Question on if this Tank Setup is Over Priced?

[frankrom]

Hey Everyone,

New to the forums here!

Looking at a purchase... and I am wondering if i can get some insight from some Canadian Reefers.

The guy selling the tank I am interested in is asking $3300 for the whole setup here is his ad. It isn't very descriptive, but still hoping I can get some advice.

"I have for sale a 90 gallon saltwater fish tank with everything you needed to run comes with alots of things like 140 lbs of live rocks with coroline which happens good lighting and good water also 80 lbs of live sand and over 40 to 50 Assorted amazing corols from extra large to small sizes13 fish which all kinds of tang like a blue tang naso tang purple tang scoop tang yellow fox face black fox pair of clown fish LED lighting system two unit include sump return pump which i paid over $ 500 is digital dc pump if any body thename skimmer ph reactor size of 48 x 24 x 18 NO PART OUT for more info call or text me at also black pine stand and conopy"

He has those big LED fixtures, two of them with blue and white lights, I think the LFS sells them for $450 each. He said he has some dc pump which is variable in speed and can pump from the two different levels. Sump and all that other stuff included too.

There are something like 6 different tangs, the corals honestly, from the photos seem very large, clearly he is doing something right.

I included some pictures too....

Any advice on the real value here please let me know.

He is saying he has spent over 8k on it over the years... which i do believe but hey getting into these hobbies isn't an investment!

Thanks guys...

Frank:biggrin:

[frankrom]

Sorry forgot to include the photos....

[StirCrazy]

um, its worth what people are willing to pay for it, myself its not worth much as I would have to get rid of everything in the tank.

with out knowing the brands of stuff it is hard to say but if it is true he has spent 8K on the setup then 3K is not bad. but if he only spent 3K on equipment and the rest on livestock that you don't want then it isn't worth much to you.

figure a used tank is worth about $1-2.00/gal on average, then you have to figure out what the equipment is and what it is worth, when I sold my used equipment if it was actualy used I would go about 50% of what I paid for it.


Steve

[frankrom]

Why would you get rid of everything in the tank? That is part of the reason I would buy a used tank... to get the stuff inside?

[Coral Hoarder]

There's some pricey corals there there's like 1.5 grand in live stock this LEDs are called AQ.120 worth 180 each

This is an ok deel not the best tho I doubt he spent 8 grand unless he bought rocks at 10$a pound

[Aquattro]

Tank and stand, = 200ish
rock = maybe 300
sand = toss it, buy new
The rest has no brands, condition, etc.

I've seen people's "amazing corols", generally garbage unless it's exactly what you were going to buy anyway. I would guess if he can't spell coral, he can't take great care of them :) Maybe worth a few hundred. Maybe.

If you want all the fish, worth maybe another 400 (assuming good size, condition, etc)


So depending on what the gear is, it maybe be worth upwards of 2200, maybe more if it's exactly what you're looking for. If you're interested, and it's clean and in nice shape, offer 1800 and work from there.

[frankrom]

Hey Scott,

Thanks for the reply...

So do you think for that price you could get much more for your money?

[Coral Hoarder]

In my opinion you could build this tank from scratch with 3 grand

So mabie its worth 2.5 tops ? But we really don't know some of the stuff like skimmers and adshinal equipment that might bump the price up

[kien]

I would agree with the 'Crazy. It may be worth it to some people, but not at all worth it to me.

For me 140lbs of live rock in a 90g is too much rock and I'd get rid of most of it. I'd also get ride of most of the 80lbs of live sand. In fact, I'd trash all of it and buy new sand.

6 tangs in a 90g seems pretty cramped to me. I'd be trying to sell off some of the excess fish.

It's hard to say how much the equipment is really worth without knowing the exact brands. The equipment to either be expensive high end stuff or dirt cheap Chinese eBay specials.

Personally I think you can set up a nice 90g with a custom made tank for less than that. Then buy the equipment that makes sense for YOU and not for someone else.

