200 gal Opportunity

[ovrmyhdagn]

I have the opportunity to purchase a 200 gallon RR Oceanic aquarium and stand. In addition, the oceanic trickle filter (black smoked glass), hoses etc., 3 metal halide lights (reflectors and sockets, no housing), and 500 lbs (way to much) caribsea sand from toys r us (purchased 2 years ago.) The aquarium has no scratches that I couls see after careful examination, but hasn't been filled for 2 years. He bought the tank and had to empty it initially, so it held water before he got it. He is asking $700, is that a fair price?
My questions are:
1. Are the seals a problem as far as leaking?
2. In your opinion what equipment (not LR or LS) besides the following will I need to get the tank up and running?
protein skimmer (what brand do you prefer)
heater (eheim 250 watt? What other one would you suggest)
power heads?
return pumps (what would you suggest?) he has a 1/4 hp pump
3. Will the trickle filter included be sufficient?
In addition, I currently have a 75 gallon tank, can I convert it to a sump/refugium? Would it be better than the trickle filter?
Anything else that I should be thinking about?

 

[birdy]

no way to know if the tank will leak unless you fill it with water and check it, but more than likely it is fine. check the seals closely and look for any problem areas.
You could use the trickle filter it comes with, but if you want to use it as a reef tank I would think you would be much happier using your 75 as a sump/fuge combo.
For a return pump, if you need to run something internal than a Mag 12 or 18. If you can drill a hole for an external pump than a blueline or similar that does around 1000 gph would be nice.
Protein skimmer, something like a ASM G3 would work nicely.
Heater- titanium, with temp controller.
Powerheads-depends on reef/FOWLR, if it is a FOWLR, then a couple large SEIO pumps (like 1500's) if you are going reef, you might consider having it drilled for a closed loop and using an oceansmotions.
I would ditch all the old sand and start new if is used sand.

 

[ovrmyhdagn]

Thanks for the quick response. The sand is still in the bags unopened. The seals looked very good when I inspected them.

 

[tim_12]

Originally Posted by Birdy
Heater- titanium, with temp controller.
At least 400W for your heater.

 

[ovrmyhdagn]

any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[birdy]

what else do you need to know?
$700 sounds like a good price to me for all that stuff.

 

[oreo12]

I wouldn't go more than 200 for it it is used and not new right

 

[merredeth]

Originally Posted by Birdy
what else do you need to know?
$700 sounds like a good price to me for all that stuff.
Around here, he could get it for $700.00 and it would be considered a steal!
Denise M.

 

[fraggle_a]

Sounds like a steal. However.
Salt is cheap as dirt. The lights you can aquire for about $200.
So lets look at it this way. Say $250 for the lighting.
That means the tank alone would be $450
Then you have to sink some seriouse cash into rock, sand, filtering and so on.
Usualy, the tank is initialy the cheaper part of the setup. Add the rock, sand, filter and so on together and it costs more than the tank.

 

[ovrmyhdagn]

I agree about the cost of saltwater aquariums as a hobby. I intend to use my 75 gallon salt until I get the stand refinished and the tank cleaned and amass the 200-300 lbs of LR and find the correct type of sand to use. The type of sand he had turned out to be silica.
Not to mention the tank needs to be cleaned, it was stored covered in a room he was remodeling. I figured I would be ready in May or June to add LR and sand, then the fish after it cycles.

 

[scotts]

Not sure if this will help you, but I kind of did the same thing. Moved from a 60 gallon to a used 125 and used the 60 as a sump. https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/172389/how-i-moved-my-tank
Scott

 

[agent707]

When all said and done, you'll easily have $2000-$3000 in it. And that is a very KIND figure.

 

[ovrmyhdagn]

I had to stop going to the LFS because it always cost me $200 a trip. Needless to say he was happy that I was considering getting a 200 gallon aquarium, and I swear he almost passed out when I mentioned I was thinking of going corals.

 

[fishy7]

Originally Posted by Agent707
When all said and done, you'll easily have $2000-$3000 in it. And that is a very KIND figure.
Well said.
I have a 215 and here is some of the equipment that I bought and some prices. BE PREPARED with this size tank to spend some cash!

Main pump: Reeflo sequence pump.
Heater: Won brothers pro 350W
Skimmer: Aqua C EV240/iwaki pump
LR: 280 lbs
LS: 200lbs
Lighting: Coralife Aqualigt pro 72"
Setup and Install
Stand
Over $7k at the moment :scared:
I went with some of the better equipment. Just want to share!
Good luck