180-210 Gallon fishtank stand

[GodsinisteR]

what do you guys/girls think of this? I can also get a acrylic 180 gal for 400.00.
I think its a great deal. May offer him 100.00 for the stand.

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/for/420791397.html

[emc7]

I wouldn't want to move it. Yikes. But the sump/overflow system looks cool if everything works. Much faster to buy than DIY.

[GodsinisteR]

lol yeah.. it will be in my basement so the weight of everything is on a carpet over cement. I will try and pick it up in the am. just wondering how much substrate i will need to cover the bottom. chances are i will go plant tank with discus.

[jones57742]

GS:

Originally Posted by GodsinisteR

what do you guys/girls think of this? I can also get a acrylic 180 gal for 400.00.
I think its a great deal. May offer him 100.00 for the stand.

From viewing the photographs it appears that the tank has water in it.
If it does not then the only "fly in the ointment" here, at least that I can see, is a leaking and/or cracked acrylic tank.
I would have him fill the tank but before doing so would inspect the tank closely for any evidence of repairs. If the tank leaks or has evidence of repairs then "I would not do this one"

BUT otherwise

If the equipment comes with the tank then this is a "h...l of a deal".

The stand obviously needs some work to be presentable but the cost of this improvement "is nothing" compared to the price which you would be paying.

I do not "want to get too deep into your business" but if this opportunity was in West Texas I would
1) Take 5-$100 bills with you;
2) offer him $400 for the tank, stand and equipment & he helps you load them;
3) If he balks say "Partner: all I have in my bill fold is $500: will you take this for the tank, stand and equipment & he helps you load them.

Where you "go from there will depend on your desire for the purchase and his responses to 2) (hopefully) or 3) above.

Originally Posted by GodsinisteR

lol yeah.. it will be in my basement so the weight of everything is on a carpet over cement.

I presume that you have "mapped out" how you will accomplish WC's from your basement.

Originally Posted by GodsinisteR

just wondering how much substrate i will need to cover the bottom. chances are i will go plant tank with discus.

Please take the following with "a 'big' grain of salt" as I have "el zippo" hands on experience with discus.

For substrate:
1" of 1/4" or 3/8" inch of uniformly graded gravel;
overlaid by 2" of laterite;
overlaid by another 1" of 1/4" or 3/8" of uniformly graded, subrounded gravel.


Two additional items:
1) If "this was my project" I would determine the color of the gravel courses based up the aesthetics associated with the plants and the "colors" of the discus which I would be procuring.
2) The laterite can be "at least partially hidden" along the perimeter of the tank by "mounding up the gravel" along the perimeter as you are adding the laterite (I was not "smart enough" to do this when I reset up my tank several months after a LFS "had set it up") but I have seen tanks where this method has been successful.

TR