# 125 good or bad deal.



## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

ok so today i surfed the good ol craigslist for fun but ended up giving a guy a call about a 225 gallon tank for 300 bucks.so we made the deal and i got to pick up and pay for the tank/ look at it and it turned out it was a 125 gallon tank.so that kinda pissed me off but the tank was drilled /reef ready so i ended up talking the guy down to 125.the tank was not leaking when i got there and no water stains anywhere.so i pack it up and bring it home well set it up and not even 20mins after filling it starts to leak out the bulk heads! so i had to drain the tank and fix the damn thing.on top of all this my hydometer broke.eaither way was this still a good deal?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

125g for $125, and you just had to silicone the bulk heads? Sounds like a good deal from where I'm sittin.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> 125g for $125, and you just had to silicone the bulk heads? Sounds like a good deal from where I'm sittin.


and im hopeing thats all i have to silicone......


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

well it took me almost 3 hrs to get the bulks off.i had to cut one off cause it was pvc glued together......the other was a super pia cause it was drilled so low on the tank that the bulk sits under the bracing........so i cut one and siliconed a piece of glass i cut to it.i hope thats all that was leaking and i hope that everything holds.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

:thumbsup: Hopefully that gets you buy then. Little bit of work, for a nice tank.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> :thumbsup: Hopefully that gets you buy then. Little bit of work, for a nice tank.


i mean yeah i got a good deal but i still had to put money into it to get it buy so i pretty much payed 170-180 for it all said and done...


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## jayla2251 (Jul 2, 2012)

That's the thing with buying used tanks. Always ask if they hold water. But you never know if that person knows or not, or is even telling the truth. And a lot of people don't even want to spend the time to fill it and see if it holds water, even tho they could prolly get a better price for it. And there's no return policy. I always ask people the dimensions of the tank also, because so many people guess the size.

$125 for 125g tank is a good used price.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

92smokeaccord said:


> i mean yeah i got a good deal but i still had to put money into it to get it buy so i pretty much payed 170-180 for it all said and done...


Still not bad all around. Stand come with it? I hope.?


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> Still not bad all around. Stand come with it? I hope.?


its just a steel work bench as a stand but it works just doesn't look pretty lol.well i fixed it.it was just the bulks leaking into the lower brace and making it seam like the hole bottom was leaking.she all fixed and up/running now.ill get a pic up soon its just a tank with no back drop and one clown fish not really much to see imo...


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Ah, but your on your way now. =)


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> Ah, but your on your way now. =)


yeah the clown/my salt water setup was in my room in my 90 gallon tank.so i took the wet dry sytem,sand and water and added more to it.the wet dry i have is rated for 150 gallons so im happy.
also reef while i got yah i have a question for yah.

lighting is there any way to make a light that will suffice for a coral set up useing house style bulbs and not the tube florescent ones?or even use the socket style florescent ones.if so how many watts total for the 125 and anything else i need to kno.i have a bunch of sockets for bulbs so the only thing id have to buy is a bulb or many bulbs.thanks


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

House lamps will not do, no where near the right spectrum or wattage. But, yould use a bunch of these, but they will cost a few bucks to get what you need.
Reef Aquarium LED Spot Light 12W Par 38 Coral Lighting White/Blue or W/B/Red | eBay

If your wanting to go corals, i'd just go with T-5, much cheaper to find something good. Then again, I got a 2 250w Metal Halide set-up for $100. You never know what your going to find.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> House lamps will not do, no where near the right spectrum or wattage. But, yould use a bunch of these, but they will cost a few bucks to get what you need.
> Reef Aquarium LED Spot Light 12W Par 38 Coral Lighting White/Blue or W/B/Red | eBay
> 
> If your wanting to go corals, i'd just go with T-5, much cheaper to find something good. Then again, I got a 2 250w Metal Halide set-up for $100. You never know what your going to find.


t5 is the slim tube ones right? what should i get color temp wize.i kno this is a lil spoon feeding but if you could get me a nice example of ebay again that be nice and how big lenght wize should i get?


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)




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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Either 2 36" units, or one 72" unit.
36" 156W Aquarium Light T5 HO Hood Reef Cichlid Saltwater Lunar LEDs 4X39 6500K | eBay
T5 Quad 72" Timer Aquarium Light Coral Reef Marine Cichlid LED HO Odyssea 320W | eBay
Or a couple of these bad boys.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/24-Metal-Ha...ltDomain_0&hash=item43ad621821#ht_1820wt_1037


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

Just want to chime in here.

