Pre owned gear ?

[Jack Mammon Bifrons]

I've always brought my aquariums and equipment new. Recently iv been thinking of things that wouldn't hurt to buy new. I think it'd be fine to buy a second hand high end light or maybe wave makers but then I'd never buy second hand heaters or pumps.

What do you see as acceptable lower risk pre owned items ?

 

[AdamB]

I buy most of my stuff second hand now a days from eBay or Craigslist . In fact , my 90 and 80 gallon rimless tanks are second handed.Skimmers,lights, pump, etc . I will not buy heaters second hand thought ! I have saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars if not thousands.
I will just ask several questions about stuff I am interested in buying. Just like buying.
I have bought stuff on aquacave or websites on Black Friday and saved money on some equipment that i couldn’t find used.

 

[gotmesalty77]

I've bought nearly my entire system used. Best idea I've ever had. Got my vectra m2, 3 gen 4 xr15s, 2 mp40s and my bubble magus D8. Barely used. Saved couple grand easy.

 

[lavoisier]

For most of my 30 years of reefing, I've bought used...everything...and never regretted it. In the last few years as my pockets have deepened, I've bought new for convenience. However, its a great feeling to find a bargain and save hundreds of dollars.

 

[Mr Fishface]

Like others I have bought almost everything used for my tank. Including my tank! The only things I bought new were return pumps, heaters, and my protein skimmer. The skimmer simply because no one was selling a high quality model that I wanted. Most of my used equipment is still running strong and I have no regrets about saving a few bucks this way.

 

[X-37B]

Ati t5 6 bulb used.
Tunze 9410 used.
Giesamman 6 bulb used.
Masterflex peristaltic used.
BRS ro/di used.
Tank stand for equipment used.
Chiller used.
Probably more stuff I cant remember.
No heaters or return pumps!
Would consider used tank and other equipment depending on where it came from.
All were 75% less than new easily.