Is this a good deal on a 125g

I'm still on the hunt for a good deal . I hope you can help.

Here is an offer i'm currently looking at. Do you think the lights are enough? Only 216watts total. The substrate is crushed coral instead of live sand.
He will let it go for $750-$800.
I'd have to travel about 150 miles there, so about 300miles round trip.

125 gal pre drilled saltwater tank
w/40 gal "filter tank" w/ 2 power heads and 2 koralia turbo pumps,
glass tops, 2 heaters, digital thermometer,
new bak pak protein skimmer+bio filter,
auto fish feeder, n
Nova extreame 48” light w/ 2 54w T5 HO slimpac daylight bulbs, 2 54w STS HO limpaq bulbs, 4 moon white lunar LED’s and a cooling fan.
Also there is about 150-175 Lbs of live rock w/ lots of coralline algee (worth $4-5 per lb)
an extra 5 gal pail of crushed coral.
In the tank there is scarlet reef crabs, blue leg crabs,1 lawnmower blenny, 1 clown fish,1 pajama fish and 1 yellow tailed damsel.
The stands sides are not finished.
nvested in this tank around $3,000







Thanks!

 

opps, I edited the post. He is asking $750-$800 - and i'd have to travel a good ways, about 150 miles there.

 

If you like what he as and it includes all that stuff, it is a steal as long as the tank doesnt leak;D

 

I would say skip on that. I wouldnt pay more than $400 for that set up. Reasons being
#1. Its a "tall" set-up. Tall tanks are a complete waste of space IMO for your fish and aquascaping, not too mention all the extra power you'll need to penetrate the tanks depths.
#2. Speaking of lights, if your going reef they will need to be replaced. That tank has less lighting than my 40 gallon, and my lighting isn't really anything hot for my sized tank. Add that in to how deep the tank is...
#3. Equipment. Protien skimmer is inadequate and would need to be replaced. A CPR bak pak has no business being on a 125. Bio filter? Only two powerheads? What series are they? What series are the other pumps? Auto fish feeder?
#4. You just can't sell second hand live rock. Should be nuked anyway IMO as there is no telling what may be locked away inside of there. Also, the CC should be replaced, so now you also have to look at substrates.

I would skip this one for sure. Totally not worth a 300 mile drive IMO. Look for a good used tank only, and go from there and do it right.

 

Here are some additional pictures he sent me. Whats up with the 2 black overflows in the back of the tank? Is that normal? Seems like it would take away from the volume of the tank, and also isn't very attractive.

Any thoughts /w the new pix?

 

Seems like a nice tank. Did you mention if the stand comes with it?
I bet you could sell the used skimmer and lights to raise some cash for better lighting and a better skimmer that PackLeader is right about ^^. The crushed coral substrate would be better replaced with fine aragonite. The overflows are a nice upgrade there, so you can plumb in a sump/skimmer/fuge below without having the siphon u-tubes hanging on the back.

 

Tell him u offer him $500!

 

Yup, insufficient lighting for sure. Poor skimmer. I might put that on a 20 or 30g tank. The duel overflows are sweet. Pure and simple. It doesn't look all that good now, but if you aquascape right, combined with the eventual growth of coraline algae, you won't even notice them. Now......$750? Don't think so. Times are tough. I would offer $450 and pay $600. If the stand comes with it. You will need to get something like a 2x250W metal halide lighting set up to compliment the T5 array you already have. But you could make it work. And if you outfitted it with a canopy, you wouldn't notice the two different lighting systems.

Also, Pack mentioned that the 125 has wasted space.....I can see his point, but I have seen a nicely set up 125 with a 48 inch base. He had nice large corals that were set half way up and grew towards the top of the tank. It was pretty cool. So you could manage it fine. At first, there would be next to nothing, but as your corals grow, you will see what I mean.

You will also need good skimming for the tank. And you will need it right away. So guage the cost of a good skimmer. The CPR will have to go. You can save it for a nano tank when you decide to set one of those up also. They are also good to have around for emergencies. I have an old Jebo skimmer I keep just for that. Look at the following skimmers (google them) to get an idea of what you need. These three are my favorite in order of preference.

PM Bullet-2 (if you had room I would go with the Bullet-3----It is 32" tall)
ETSS 600XR
AquaC EV-240

Now I am a firm believer in overskimming. Not only do you have room to upgrade, but the capacity measured is based on lightly stocked tanks. Most of us will stock to capacity. So if you look at the ETSS, I believe that one is rated from 100-300 gallons. That is 100gallons of full stocking or 300g of light stocking. So take that into consideration.

When you buy into this hobby, you are going to drop much more money than the initial buy-in.

And don't forget the previous posters idea for aragonite sand. IMO, it is much, much better than crushed coral.

Have fun.......John.

 

What kind of liverock are included with the tank? I hope its not like those florida rock that are heavy and selling cheap at the fish store.