Would you buy this tank?

[jpc763]

I looked at a tank today off of Craigs List. It is currently set up and holds water nicely.
It is a 125g or 150g all glass that is drilled in the bottom. It has 2 rows of holes. One in the front third and one in the back third. There are 2 or 3 holes per row. They look to be 3/4 inch plumming. The tank comes with a stand and canopy that are in reasonable shape. There is various other stuff included that I would most likely chuck. The cost is $350.
What I want to do is upgrade my 55g reef to a larger reef. I would set this thing up and then after cycle transfer livestock and such over.
My concern is the plumbing. There are no overflows, either built in or off the back and I am not sure how to adapt this to fit. I talked to the LFS and he said it could be done, but he wouldn't do it.
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance. John

 

[jackri]

For 350 thats alot for something thats already modified.... in my honest opinion... I wouldn't do it as your paying 350 for a 125 tank... plus it doesn't sound like the holes are what you want.
If you wait and get what you want you'll be much happier in the long run -- unless its just a steal of a deal and this is a marginal deal.

 

[t316]

Siliconing in some overflow boxes is no big deal, but I am confused on all the holes. Why so many? And what is the "other stuff" that comes with it? If this is all, or if the other stuff is just a buch of crap, then I say no on this deal.

 

[wattsupdoc]

It's not a BAd deal, the bottom holes are likely for a closed loop. If it's set up and running you should be able to tell. If it were me, I'd do DIy baffles on the two end/back holes and use the center for a return. For a sump/fuge. Then use the three front holes for a CL. Or you could just do all 6 for closed loop, but you would need to do something for a sump/fuge if you were going to have one. There are several methods of doing this cleanly, A coast to coast comes to mind. For 350 with stand and canopy, if it's in good clean shape and never been COPPERED, I'd look at it. Check that the silicone is in good shape. Why would you chunk some of the goodies? Especially if it has an intact, properly designed CL?

 

[jpc763]

Its set up, but I would not say it is in "good shape". There is no live rock. There is gravel as the substrait. There is dead rock and only 1 powerhead. The current owner got it as payment for a bad debt and did not know how to take care of it. The lights look like VHO, but I could not spend a lot of time on it. There is a canister filter as the filtration.
In general, I would keep the tank and the stand (after refinishing the stand) and sell/give away the rest (dead rock, filter, etc).
Another problem is the drilled holes. The LFS guy told me that he thought the holes would be too small at 3/4 inch.
After more thinking, I think I will pass. This is supposed to be my dream tank and I want it the way I want it. This is not the way I want it.