Should I Buy or Pass?

[Ozzy]

Hello all, trying to get an idea of what you all think that have been in the hobby for a while. I have an opportunity to buy a full Red Sea Reefer 350 set up that includes a yellow tang, blue hippo tang, sleeper goby, some corals, rose bubble nem with 2 hosting clowns, eco tech radios g2 x2 with supplemental t5s, sump, skimmer and ATO. All for ridiculously cheap, as the guy is just trying to get out of the hobby due to job change and being unable to take care of the tank as he would like.

He said everything has been up and running for about 5 years with normal maintenance. But the tank does have some fairly bad scratches due to kids using the scraper/magnet improperly.

I am just wondering if it would be worth it to take and eventually replace the tank (due to scratches), or would it be a bad idea due to age of equipment? Thanks in advance!!

Here are some pics to get an idea of what I would be getting.

 

[DE FISH]

How much does he want ?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I dont see anything extraordinary in those pics. I would probably pass on the 5 year old equipment and scratched tank. Unless.... If it was me, I would offer to go get it all out of his house for him, but the price should be free.

 

[chipchipbro]

i would pass tbh.

 

[Ozzy]

How much does he want ?

$500 for it all, just have to pick up.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

For $500 I would seriously consider it. Acrylic can be polished if it is so.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

If you're going into the system buy already knowing you'll not be happy with the tank and thinking it would be replaced soon, I'd pass.

I recently passed on a 300g tank for under a dollar a gallon, because I Knew the scratches would always bug me.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

For $500 I would seriously consider it. Acrylic can be polished if it is so.

To the best of my knowledge, Red sea does not make acrylic tanks.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

To the best of my knowledge, Red sea does not make acrylic tanks.

Thanks! I would pass on a severely scratched glass tank then.

 

[Ozzy]

If you're going into the system buy already knowing you'll not be happy with the tank and thinking it would be replaced soon, I'd pass.

I recently passed on a 300g tank for under a dollar a gallon, because I Knew the scratches would always bug me.

Yeah, this was my thought a little as I am saving to go to around the same size, but overall cost would be about 4
$4500 for a new set up with everything lol. So this would technically get my feet wet temporarily, so the biggest concern would be the life expectancy on the equipment. Radions, fuge light, skimmer, etc. as those are worth the $500 if they have another 5 years of life left, but I don't know how I would feel about sitting on a scratched up tank for another 2 years or so. ‍, decisions

 

[Crustaceon]

Pass

 

[DE FISH]

$500 for it all, just have to pick up.

Wow that is cheap got me thinking there must be some underlying issues if you were to sell components/live stock separately you’d probably make more than that

 

[ChuckTownReefer]

To be honest you would be upgrading all the main equipment within months. G2 radions are very very old , skimmer is under sized and very old, T5 hybrid fixture is just ugly to look at, sump is as basic as you can get. I would do it right the first time and build your own new setup. Oh and the tank isn't worth anything if scratched up.
Innovative marine has a 40% off sale right now.

 

[BreezyMM]

If you currently have nothing, it might be worth purchasing. Even if you throw the tank away the livestock along is probably worth $500. Also lights are crazy expensive right now.

 

[Uncle99]

It’s $500 versus $4500.
Crap, if that thing is running 5 years, reasonable risk.

Very tempted.

Is that a yellow tang? $300
Seasoned rock….? $100
Some corals…? $200

Ditch the sand and replace, clean her up, you save a ton.

 

[SPS2020]

Pass...too much trouble to be dissatisfied and your wife will not be happy either.

As above, look for the IM 40% off sales; they have had quite a few lately.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Yeah, this was my thought a little as I am saving to go to around the same size, but overall cost would be about 4
$4500 for a new set up with everything lol. So this would technically get my feet wet temporarily, so the biggest concern would be the life expectancy on the equipment. Radions, fuge light, skimmer, etc. as those are worth the $500 if they have another 5 years of life left, but I don't know how I would feel about sitting on a scratched up tank for another 2 years or so. ‍, decisions

My fear for you and I believe a justified one is that you buy this and get it set up and you hate the scratches. That's fine. You already knew you didn't like the scratches.

Then the skimmer pump goes out, You replace it. Start getting cyano on the sand bed, Chase that around forever. Well, it's cuz the radians have lost part of their light spectrum. Now you're replacing those.

Main pump.. vanes are pretty thin after 5 years of use.

Who knows how many hours a day the refugium light was on, causing the same issue replace that...

Now you are replacing parts of a system just to keep it running, with a glass box you still don't like because it's scratched.

 

[Dcloser12]

Buy it. Worst case is you have to replace a piece of equipment. Sump light is 80$, tank lights are a cool 130 if you switch out to smatfarm g5s. A running setup is worth 500$. The main issue is an rodi system otherwise your gonna be buying a ton of water. Don't let these people sway you. Most of that equipment except the Leds will go 8 years. I'd buy it. It costs almost 5k to dive into this hobby fresh.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Don't let these people sway you.

Keep in mind, some of these people have bought full running systems and seen how expensive a good deal, can become, very quickly.

It's not a terrible idea, just need to know what can be a very fast reality.

 

[jpark457]

I’d vote buy- if you are going to use this as a starter tank. It’s insane to blow thousands not knowing for sure if you will still want to do this in a year or two. Buy and make sure you promise yourself not to mess w upgrading equipment for 1 year once you know what’s what. The tang alone you couldn’t buy for $100

edit: this is what I did getting started