Hey after reading all the tank fairy posts I started thinking "well I want a bigger tank too!". When I bought the 29 gallon I was mistakenly told I could easily have 6 goldfish in there. (A few people said 12). I'm obviously new to the board, but I've had goldfish for about 2 years. Just been taking care of them according to pet store rules and not koko's rules! lol I would love a bigger tank. And I've got the room, and as for money. Well if it's fairly cheap it's called american express LOL Nah I could manage the cash Anyway I found this on craig's list. It's still available. I just got an email from the seller, and it's probably about 20-30 minutes from my house. I would obviously still use the 29 gallon. I love it. What do you guys think? Good deal or no? Seems like one to me, and I love the pink and black! I asked what kinds of filters, with no answer. But I would probably get my own filters anyway. I love the penguin filters I have for the other tank. I asked if it had any leaks and he said "no leaks, never has had any but there is a very small chip in the corner of the glass that they had fixed just to be safe. Thought that was honest but do you think that would pose a problem? I also saw a 125 gallon for for $150 but that was posted about a week ago and did not get any reponse. With my high nitrates in the tap and my love for orandas, I think having a bigger tank is a must HAHA Let me know asap cause I'm about to get in my car!

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/hsh/720394777.html

whenever im looking at used tanks, i try to stick with a $1 or $1.50 per gal that the tank will hold as my spending limit. so i would pay roughly $100 for a 100gal. but that is just my own guideline. if this sounds like a good deal to you, then so be it. if the chip is on the outside of the glass it shoudnt be a problem. does it come with equipment? thats another thing to look at since you will need them, filters, air pumps and the like. figure that into your budget as well.

i search craigslist in a couple different ways....i go to pets, type in fish tank. i look. i then type in aquarium. then look. then i go to the scroll down bar next to where it says pets, and select all for sale/wanted. it will list garage sales and everything. i have noticed people list tanks under furniture so you wont always see it in pets. hope this lil trick helps. i have really seen a huge boost in sales in my area for some reason. good luck on your decision.

I think it's a good deal. I just paid $100 for a 50 gallon with just stand (no canopy or accessories). Of course it depends on where you live, etc. I live in a smaller city so there aren't a whole lot of tanks around, but I think you'd get your money's worth with that tank.

Looks like a beautiful tank and plenty of accessories... If I were you, and if it's in your budget, definitely go for it!

--Roc

I would, of course, prefer a better deal... a 125 for $150 would be much better! Sometimes the right tank is on Craigslist-- like a 50gal for $50 -- and sometimes it's just not quite right. Because it's pretty pricy and it doesn't say what kind of equipment, I might hold off on that one.

ON THE OTHER HAND, it DOES come with a stand, which are freakishly expensive. AND like Chrissy said, if there usually are not a lot of used fish tanks available where you are, this might be the best deal you're gonna find.

I will send the Tank Fairy over to PA to help you decide-- no promises, though. She has horrible navigation.

Joy-the tank fairy got here FAST!!!! And not only did she find me a tank, she found me a awesome FISH STORE!!! Omg I am sooooo excited guys!! You have no idea... I wrote to the guy on craig's list and asked if I could stop by to see what he was talking about with the crack and just get a better idea of what everything looked like up close. Then I had to "ask" my boyfriend. He was half asleep but watching tv so I gave him the "baby I loooove you" and I got "what do you want?" and I said "remember how I was talking about getting a bigger fish tank". LOL. Well I showed him the pics and price and he said he would go with me!! : ) It was like 20 minutes from my house. We go to the area all the time just didn't realize it. We totally drove past the arby's we sometimes go to! (and got it on the way home-yum) We got to the house and it was a cool young couple that just didn't have the space for the tank anymore. The stand is (in my opinion) great condition. Better than it looks in the photos. They showed me the crack. It's on the outside, very small, they said they took it to get repaired and were told it was a superficial crack. It was sealed up with silicone? (is that right?) She has had fish in it for two years SINCE they had it repaired. They just moved in December and she didn't want to get rid of the tank but she just did not have any space for it. The filter while I do not know the brand just yet looks exactly like my penguin 350. She had some cute decorations, the gravel is hot pink with a bit of yellow which I really liked cause all my extra decorations are neon. There is a heater, extra carbon, hood & light!!!! Oh and a pump and a big ol air thing that I can't describe. It dqoes along like half of the bottom of the tank.. I'll explain better later but it's fun! She said "sorry it's all so dirty". It was HARDLY dirty.

