New tank plan -> feedback and advice appreciated!!

[WhistlingBadger]

With the stand, look inside and out. Make sure it looks solid and well built. If there is any sign of rot or water damage, I'd decline.

For the tank, make sure the silicon seals around all the inside joints looks solid, flexible, and fully adhered to the glass. Again, if the silicone isn't in good shape, I advise declining. It can be very hard to tell if the tank still has fish and substrate in it. If that's the case, check around the outside corners for moisture, and triple check the stand for any water damage.

I would be a little worried about "the tank sits crooked," too. Even if it really is because of a level floor, sitting a little crooked could damage the tank or stand. If it were me, and if I were paying very much money for it, I would probably ask for a money-back guarantee in writing. I don't like asking people for things like that because I don't want to come across as petty or mean, but a 125 tank can be a big investment.

Then I would set it in a relatively safe place, fill it up first thing in the morning, and keep an eye on it all day.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

With the stand, look inside and out. Make sure it looks solid and well built. If there is any sign of rot or water damage, I'd decline.

For the tank, make sure the silicon seals around all the inside joints looks solid, flexible, and fully adhered to the glass. Again, if the silicone isn't in good shape, I advise declining. It can be very hard to tell if the tank still has fish and substrate in it. If that's the case, check around the outside corners for moisture, and triple check the stand for any water damage.

I would be a little worried about "the tank sits crooked," too. Even if it really is because of a level floor, sitting a little crooked could damage the tank or stand. If it were me, and if I were paying very much money for it, I would probably ask for a money-back guarantee in writing. I don't like asking people for things like that because I don't want to come across as petty or mean, but a 125 tank can be a big investment.

Then I would set it in a relatively safe place, fill it up first thing in the morning, and keep an eye on it all day.

Would a 125 also need a bracing support across the top middle, to help prevent walls bowing? Have seen large tanks listed with those missing, which I'd avoid.

You can re-seal an old tank, but I'd also be concerned if it's been sitting for years on a surface that isn't level, in case you move it to your place, set it up so it's level, and the panes shift in older, inflexible sealant, and it springs a leak. Especially if you're also taking the fish and need to set it up at your place right away, and can't do a leak test outdoors (I always sit a second hand tank outside, clean and examine it, fill it and make sure it hasn't leaked over 24 hours before trying it indoors), nor re-seal the tank if it needs it.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Yes, any tank larger than a 40 gallon should have a brace across the top. I bought a 55 gallon with the brace missing, and it bowed out to a scary degree. I made a wooden brace to go across the top that worked for a while, but the tank still sprung a pinhole leak on the bottom seam. I got rid of it.

 

[mcordelia]

Thanks @WhistlingBadger and @AdoraBelle Dearheart ! Yeah the crooked thing really concerns me, I guess I will have to see how crooked it actually is in person. I wonder if there is an "acceptable" amount of unlevelness vs. a "walk away" amount. From the picture the seller sent me, it looks like maybe an inch over the whole length, but impossible to say from the picture:

 

[mcordelia]

I did not make it out to see the tank this weekend (sick kid situation, he's fine just a cold but no need to be spreading germs during these times), so I will keep you guys updated on when I make it out to take a look. In the meantime, I was trying to make some sense of the water report myself so that I could have come kind of meaningful discussion with you guys about my (perceived) water parameters and suitable fish.
A website I found (https://aquariumbreeder.com/water-parameters-everything-about-gh-in-shrimp-tank/) broke it down that GH=KH+non-carbonate hardness (NCH), which I believe are values that can be found on the water report.

If I am interpreting it correctly, the report has KH = 130ppm range:96 – 170ppm and NCH = 70ppm range:32 – 122ppm. Thus, my GH would be 200ppm range: 128-292ppm or, 11.7gpg (I see both units used, not sure which one is preferred).

Based on the chart on the website, my water would qualify as "hard".

So based on doing some research on this, it seems to me that all the fish on my original list with the exception of parrots are out immediately. This seems odd to me because I saw a lot of tetras at the LFS (which seems pro-fish health), and they even recommended some as a beginner level fish to me. I'm trying to understand that a bit better, since hardness was almost never a discussion point in my previous fishkeeping life, though people did seem to pay attention to fish requiring pH extremes or brackish water. I've also seen some comments on the internet along the lines of "as long as you acclimate the fish slowly when they arrive they will be fine". So I don't really know what to make of the hardness conversation.

 

[HoldenOn]

I did not make it out to see the tank this weekend (sick kid situation, he's fine just a cold but no need to be spreading germs during these times), so I will keep you guys updated on when I make it out to take a look. In the meantime, I was trying to make some sense of the water report myself so that I could have come kind of meaningful discussion with you guys about my (perceived) water parameters and suitable fish.
A website I found (https://aquariumbreeder.com/water-parameters-everything-about-gh-in-shrimp-tank/) broke it down that GH=KH+non-carbonate hardness (NCH), which I believe are values that can be found on the water report.

If I am interpreting it correctly, the report has KH = 130ppm range:96 – 170ppm and NCH = 70ppm range:32 – 122ppm. Thus, my GH would be 200ppm range: 128-292ppm or, 11.7gpg (I see both units used, not sure which one is preferred).

Based on the chart on the website, my water would qualify as "hard".

