ok a friend of mine is selling his 55 gallon. he has lost interest in the hobby and i am seriously considering buying it from him. it's a full setup including quad t5ho lighting. so good to go for plants. in fact i gave him alot of my cuttings. now here is the thing. i do not have the room for another tank so i am thinking of taking down one of my 30 gallons and my 20 gallon planted tank. thinking about getting rid of my brichardi or at least the majority of them in one 30 gallon and selling that tank and moving my 30 gallon with the sunfish over to there. then getting rid of my 20 all together will make room for the 55 if i move the desk my 30 gallon is sitting on now. it's a bit of work but i'm realy wondering if it would all be worth it. he only wants 200 bucks for the whole setup. i told him i would give him an answer by saturday. what do u all think i should do. keep in mind i plan to make the 55 a dirted planted community tank. and also if u say yes what kinda fish would u all recomend? i already have guppies and loaches going into the tank if i get it.
possibly a new 55 gallon
- Thread starter exhumed07
- Start date
I dunno.
I'm sure you've got your reasons, but taking down ~50gal worth of tanks to setup a 55, when you're already hurting for space doesn't add up to me.
Keep in mind, if Petco ever runs the $1/gal again, $55 will buy you a 55gal, although a quality quad-tube, 48" T5 HO has got to be ~$200 when new. Problem is, re-lamping once a year will be a lot of $$$, but you might already be used to that.
I'm sure you've got your reasons, but taking down ~50gal worth of tanks to setup a 55, when you're already hurting for space doesn't add up to me.
Keep in mind, if Petco ever runs the $1/gal again, $55 will buy you a 55gal, although a quality quad-tube, 48" T5 HO has got to be ~$200 when new. Problem is, re-lamping once a year will be a lot of $$$, but you might already be used to that.
well right now i have the 2 tanks and 1 is planted. i would like to have one big planted tank. and he is selling the whole setup for 200. stand, heater, lighting, 2 emporor filters. and if i remember he spent about 150 on the lighting. it is a decent deal for the tank. just not sure if it's worth the work to move everything. also i was kinda saving up to buy a boat. lol.
and sorry laura i'm not a big fan of angels. they can be pretty but i was thinking about a big school of neons and and stuff like that. lots and lots of small fish instead of quite a few larger fish. already got that with my cichlid tank
and sorry laura i'm not a big fan of angels. they can be pretty but i was thinking about a big school of neons and and stuff like that. lots and lots of small fish instead of quite a few larger fish. already got that with my cichlid tank
You already have a 55g for comparison - do you like it more than the two tanks you would take down?
How old is his lighting? $150 for a 4 bulb, 48" fixture suggests to me that it is a rather cheap model. That plus it being older means it may not be worth all that much anymore. And if you have to replace 4, 48" T5 bulbs right away because the bulbs are old, that's another probably $60-100 or so (or more). Would you be doing CO2?
On the other hand, if you wanted to do a planted setup in the 30g which you already have, you could likely do it more cheaply than the $200 for the 55g / lighting.
How old is his lighting? $150 for a 4 bulb, 48" fixture suggests to me that it is a rather cheap model. That plus it being older means it may not be worth all that much anymore. And if you have to replace 4, 48" T5 bulbs right away because the bulbs are old, that's another probably $60-100 or so (or more). Would you be doing CO2?
On the other hand, if you wanted to do a planted setup in the 30g which you already have, you could likely do it more cheaply than the $200 for the 55g / lighting.
i've always wanted to have a larger tank with like a giant school of neons in it or something but then i got into the planted tank. and the 30 i plan to get rid of is my ex saltwater tank and my 20 is already planted but it's just to shallow. i want more height.
the lighting is less then a year old. i would say last june or july he bought the tank and in september last year he got the lighting on sale off amazon. he is kinda a fad guy. gets into something for a year and then does something else. farrets, chinchila, fish tanks, tattoos gaming systems. he never keeps them long. well at least the interest. but the setup is good.
I also do not plan to use co2. i plan to just use dirt and and lighting with excel as a suppliment. fairly low tech setup.
the lighting is less then a year old. i would say last june or july he bought the tank and in september last year he got the lighting on sale off amazon. he is kinda a fad guy. gets into something for a year and then does something else. farrets, chinchila, fish tanks, tattoos gaming systems. he never keeps them long. well at least the interest. but the setup is good.
I also do not plan to use co2. i plan to just use dirt and and lighting with excel as a suppliment. fairly low tech setup.
he never ran a heater so that is something i might need. i am thinking about keeping my visitherm from my 30 for that tank. when i bought it they were out of smaller ones so i picked up one rated for a 40 gallon tank i belive. so it should do just fine. a little under powered but will work, at least till i get a new one if i need to. also i have decided to buy it. going to pick it up tomorrow. going to let everything sit for a while empty though. he had an issue with algae and i want to dry it all out and clean it with bleach before i dirt it and everything. i don't want to inherite his problems. i do that enough with vehichles and guns lol
got everything home. cleaned everything except the tank itself tonight. gravel is sitting in buckets of bleach water and so are the filter intake tubes. there was so much algae on everything i'm making damn sure everything is sterile. there was tons of blackbeard and stringy green algae. tomorrow i will clean everything off realy good and make sure it's all clean of the bleach and then clean the tank with bleach water as well. then let it all sit till next weekend when i will accually move everything around and set the tank up. little bit of work but i think it was worth the 200 i paid for it.
it's not to bad and i'm happy my cherry shrimp survived the swap as well. had alot of work to do on the tank. had to clean the filters and the tank and the gravel. then i filled the tank with straight hot water out of the water heater and ran it through the filters for an hour or so and then drained the tank and dirted and everything. so the whole tank should be sterile from his setup. brand new filter cartrages in them and everything. but with the plants, driftwood, and rock i took from my established tank and i used a filter cartrage from a setup tank to avoid a cycle. going to my lfs to see what i can get for my 30 gallon and then see how many neons they have for me to buy on saturday. and maybe some glass cats and some cories.
and i'm happy my cherry shrimp survived the swap as well. had alot of work to do on the tank. had to clean the filters and the tank and the gravel. then i filled the tank with straight hot water out of the water heater and ran it through the filters for an hour or so and then drained the tank and dirted and everything. so the whole tank should be sterile from his setup. brand new filter cartrages in them and everything. but with the plants, driftwood, and rock i took from my established tank and i used a filter cartrage from a setup tank to avoid a cycle. going to my lfs to see what i can get for my 30 gallon and then see how many neons they have for me to buy on saturday. and maybe some glass cats and some cories.