Not to sway you in any direction, on Reefing Madness's advice in another thread, I bought a 48" version of that 36" light he posted and boy does it work well.

Gets quite hot but not as much as MH would but it makes my 55g tank look stunning and my Montipora coral is thriving and showing new growth from it.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

Tazman said:


> Just want to chime in here.
> 
> Not to sway you in any direction, on Reefing Madness's advice in another thread, I bought a 48" version of that 36" light he posted and boy does it work well.
> 
> Gets quite hot but not as much as MH would but it makes my 55g tank look stunning and my Montipora coral is thriving and showing new growth from it.


thats awsome but will it suffice for a 125?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

92smokeaccord said:


> thats awsome but will it suffice for a 125?


2 of the 36" units would, yes.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

how about these

4' florescent light fixtures


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

fixture doesn't have reflrctors, so the light will not all go where it needs to go. But, if those are T-5 HO fixture, you could possibly use it, you would need different lamps though.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> fixture doesn't have reflrctors, so the light will not all go where it needs to go. But, if those are T-5 HO fixture, you could possibly use it, you would need different lamps though.


thats good i could possable rip them up and make my own set up..for 15 for 1 i can get 2 and use them.thats the most expensive part.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

look what i made today....cost me a hole $40 and some use of my nogin. lol

from this metal thing









to this better thing lol


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Very nice. Nice job!
Do yourself a favor, if your planning on Corals, ditch those Bio Balls.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> Very nice. Nice job!
> Do yourself a favor, if your planning on Corals, ditch those Bio Balls.


one thing at a time im still surfing craigslist for some live rock once i get those i will ditch them if they are not already cured.thanks i put the hight at 33 and 3/4 inchs instead of the standard 30 inch.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

will 2 of these work?

36"78w Aquarium Light Hood T5 HO Saltwater Reef Cichlid Actinic Fluorescent 2x39 | eBay


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

They will for Soft Corals and like Mushrooms and Zoas. Its not really alot of light if you look that it has one Actinic, which doesn't count a white light, and one white light. Thats why a 4 lamp unit was suggested. If you used 2 white 10k lights in each unit you could get away with them. But you will not like the coloring of the tank in the long run.
But, yes, those will work using 2 10k lamps.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> They will for Soft Corals and like Mushrooms and Zoas. Its not really alot of light if you look that it has one Actinic, which doesn't count a white light, and one white light. Thats why a 4 lamp unit was suggested. If you used 2 white 10k lights in each unit you could get away with them. But you will not like the coloring of the tank in the long run.
> But, yes, those will work using 2 10k lamps.


seriously bout to just cough up for this

Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

It will be fine for the same as stated above, Sofites and Mushrooms. Unless you use 4 White 10k lamps. Then you could do LPS and some SPS.

2 of these and you could keep anything you wanted under them. A third and forth down the road and skies the limit.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/24-Metal-Ha...ltDomain_0&hash=item43ad621821#ht_1820wt_1037

Or fork over for LEDs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/48-White-Bl...ltDomain_0&hash=item5894db6151#ht_4621wt_1037
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reef-LED-Li...ltDomain_0&hash=item2320e85a24#ht_5225wt_1271
http://reefledlights.com/


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

Just a quick note, that stand needs more support on the edges, two more pieces of 2x4 at each corner. The whole weight of the tank is resting on 5 pieces of wood at the moment. There is nothing stopping each corner from buckling under the weight of the tank. It is nearly there but with the added extras it will be well supported.

The inside of the top and bottom of each side should have another piece of 2x4 across the width of the stand, also as it is a 72" stand, you NEED another support in the middle.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

http://www.garf.org/calculators/BuildLargeStand_2.asp


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

Tazman said:


> Just a quick note, that stand needs more support on the edges, two more pieces of 2x4 at each corner. The whole weight of the tank is resting on 5 pieces of wood at the moment. There is nothing stopping each corner from buckling under the weight of the tank. It is nearly there but with the added extras it will be well supported.
> 
> The inside of the top and bottom of each side should have another piece of 2x4 across the width of the stand, also as it is a 72" stand, you NEED another support in the middle.


i have them there that was the rough draft of it.the only thing i have left is to add a center brace in the front..i plan on kickin that wet dry for a 55 gallon sump when im done with it.


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