I went online one day to check for some used live rock. Seeing as how I have a 300 gallon, I need a lot for a nice reef. I went on craigslist and by chance typed in "aquarium" instead of "live rock" on the search feature. The 3rd result down read: "100 Gallon fish tank aquarium rock corals fish - $20"
That was just the tip of the iceberg. I contacted the guy immediately because 20 bucks for a loaded tank was incredible. He gave me the rundown of why it was cheap. He owned an apartment and had to evict a tenant. The tenant left all his aquarium stuff and did not wish to take it with him. The apartment owner (I will refer to him as AO) told me he has no clue how to take care of any aquatic life and was just tossing in ocean nutrition seaweed for a few days. He did not have the lights on in the tank when I arrived at his apartment. AO led the way and I handed him the $20. He accepted it and I said "that's it?" He told me he only cared for the well being of the livestock.
As I began breaking down the system I realized I hit the jackpot. There were about 20-30 lbs. of live rock, about 50 lbs. of live sand, two ocellaris clowns, 1 sally lightfoot crab, 1 brittle sea star, a couple of snails, a very large finger leather coral, brain coral, a large torch coral, and a torch coral frag! It got even better. He led me to the back room and showed me a 46 gallon bowfront with matching stand and hood and two 3' T5 ballasts with a HOB wet/dry filter. It wasn't stocked but it sure looked nice. He also showed me two metal halide ballasts with 150 watt bulbs inside - working condition! I even got three heaters, a koralia 3 powerhead, and a koralia 4 powerhead. The best part was yet to come. AO showed me what he thought was a filter but it was actually a 1/4 HP Arctica Chiller with a built in control - NEVER USED!!!
It retails at over $700!!!! Aside from the fact that he did not have the sump working in the 100 gallon and ammonia skyrocketed, i managed to safely acclimate all the livestock to my 300 gallon.
On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate this deal?
Any thoughts/opinions?
That was just the tip of the iceberg. I contacted the guy immediately because 20 bucks for a loaded tank was incredible. He gave me the rundown of why it was cheap. He owned an apartment and had to evict a tenant. The tenant left all his aquarium stuff and did not wish to take it with him. The apartment owner (I will refer to him as AO) told me he has no clue how to take care of any aquatic life and was just tossing in ocean nutrition seaweed for a few days. He did not have the lights on in the tank when I arrived at his apartment. AO led the way and I handed him the $20. He accepted it and I said "that's it?" He told me he only cared for the well being of the livestock.
As I began breaking down the system I realized I hit the jackpot. There were about 20-30 lbs. of live rock, about 50 lbs. of live sand, two ocellaris clowns, 1 sally lightfoot crab, 1 brittle sea star, a couple of snails, a very large finger leather coral, brain coral, a large torch coral, and a torch coral frag! It got even better. He led me to the back room and showed me a 46 gallon bowfront with matching stand and hood and two 3' T5 ballasts with a HOB wet/dry filter. It wasn't stocked but it sure looked nice. He also showed me two metal halide ballasts with 150 watt bulbs inside - working condition! I even got three heaters, a koralia 3 powerhead, and a koralia 4 powerhead. The best part was yet to come. AO showed me what he thought was a filter but it was actually a 1/4 HP Arctica Chiller with a built in control - NEVER USED!!!
It retails at over $700!!!! Aside from the fact that he did not have the sump working in the 100 gallon and ammonia skyrocketed, i managed to safely acclimate all the livestock to my 300 gallon.
On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate this deal?
Any thoughts/opinions?
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