set up for corals later on when I decide to try those, but still that's a lot that I still need to spend to get this tank up and running. What do you think, is the deal he's offering worth it??

 

[FishyReef]

Well, I decided to offer the guy $400 for the 90g + 45g set up. We'll see if he agrees to lower it! I hope so because I'd like to get started. But if not, then it wasn't mean to be and I'll just keep scanning CL for a good deal :)

 

[FishyReef]

He's giving it to me for $400 - yay!! Plus I just got 65lb of dry rock for $80 from CL too - this should give me a good start! Going to order another 50lb of dry rock and a couple lbs of large live rock to get the curing process started. Now I've just got to get replacement bulbs for the hood and a return pump for the sump in order to at least get the cycling process started. I figure curing the rock is a good 4-6 weeks, then another month to cycle the tank -- that gives me time to get a little more money for the protein skimmer before I put any critters or fish in the tank. Also planning to get AI Sol lights eventually, but will hold off for a while longer until my bank account recovers :D

Any recommendations on return pumps, or on what spectrum bulbs I should get? And, stupid newbie question: what are actinic bulbs compared to regular flourescent 10 or 12k bulbs? - are they blue spectrum bulbs? Should I put one of those and one regular flourescent in my hood until I can get proper LEDs?

Thank you all!

 

[SarahSmile]

What bulbs will your hood support? T-5?

 

[FishyReef]

Great question Sarah! It is just a stock hood that came with the tank (48" length) - looks like this: Aqueon Deluxe Full Fluorescent Black Aquarium Hoods - Aquarium Hood and Fish Tank Light from petco.com. It's pretty old and had quite a bit of salt on it when I saw it, so might be corroded anyway. I'm planning to upgrade to AI Sol lights in the next few months so that wasn't a huge factor in my decision to buy the tank. Anyhow, I'm going to pick up the new tanks this weekend so can tell you more about the hood then. Perhaps I should just take it to my LFS and see what they say? Thank you for your help!!

 

[SarahSmile]

Oh, ok. Yeah, I don't think that one takes a T-5 bulb so you'll need to get different lights before you get any corals. But, sounds like you know that anyhow. The Al Sol lights look awesome, something fun to save for and look forward to...