Soooooo I GOT IT!!! YAY! THEN she showed me the tank she has set up now. You guys would flip-- in a bad way. It was super clean and very cute.... But it looked about 10 gallons. Tops 20. And she had.... dun dun dun.... 3-fancy goldfish MIXED with about 30 small tropicals!!!! Possibly 4 fancy goldfish. They were all small but I was like yikes!That's an awkward situation cause you don't wanna be going into someone's home and basically insult their knowledge so I tried to causually mention something about wanting the 60 gallon so I could have more fish and said how my 29 gallon was only big enough for 2 and she thought I was NUTS. I tried causually bringing up the "I didn't have ANY of the right info until I found this great website, but she wasn't interested. : ( I did my best considering the circumstances. She had a calico telescope with these freakin GORGEOUS flowing fins. I said "oh my god where did you get that fish" and she said "oh at the store 2 blocks away".. Apparently even though I have searched online for pet stores, and aquarium stores, and everything I could think to type in the philly area there was this incredible store just sitting there! Waiting for me! Captain Nemo's aquarium supercenter!!! So Shane took me and we walked in and I was just like OMG! They have this HUGE fish showroom with the tanks all lit up from behind with kinda the black light effect. IN the middle of the fish room is a huge circular show tank with 3 ft long sharks!!! It says it's 5000 gallons! They had all these supplies that I could only find online before. (For example I had to order my Gh & KH test kit online. They had em! And you GUYS! The fish!! AHHHH! They, first of all, were cheap. For Angel I paid $9.99. They had black moore's TWICE her size for half the price, and they looked AWESOME! They had extra large fantails for $4.99. Most of their fish were at least 3-4 inches. And they had bigger. I found the calico telescopes. They were under $10. Shane said to me "See if you pick the same one I like". There were 20 of em. We picked the same one! He actually said "this guy's cute!". He's starting to like them a bit more! But upon closer inspection, that tank just was not for me. It was the only tank I saw with a dead fish in it, and some were bottom sitting so I kept looking. And found..... my new babies. I only got two. There were SOOO many I wanted but being that right now I only have the 29 gallon and the 10 gallon set up and cycled I knew my limit was 2. And I made myself stick to it! (It was HARD) I found this adorable big cute red oranda... I named her Miranda (red head sex and the city haha) She's about 3-4 inches long from tail to tip. She's got that "Sheldon' quality about her. She was $14.99. Then also in the same tank this other oranda kept following Miranda around. They looked like friends lol.. They did everything together at the same time. I couldn't seperate them! That would be cruel! So I got the Miranda's blonde friend Samantha! lol (Even shane on the way up to the counter said "We should name her..." and we both said Samantha at the same time.) Here's the question. What IS Samatha. She is an oranda for sure. That part I know. She's mostly white with a little red and a little black. Her wen is white. I know you guys say fish can change color so I was assuming she was just going to eventually turn all white. But the tank I got her from listed the following fish. Panda Oranda $9.99, Red Oranda $14.99 Calico Ryukin $24.95 and one other which has slipped my mind but it was NOT oranda. There were only 4 fish in the tank. And I was charged $24.95 for Samantha. She's NOT a ryukin. I didn't realize they charged me $24.95 until I got out of the store. Is she a panda? She seemed too white but I don't know enough about this! I am very curious. EVen more about WHAT she is than the price mix up even LOL I called the store, they said bring in a picture and my reciept and we can figure out if there was a problem. The guy kept saying "well if it's got blue in it it's a calico ryukin. And I kept saying "nope it's not a ryukin". Either way they are SOO SOOOO SOOO CUTE! I'm in love! I was giggling the whole way home! Oh I forgot! They even had calico lionheads! Big fat ones! LOL Here's the link to the website! http://www.nemosaquarium.com/

So joy - tank fairy strikes again, and this time she brought a whole aquarium store with her! MAN she's good! Pictures super super soon!!!! Possibly tomorrow. I promise Shane that since he helped me with the tank and all I'd have a nice drinking night with him LOL And as far as the 125 gallon goes. They never wrote back. And I can make room for the 60 much more easily. AND if I hadn't gone to this house I wouldn't have found my store. So overall, I think it was a REALLY GOOD DEAL! Thank you guys all for your input!! OH and yep-this was actually listed under furniture!

And finally. Thanks to whoever moved my post! I meant to put it in tanks, and when it came up in discussion I thought "ohhh nooo".

Okay. I get like 5 minutes to update! : ) I've got a few pics. I'll post more in the photo section but i just wanna post a couple here since this is where I wrote about them. Here they are! YAY!

Miranda is the all red one
Samantha is the mixed one and again.. what is she??

<a href="http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Cou...nt=Samantha.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Cou...ah/Samantha.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Cou...t=Samantha2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Cou...h/Samantha2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Cou...ent=Miranda.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Cou...vah/Miranda.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Cou...aAndMiranda.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Cou...aAndMiranda.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Cou...AndMiranda2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Cou...AndMiranda2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

congrats on the new tank! im glad that everything worked out for you, and that you found a new lfs. and those are some nice looking fish. hope you enjoy

Congratulations! The new fish are beautiful!
Kathy

Woohoo!! Time to get you all set up in PA and to get to Tink in AZ for her 125gal!