Call Concept Aquariums in Calgary and ask for quotes on a 90g set up. You may be surprised how affordable it is.

[frankrom]

Hey Kien... thanks!

Is this the part where I say now I feel extremely stupid for saying I live in Calgary when I live in Toronto???????????????????

I figured since I was posting a classified ad and thought maybe If I found a good deal and I was putting it on the busiest canadian form.. I thought someone may have bought it hahaha... so stupid.

Needless to say I am in Toronto ... do you or anyone else want to give me a TORONTO contact for a custom setup?

Sounds like this is not a good deal at all anymore :(

Why would you get rid of all the sand????? whats the point in that.

the tank did look like it had a lot of rocks in it!

[Aquattro]

From the pics, it looks like he's fascinated with his pretty fish and has emotional attachment to the tank. The only equipment we can see are the chinese lights and the korallia power heads. Typically those that purchase korallia don't buy Bubble King skimmers :) I think we can assume fairly cheap equipment throughout.
I once bought a similar setup, slightly bigger tank, for $1000.

[StirCrazy]

Why would you get rid of everything in the tank? That is part of the reason I would buy a used tank... to get the stuff inside?

cuz I am not a softy coral kinda guy or realy a fish guy, I do like some fish for movement, but SPS/LPS would be the main focus of my tanks. if there is chunks of softy left on the rock it will grow back so it would be a lot of work to properly clean the rock. sand, like Brad I say ditch it, but I wouldn't put new sand in but thats just me.

Steve

[kien]

Well, you wouldn't be the only one around here who lies about their location :-)

1. Concept Aquariums does ship tanks across Canada. You'll find lots of people out east with Concept tanks.

2. Check the Ontario sub forum here to see where people get there tanks from.

3. A thick (deep) sand bed in the display tank is kinda a thing of the past. If you like the look if lots of deep sand then fine, but it's rare to see that in new setups these days. A lot of people opt not to even have any sand at all in their tanks (for ease of maintenance or aesthetics). I personally like sand and have a 1" thick dusting of sand covering the bottom of my tank. It amounts to maybe 2 pounds of sand ?

[frankrom]

wow... you said one or two lbs of sand he has 80.... haha

maybe he was trying to create a desert? :P

All I have to say this is a very impressive form so far... can't believe how quick you all respond and how helpful and informative... amazing...

[denny_C]

hi , just sent you a pm with some info and maybe i can help you get started and set up:)



cheers




denny
concept aquariums

[Reef76b]

Definatly get new sand if you move that tank stirring up all that old sand will cause major issues possibly a crash.

[FishingGoalie]

Hey Kien... thanks!

Is this the part where I say now I feel extremely stupid for saying I live in Calgary when I live in Toronto???????????????????

I figured since I was posting a classified ad and thought maybe If I found a good deal and I was putting it on the busiest canadian form.. I thought someone may have bought it hahaha... so stupid.

Needless to say I am in Toronto ... do you or anyone else want to give me a TORONTO contact for a custom setup?

Sounds like this is not a good deal at all anymore :(

Why would you get rid of all the sand????? whats the point in that.

the tank did look like it had a lot of rocks in it!

I would still talk to concept they ship all over the place.

[iceman86]

Your better off starting a tank from scratch for that price and put in only what you want. Stick around here for a bit and learn the basics of reef keeping because going in blind will be catastrophic. Lots of good info here and people with lots of experience willing to help.

Good luck

[duncangweller]

I'll second that

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Proteus]

My thoughts exactly iceman

Start from scratch and learn the hobby.

[toytech]

+1 , the tank with that much livestock is going to be complicated to transfer and re setup , theres nice fish but its overcrowded , or will be soon once the fish grow . The carpet anemone is recommended for more of an advanced level of care . The tank does have some large impressive corals , but I find growing them myself half the fun . Starting from scratch is a lot slower but there are a lot of good deals on used equipment and livestock here and it does give you time to learn the ropes and not have to panic and try and figure out everything about reefkeeping all at once.