Tips on buying used livestock and equipment?

[vetteguy53081]

Hey, folks! Does anyone have any tips or opinions on what types of equipment and livestock to buy used through a local marine aquarium society vs. new through online/LFS? I see a lot of locals getting out of the hobby and selling just about everything. Live rock from an established tank looks particularly appetizing -- any concerns about adding rock from an unknown system to start your tank? (And how to mitigate those concerns, if they can be mitigated?) Thank you!

Facebook groups- craigslist and garage sales are the best sources for cheap equipment especially from those who are done with the hobby

 

[Boaz]

I’ll jump in with my take. Take it with a grain of salt, since I’ve only been back in the hobby for about 15 months. I’ve bought new and bought used twice. Buy local if possible. First tank was dry rock, cost a small fortune and took a year to get fully established.



For the second tank, I bought all the rock, coral and fish from someone leaving the hobby. His 50 gallon IM tank had a little algae. Most tanks will if the owner lost interest or had other life events interfere. Always view the tank in operation, so you know what you are buying. This purchase was about an hour and a half drive. Everything moved great and the live rock gave the tank immediate stability. There’s still the occasional outbreak, but it definitely jump started the stability and I estimate was ¼ the cost and ¼ the time of starting all new / dry rock. I got some excellent fish and coral in that purchase. I didn’t buy the tank or any equipment from him.



My 3rd tank was a major move. 5 hours away, 240 gallon, 400 pound Glass Cages beast. Included all equipment, live rock, fish and a few corals. I estimate I saved about $10,000 over buying new. It will become a stunning display tank, IMHO. With that said, it has been a much bigger battle. I moved the tank one weekend and the rock, fish and coral the next weekend. Something happened during the move and I lost some of the fish and the rock lost all its color and turned white. I removed about 100 dead bristle worms from the tank, so I really think almost everything on the rock died in the move. It took about 2 months to get the rock re-established. I’ve had a small amount of GHA. I battled an ugly phase and Cyano. About a month ago, I moved the live rock and fish from the first purchase into the 240 tank and somehow, within a month the tank stabilized and coralline is growing like mad. The biggest difference is my setup is bare bottom. The former owner had a sand bottom. Was this a factor? I don’t know for sure.


Ugly Stage June 23

Cyano Battle July 1

Coralline growing July 14

Rock from 1st purchase in new tank - July 19

Full tank shot July 19

I don’t know what it is about that rock from the first used purchase, but it seems to be very stabilizing. When I tied the first and second tanks into the same sump, the first tank really took off and my coral started growing faster and coralline covered all the rock. Could be anecdotal or other learnings or changes. I’ve also had great success buying used equipment.


In the end, I don’t think I would ever buy new again, except specialized equipment like heaters, as stated by others. Is buying used perfect? No way. However, I also feel like I need to be able to overcome issues for long term success. On the other hand, I would not buy something with inspecting it first, in operation. And I forgot to measure parameters before I moved the 240. I have no Idea what the nitrate / phosphate levels were. All the equipment that came with the 240 has worked flawlessly. You just need to be aware of the problems that come with it. You are buying someone else’s problems. The question is can you solve them?

 

[twentyleagues]

You can find some really good deals. The thing is you need to assess each purchase individually. If it's a complete break down hopefully you can get there before it's turned off. I got a great deal on a 300g acrylic set up years ago. The tank needed major refinishing but the 250lbs of rock and the fish that he had were in great shape. Corals were mostly softies which I didn't want. I paid around $500 for everything. Took what I didn't want to the lfs, got $300 in store credit. I still have the acrylic sump from that purchase.

I've gotten great stuff that way. Just be careful and look before you buy. I normally won't buy rock if I don't see corals of some sort even if they say they sold all the coral. You can tell if there was coral usually, unless they sold all the rock coral was attached to but again you can see where that rock used to be. No corals could mean copper was in the tank and that's rock you don't want of you are keeping a reef.

 

[Rozeen]

IMHO, getting your rock, livestock, etc from a known source is helpful. Getting live rock from a source like Tampa Bay Saltwater is a good option.

So to clarify, live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater (or similar) = good, and live rock from an unknown hobbyist's tank = bad? I've seen the analysis on Tampa Bay Saltwater's pests, which suggests that their rock actually has very few pests (other than things like mantis shrimp and gorilla crabs, which don't tend to reproduce and can be dealt with). If price isn't a factor and I have plenty of time to quarantine the rock to remove any non-reef safe critters, would that be almost as safe as starting with dry rock? Thanks!

 

[Peace River]

Yes, I would generally agree with that statement. Additionally, you are getting so much more beneficial bacteria from Tampa Bay Saltwater rock than you would be able to get from any bottled bacteria. It does come with some risk, but there is definitely an upside. Realizing that there is a trade-off with any live rock, for me, the risk of using unknown live rock is not worth it. However, the risk of using live rock from a well-established source is worth it for me.