She is workin' overtime these days... you would not BELIEVE how much food she eats when she comes back.


AWESOME Sue. Simply AWESOME. Love the pics (and the show haha).

Samantha is an oranda IMO, she is just red and white. The black on the ends of her fins are most likely ammonia burns that will fade with good water quality, she isn't calico at all. Panda orandas are black and white, and a ryukin does not have a wen on its head. Ryukins are recognized by the humped back.

Very nice fish, congrats on the great finds and deals! Hope you can get that pricing error corrected!

Life likes to mess with me. I borrowed my mom's van to move the new tank and left it in there a few days while I cleared out a space for it. When I brought it in, and could actually see this tank in comparison to my old 29 gallon, they didn't look much different at all.. At their apartment it seemed huge. My boyfriend agrees. But seeing it next to mine, it seemed just a little bit bigger. I decided to fill it to be sure. The 29 gallon I have now holds about 24 gallons of water. I filled the new one to the brim with 31 gallons. So first of all, thats not a 60 gallon tank. Second it only holds about 7 gallons more than my old one. Now before I complain, I've got positive thoughts. The tank is a nice size, and the stand is beautiful in my opinion. I believe the stand I almost bought for my old tank was over $100 by itself. Turns out I didn't have to buy one though, I had a stand built for a china cabinet that worked perfect. So on one hand it's still a fairly good deal. The stand looks brand new. And the tank fits PERFECT in the space I have it. On the other hand, I wanted to upgrade so I could have more fish. Big difference in between 60 gallons and 30! I'm torn. I wrote back to the couple who sold it to me and told them my problem. I asked them if they would be willing to go down on the price, and if so maybe I could work something out. I may be stuck with it either way, and in that case it's not a terrible thing. (I do know where they live though! hahaha ever heard of stalking?! j/k) I'll say this. If I saw this tank just the way it is at a yard sale listed AS a 30 gallon, I would probably still have bought it. It's just getting the hopes up of a big number like 60 then having them put down. We'll see what they say. But again, remember. Without going to get this tank, I would have never found that wonderful fish store. And I would never have my oranda girls. : ) The tank does look really nice where I have it. Hmmmmm... I just don't know.

Oops and thank you Lady D! I wound up posting in another thread asking about what she was, and everyone in there agreed with you as well! The store gave me my $10 back with no problems.. But my boyfriends sister just ended up wanting some tropicals so i gave her the money. LOL. Either way it's nice to have a store that will work with you. I am gonna add this store to the list.. I love it.!

Okay additional info.. I figured out that the filter they gave me with the tank is a Whisper Power Filter. It says model 3B which based on what I am reading is the same as the Whisper Power Filter 60 which pumps 330. So perfect for the tank it comes with. Also included an elite 802 airpump with 2 outputs. The heater says Penn Plax Therma Flow, has a a temperature dial. Does't say the watts anywhere that I can see, but it's 12 inches. So according to their website that puts it at a 150 watt heater. It does have a light, just needs a bulb. The strange airpump thing will probably be no good for me, since i think I wanna do a bare bottom with just marbles or decorative stones. But she did have some marbles mixed in with the gravel. The more I look at everything, the more I think I did end up with a good deal, just not the tank size I was expecting.

Grrr. More bad news. I plugged in the heater. It did not work. I plugged in the filter. Seemed okay at first, then I noticed a large puddle forming!!! AHHH! It was leaking. I do not like the set up of this filter. The electric plug removes from the bottom of the filter and it was leaking from that spot. Bad bad!!! The pump works. Well it sounds like it works. I also just noticed that the seller signed on AOL and read my message, but signed off with no response. Am I gonna have to reconsider my stalking? LOL.. Okay. So best case, they didn't know, because the tank had been in storage a while. And he just wants to talk with his girlfriend before getting back to me. Worst case, they lied and I fell for it and now they will avoid me. I'm telling myself that buying a brand new 30 gallon and stand would put me well over $200. So it's still cheaper. And I could in no way afford that right now. And of course, finding that store was awesome. It saved me from having to try to order fish online, which cost insane amounts to ship.. And of course I got the cutest little orandas in the whole wide world. (or at least in my zip code lol) So maybe I didn't get the best deal, but at the same time. It really is a great size tank for the room it is going in...

I'm so sorry to hear that you're having all these problems with the new tank. Hopefully he just decided to talk things over with his girlfriend before getting back to you.

Caveat emptor.... Let The Buyer Beware. Buying new from dealers is not the same as buying from a private seller. It is implied that you buy as is. It is the duty of the buyer to do the research and understand what they're buying and accept any defects that may come with the purchase. Legally, the sellers have no obligation to work with you, so if they do, it will be out of their own good hearts. If they won't, you have no recourse and have to let it go. Ah, the world of goldy keeping is one loooonnnggg lesson of mistakes, but, (short of sending our babies to goldy heaven) is kind of the fun of it...

