I recently acquired a 135g tank and now need to sell my 55g set up. A guy at dh's work needs a 55g set up and has offered to trade a 135g stand and wet/dry filter with powerhead for my 55g set up.

Since the guy is at work, he can't really answer any specifics about the filter other than it shook $400 out of his pocket when he bought it a few years ago.

I do need a stand, and one never turns down a good filter so I'm thinking this might be a fair trade? Whadda ya' think?

Lisa

Hard to say.. I would say take a look around and see what they are selling your setup new for.. then find a comparable stand/filter and look how much they go for new.. if its about the same and you want to get rid of the 55gallon anyways, its a good deal =)

Value-wise, I'm pretty sure I'd be getting the better end of the stick. Problem is, do I really NEED the stand and filter or would it better to sell the setup and use the money for other stuff?

Since DH still wants to build a custom stand, this stand would be temporary. I have 4 AC110s, so I'm pretty set on filtration, but I don't know much about wet/dry filters. Are they better than HOBs?

This is the one he has: Wet/Dry filter

I don't yet know which pump he has or if he has the skimmer. DH is going to find out.

Ugh. I hate having to make decisions like this. Dollar for dollar, a trade for the filter alone would be more than equal (I have less than $200 in my setup. Got lucky on the tank due to a pricing error at Wally World). I guess I just need to know if the wet/dry filter will blow my HOBs 'out of the water'?

Lisa

Wet/Dry filters are suppose to provide far greater biological filtration than just regular hang on the back filters. Although I have no real proof or strict measurement, my tanks with a poor-man's wet/dry filter (hang on the back with a bio wheel providing the wet/dry part) it seems to make a decent impact. Its also easier to clean without messing up your biological filtration when you need to wash the sponge or whatever is your mechanical filtration.

Hmmm... I would see how much the items are worth as suggested by mkinga, but I am pretty sure it would be a good deal for you. You could always try to sell the stand you get when your custom one is made for you, and having a wet/dry filter would be a wonderful learning experience.