pjlovesbaskets
Member
While I am all for a good deal... you will spend more time fixing things and trouble shooting if you go used. You also could risk a disease in the tank. Now I have done both. I have 4 tanks. One was a garage sale tank and it leaked about 3 months after set up. One was a craigslist find. It leaked 6 months after set up. MY other two were brand new (55 g and 125 g) I have purchased used and new equipment as well. A lot of the old equipment broke after 5 months or so of use and you do run the risk of not noticing it until too late especially like a heater that stops working or doesn't stop heating. I have always caught things just in time but it has never been at a good time. It always seems to be when I am going to bed that I notice the leak or the heater malfunction. The tanks are easy to fix with 100% success but it is time consuming to remove the fish and house them elsewhere for at least 48 hours while you make the repair. Once I realized right before bed that my heater wasn't working on a cold night in Feb. and didn't have a back up.
I recently got a quote for a conversion on my 55 g from FW to SW and everything to get started minus the tank and stand would be a little less than $500 new. That doesn't include any live stock or LR. So from my point of view, if you have the means to save up for new without to much stress on your finances I would suggest new. However, by all means go used if that is the only way you can get what you really want. You need to go slow in the hobby so the expense helps me to keep at a reasonable pace.
I sell household stuff I don't want in garage sales, ---- and craigslist and use that money to pay for the new stuff I need. I am currently saving up for lighting upgrade for my 125g. It is kind of like cash in the attic for me. Also my LFS has a 6 month layaway at no charge so I always take advantage of that for large purchases like my 125g and 55g.
I recently got a quote for a conversion on my 55 g from FW to SW and everything to get started minus the tank and stand would be a little less than $500 new. That doesn't include any live stock or LR. So from my point of view, if you have the means to save up for new without to much stress on your finances I would suggest new. However, by all means go used if that is the only way you can get what you really want. You need to go slow in the hobby so the expense helps me to keep at a reasonable pace.
I sell household stuff I don't want in garage sales, ---- and craigslist and use that money to pay for the new stuff I need. I am currently saving up for lighting upgrade for my 125g. It is kind of like cash in the attic for me. Also my LFS has a 6 month layaway at no charge so I always take advantage of that for large purchases like my 125g and 55g.