Newbie question about equipment and price?

[mlovelace]

Hello, I first want to say this looks to be a great sight with a ton of information! I have been out of the fish game for about 10 years. My first wife hated my 100 gallon tank with an Oscar and Pacu and I eventually sold it (she hated the water on the carpet). I have a lot of experience with freshwater tanks, but this would be my first saltwater experience. I have been looking at the LPS, craigslist,----, and classifieds everywhere. I was wondering if someone could tell me if this is a good deal? It sounds like one, but I would need to drive 2.5 hours to pick up. From what is listed, could you tell me what the fair market price would be? I have seen pictures and the tank looks great, with a light oak stand and matching canopy. It is a 75 gallon tank. Here is the emails I have received from the seller. I have had other opportunities locally to purchase used 75g tank and stand, but not reef ready with supplies. I am thinking of going FLOWR, but may try the reef tank as well? I also understand the cost of liverock to get the tank started. These are emails from the seller to me. Here is the info below:

Complete Reef Ready 75 Gallon Aquarium Set Up
All you need is water. This system is complete with tank, stand, hood, lights, skimmer, sump, return pump, and sand. I recently upgraded to a 125 gallon system and so I am selling this one.

The tank is reef ready which means it is drilled in the overflows. The return pump is a Mag drive 7 and the sump is sized for a 75 gallon tank with compartments for the skimmer and return pump. The skimmer is a Euro-Reef sized for 125 tank max. The lighting fixture is 8 x 54 watt T-5 bulbs. I think I have had the system around 5 years. I moved up to it from a 55 gallon and am selling this one because I've moved up to a 125 gallon tank.

There are two holes drilled and the tank does not leak. I took the tank down in July. It was setup as a reef tank. I believe the Euroreef is the RS80. I have 80 pounds of unused substrate for the tank that you can have. You would need to get some salt and a couple powerheads for water movement. A good test kit to check your water chemistry and some timers for your lights. There is also a power strip that comes with the set up. You would also need a RO/DI unit to make your water. Tap water is not good for a saltwater tank.


My question for a experienced member, what price do you feel is fair for this if everything is in good working order?

[gregony]

$5.79 sounds fair. Seriously, the used Euroreef RS80 is worth about 100. I've always made my own stands, so I have no idea what the furniture is worth. The lighting fixture is pretty much worthless unless its a Tek or Geismann or an ATI or another premium brand. The bulbs will cost appx 160 to replace. Quite frankly, its too big a fixture for a 75 gallon tank anyways. You could light a 48" 120g with that fixture. For fish only with live rock you would only need a two lamp fixture. The tank is worth appx half of what it would be new. Glass cages sells a 75g reef ready for 225 plus shipping. So the tank is probably worth 150 or thereabouts. A 5 yr old Mag 7 is worth $10. The 80lbs of substrate (assuming its aragonite sand) is worth around 50, if its new, if its live sand its worth more, used sand dead in the bottom of the tank for 6months-worthless. The value of the sump depends on what kind of sump it is. Is it Trigger systems, CPR, Eshopps, etc. Around half of what it would be new.
To summarize:
Tank $150
Furniture $TBD
Sump and Return Pump $150
Skimmer $100
Sand $50
Light Fixture $TBD
Total cost depends on the quality of the stand. A true furniture quality stand and canopy could be worth 500 and up, so the value could double depending on the stand and canopy. Also the lighting fixture is a big factor. If its an e-bay special it isn't worth much of anything. I've seen used 90g setups with pretty much same equipment go for around 800.

[gregony]

And always, with used equipment - It's used, remember, most of the stuff in this hobby isn't meant to last 10 years (the tanks and furniture the exception), and he's already got 5yrs on it. I'll bet that Euroreef RS80's missing a few pinwheels. Driving 2.5 hours is worth something too. For me 5 hours total drive time is worth well over 100, plus the gas.

[mlovelace]

Thank you Gregony! The link is below for the item. I am suppose to go look at it next weekend. He had this set up for as a reef tank.
Pet Supplies : Complete Reef Ready 75 Gallon Aquarium Set Up : Classifieds : WRAL.com

[mlovelace]

I also received another email from the gentleman selling and he said he replaced all the bulbs about 8 months ago. As you can see the stand, canopy look pretty good in the picture. I don't know if there are scratches or not until I get there.

[gregony]

The fixture looks like a current nova extreme, you'll want to see if it has individual reflectors for each lamp, they just started putting individual reflectors on that model. If it doesn't, you'll need to plan on replacing it, as it isn't going to be as efficient as a fixture with individual reflectors. It will do for a while though (you've got appx 8 to 16 months left on those bulbs). The setup looks pretty nice, though I don't know what purpose the canopy serves other than jacking the light fixture way up off the water (perhaps that's why he needed an 8 lamp fixture). If you put the 8 lamp fixture on the tank edges as it is intended, you'll be limited on the corals you can put in the tank. That amount of light is tough on everything but the most light needy corals. It's roughly the same amount of light as three 250W metal halides.