Any and all thoughts welcome...

[Zoregon]

So I used to have a 90 gallon years ago, poorly set up, led to fish & coral loss, floods, you name it. So I gave it up. I'm looking at purchasing this 125 Gal. for $2,700 (I'm in Canada). Would anyone like to weigh in on if this is a good price? Btw, I'm buying sight unseen and having sent to me. The seller is including everything right down to the salt and food. Please see photos below.
Thanks for your help - I'm really stuck.....

Here's the sump (I think, not sure if I did this right..

 

[Zoregon]

More pics

More pics

Heres the tank

 

[Zoregon]

This is the last of them....

This is the last of them....

So this is all the photos he sent - as a said please feel free to criticize, discuss and advise. I do not want to make a mistake.

 

[Frostyfishman]

Starting new is half the fun IMO. I can't speak to prices for our Northern neighbors but down south that could get you a nice set up.

 

[CarrieB]

So it's going to get sent to you in pieces (presumably). Do you feel like you know enough to put it all back together and get it running on your own?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Frostyfishman]

Another consideration is if you are keeping the livestock you will need to be skilled enough to take care of everything all at once rather than easing your way in one fish/coral at a time.

 

[farfromsea]

Looks like a good setup to me.

Live Rock alone goes for about $5/lb here. I imagine the same or so in Canada? I would guess he has about 100 lbs in there so the live rock alone could be $500. But ask him how many pounds he put in.

Ask the wattage and brand of the light to assess its value.

The skimmer is a good brand looks like perhaps the $250 one? Not sure of the model/size. Ask him what it is so you know if it is appropriate for the tank before you buy it and prepare to depend on it.

The ATO system is worth $150 (new).

That's $900 in equipment (new) on my estimation before counting the cost of a new stand, tank, and the lights, as well as ignoring the cost of the sand ($40, 40 lbs I believe is a good average).

I think the main driver of the cost here is going to be the livestock and because it would be difficult to have stability I think your best move fiscally would be sell the fish ASAP and start slowly from the ground up. I am not going to be a good source to assess the value of these fish. Some of them seem quite large and will be expensive. This is where you will not be able to talk down the price, unfortunately. IMO the tank/equipment should be about 50% of the original prices, new..except the lights those tend to retain their value when they are LEDs.

 

[Zoregon]

Thanks so much. I've done a lot of staring and nail biting looking at this tank. And then I read all the threads on people moving established tanks and the issues they've encountered.
Saltwater anything costs almost double here compared to the US. I would ship over but our dollar is pathetic right now and if customs gets you it sometimes ends up costing more.....
He will not come down in price period. I think maybe new is the way to go as I want a full reef. Somebody on here said "you're paying for someone else's dream" with used and it rang very very true.

 

[BigEZ77]

I think that's way too much for a used set-up. You could piece together a used set-up for way cheaper. Also, its cool to start everything yourself, cycle, then additions, etc. If you're close to a major city in Canada, you can get a lot of awesome stuff for a good price on Kijiji.

 

[farfromsea]

I think you could probably find a good setup used for a decent price if you keep looking. Someone will have a setup left after parting out their livestock I bet. I'm always a little cheap so I see no point for me to pay full price for the tank & stand if a perfectly good used one is available out there somewhere. Although without a budget I would certainly buy a drilled tank, new

Good luck and keep us posted on what you do end up getting!!

 

[rt67ghy]

I would be worried about keeping the corals and fish alive while everything is being set up and the tank is cycling. I'd just start by getting a used tank and stand and then working from there at your leisure.

 

[Zoregon]

Thank you all for your advice. I have taken a pass on the tank.

I've put up an ad on Kijiji. It's the Canadian version of Craigslist. Looking for a 125 to 220 long. Anybody heard of one please let me know !!

 

[farfromsea]

Check out facebook groups too... my local one is called CITYname saltwater exchange or swap or trade or something like that. And joining a local marine society could help, a lot of times they have a classifieds section. I'm not in Canada so I can't really help but I would if I could help you find a listing!