Tips on buying used?

[kayl]

I'm debating buying a used 30 gallon glass tank with hood and stand for $100. Can you guys tell me what I should look for/check in a tank? It'd save me about $85 dollars...please let me know what you think the pros and cons are.

[toddpolish]

cracks, scratches.
how tall is the hood? do you want to have a reef with metal halide lights? those lights need to be 12" off the surface of the water. if not, then you could put VHO ligthing in there.

[kayl]

I don't want a reef tank...not yet. I just want a tank with mostly fish and some live rock...possibly an anenome or two...I really need to give them a call and check out the specs.

[DaveJohnson]

Originally posted by kayl
I don't want a reef tank...not yet. I just want a tank with mostly fish and some live rock...possibly an anenome or two...I really need to give them a call and check out the specs.
Ask them if they *ever* used copper in the tank. It could be in the seals and may leech back into the tank. Copper & SW (esp. inverts) are a bad combination.

You mentioned anemonies. Yikes! They are, IMO and IME, one of the most difficult SW creatures to keep. Most do not survive in captivity for very long (less than 1 year) but live for hundreds or more years in the wild. They *require* lots of light and very high quality water, 2 things many newbies don't supply because 1) no LFS will tell you they need the light and 2) most newbies don't have water chemistry down right away and tanks take time (months to year) to mature to the point where stable water chemistry is really even possible. There's a GREAT thread about that referred to in the sticky section, written by EricHugo (Eric Borneman) and it really explains this in great detail and easy to understand terminology. Here's the link:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=249112

Cheers,
Dave Johnson

[kayl]

thanks for the link...I'm looking to get a couple clowns...would it be fine to add an anenome in a year or so, or would the clowns reject it?

[Newbie Jeff]

If you can afford it (and have the space), I'd suggest waiting until you find a larger setup. I bought a 90G with stand, canopy, sump, overflow, return pump, & various other bits & pieces for $450 & have read of other people getting even better deals. You just have to be patient.

[cyclgrl]

Cowns can adapt any time to an anemone. That said, clowns don't need an anemone to be happy and even if you add one, it's not certain they will take to it.

Btw, just to be clear, you say you don't plan on having a reef tank to start with, but if you want to have anemones eventually, you will need reef-oriented lighting like MH lights or a protein skimmer.