Did you ever hear anything back from him? When I bought my tank used and sent my husband to get it, I sent him with a measuring tape and told him what the dimensions should be. On the bright side, you did get some lovely new fish that you wouldn't have otherwise.

Nope-never did hear back from the guy. It's not the worst thing in the world. Lynda you are totally right. I should have made sure.. They may have known, or they may have not, but either way, I should have checked. It honestly looked so much bigger than my current tank - I am surprised. After reading your post I just found a tank volume calculator. lol (Something I should have done before hand maybe?) SO I tested it on my 29 gallon tank and using the formula is says 28. So close! Pretty accurate.. so I took the measurements of this one, and got 34 gallons. That would be about right considering it took about 31-32 to fill it. I'm disappointed that they did not write back, just because they seemed like really nice people. I told the girl "i'll take pictures and show you what I do with it" and she seemed so excited and said they were going to get something smaller with the money and would take pics for me too. Guess not LOL. However, I went out looking at stands yesterday. They are soooo expensive. To buy the same tank in stores I would have probably spent $250 including stand, so I spent half! It really looks cute where it is. And you're right 32flavors, it's really worth it just to get my fish. They are just awesome. Basically when I bought my first tank I wanted to have 5-6 goldfish. (Store said a 29 gallon was perfect for that.) So now between my 29 gallon, 34 gallon, and 10 gallon I could have 6 eventually. But I want to keep the 10 gallon just for QT and hospital. So I'm good. And if somewhere down the line the obsession continues to grow... We'll there's always upgrading : ) It'll be good to get into a routine with a smaller tank as well. Between those 3 tanks, the 2 betta tanks and my sister "in laws" tiny tropical tank, I'm a busy girl.. it's so fun though.

Wow, you are such a good sport. I would not have nearly as good an attitude as you do about this whole thing. If I were you, I would feel particularly violated because I had a nice conversation with the people that ripped me off. But I don't mean to stir this whole thing up again because it sounds like you have resolved it in your mind to your satisfaction.

I wanted to mention that I saw a piece of furniture at Wal*Mart the other day being sold as an entertainment center that would be perfect for a 55 or 75 gallon tank. It was great looking and had cabinets and drawers underneath. It was $180, but that's not bad for a tank stand that actually looks like furniture rather than something from a pet store. Next time I'm there I will get the details (as much for me as anyone else -- I have an empty 55 gallon in the garage waiting for a stand ).

Part of me really does feel that way! They seemed about the age of my boyfriend and I, and were very similar to us. Apartment was decorated with black contemporary stuff, we do black and silver contemporary. They had a ridiculousy huge cabinet filled with horror movies, so do we. And me and the girl just acted identical. They noticed that too and after I met them they emailed us and the guy wrote "(insert girls name I forget) REALLY likes you- she says you guys are exactly alike". We all got along so well it almost seemed like we were friends, so in that way it really DOES hurt my feelings. I am shocked that they wouldn't even RESPOND. And I really wonder, did they KNOW or were they in the dark too? It makes me really mad, but at the same time, being mad isn't going to add any gallons to the tank LOL SO I am just trying to tell myself the positive aspects. The plan was to keep Angel in the 29 gallon and get her a tank mate, then to put the orandas in the 34 gallon and get them one tankmate. I am starting to think that the oranda girls would go nicely in the 29 by themselves. They already have their little routine down. And I've read orandas can get bigger than other fish, so it would be nice for them to each have about 14 gallons. Then I could get Angel one or two tank mates eventually. Maybe a calico telescope if I find the right one.

Ya know I've seen some nice pieces of furniture there too!!! I actually have my 10 gallon set up on the floor right now, but I saw a cute little tv stand for $24 that says it holds up to 70 pounds. I gotta research how much gallons weights but if it works it would be perfect. It's funny how many aisles can become fish related LOL Candle aisle "oh that glass candle holder would work as a perfect decoartion". Fake flowers "ohh I could put that IN The glass candle holder"... My brain just thinks goldfish now LOL.

A gallon of water weighs just under 8 1/2 pounds, so unfortunately a 10 gallon tank would weigh more than 70 pounds.

Aww no. Good try though LOL. I'll find something else I'm sure. I'll have to remember that piece of info. Useful to have.

Aw! I've been away for a while so I just saw this! I'm sorry it turned out to be a disappointment... but I'm glad you're focusing on the positives. Especially because you got your baby girls because of it!

IMHO it's not a good idea to have a lot of expectations when dealing with Craigslist. Sometimes you get lucky, other times you get ripped off.

I hope all works out for you.