So based on doing some research on this, it seems to me that all the fish on my original list with the exception of parrots are out immediately. This seems odd to me because I saw a lot of tetras at the LFS (which seems pro-fish health), and they even recommended some as a beginner level fish to me. I'm trying to understand that a bit better, since hardness was almost never a discussion point in my previous fishkeeping life, though people did seem to pay attention to fish requiring pH extremes or brackish water. I've also seen some comments on the internet along the lines of "as long as you acclimate the fish slowly when they arrive they will be fine". So I don't really know what to make of the hardness conversation.

Yea, hardness is a fickle beast. Its not like it kills your fish instantly, it just degrades their health. Hard water makes minerals build up in the organs of the fish, slowly but surely killing them. Soft water is more acidic, meaning it will cause skin, gill, and eye problems. Hardness is also something that isn't brought up a lot in fish stores. Sure they may care about the fish, but if they only sold fish perfect for the water, their stock and diversity of fish would be cut down immensely, which isn't a great business plan.

Acclimation is also a fickle beast. It takes more than a week for fish to truly acclimate to new water conditions, so it's better off floating them till their bag temp matches the tank temp, netting them, and then putting them in. To be honest your water isn't even that hard. Some guy has like 400 ppm .

 

[ClownLurch]

As @HoldenOn mentions above a lfs that only sold fish suitable to local tap water would lose trade to the one across the street that didn’t. Something like 60% of the fish in my local pets at home shop aren’t suited to my water and I live approx 7 minutes walk away.
In a 125g tank you can have some impressive fish. As mentioned above I’d start looking at rainbowfish first.
Maybe Odessas! A mob of Odessas! Corys! A carpet of Corys! Awwwh man you don’t know how lucky you are.

 

[HoldenOn]

Or you could get 1 oscar. worth it

 

[ClownLurch]

To be honest your water isn't even that hard. Some guy has like 400 ppm .

Yeah. A guy over here up in Lincoln for starters and one between my hometown and @essjay. He’s about five miles from my parents which is worrying because i was hoping to have soft water fish if I ever move back there. The 340ppm I’ve got here is bad enough.

200ish ppm isn’t so bad.

 

[ClownLurch]

Or you could get 1 oscar. worth it

Not a fan. I don’t want anything in the house that looks weirder than i do.

 

[HoldenOn]

Not a fan. I don’t want anything in the house that looks weirder than i do.

im sad oscar cute

 

[itiwhetu]

I would always reseal a large tank. Sit it on 2" high density polystyrene, that will take out the un evenness. Even on the lightest loaded tank weekly water changes are recommended, a lot happens in a month. The more plant the better. A great project, enjoy

 

[mcordelia]

Thanks! and thanks to everyone above for their feedback!
Because of work stuff, it looks like Friday might be the earliest I will get out to go see the tank (thank goodness the seller is not in a hurry!!!), and of course in the meantime I've come up with 8 million different plans on what to do with it . My most recent plan involves keeping the currently inhabiting oscar, blood parrot, severum (I think) and yellow colored cichlid (the owner doesn't know what it is either), and adding a school of silver dollars. The silver dollars really aren't suited for the pH that comes out of my tap, but they apparently do well with relatively hard water. On the other hand, I really want to try my hand at a planted tank, and the oscar is probably going to make short work of that aspiration, so I don't really know. I would also feel like a bad person just taking the oscar to the fish store along the lines of "here, I bought him but I don't want him after all", because I feel like that's the sad story for way too many oscars. I am also a bit concerned that adding silver dollars with the above list of fish would make it overstocked? In addition to the cichlids, there are currently 4 catfish and 2 plecos in there that the seller has agreed to rehome if the sale goes through (since they kind of give me the heebie jeebies....)

@itiwhetu I know that you're supposed to reseal a tank when you buy it, but I don't think I have the capability to do that with a 125... It's not ideal, and I know I'm taking a risk, but I rationalize it to myself with the justification that the room the tank would be in is on a concrete slab with old carpet on it, which if I am lucky can be dried, and if I am unlucky can be replaced for less than $1000, so I am theoretically OK playing the odds. If ALL 125 gallons whooshes out of the tank, I'll have to replace the wall trim too, which is kind of dated as well (we've been doing updates on the house on and off since we bought it). The water would take the route of least resistance down the forced air heating ducts into the unfinished basement (the ducts have enough joins that it would leak out before it made it to the furnace), which has a drain in the floor. So in that sense, it's kind of an ideal room to put an aquarium into haha. Of course, I obviously don't want the tank to leak because as far as I am concerned the entire point of an aquarium is to keep the fish wet and alive, but if the worst case were to happen...

Thanks to all of you for your awesome fish suggestions! @ClownLurch I looked up the odessa barbs and they are beautiful! They seem to require a lower pH though?

 

[mcordelia]

I FINALLY have an update for you guys!! So we were able to get to see the tank on Sunday, unfortunately it was a no-go. Huge thank you to all of you who gave tips on how to inspect an old tank+stand, I found mineral deposits on one side of the tank (the "heavier" side where there was more water due to the unlevel floor), and I actually found active seepage on that end of the tank as well. I was able to point it out to the seller, she had never looked under the tank so she didn't know she had a slow leak; at least I was able to give her a heads-up about that.
On the plus side, I have increased motivation to find a nice, big tank, since my son was absolutely transfixed by the fish. The tank was pretty much at eye level for him, and my husband said that he was afraid he was going to lose some fingers over how tight my son was holding his hand when we first went to look at the tank/fish. So that was pretty cool!!!
Budget is obviously a concern now that I have my heart set on a 125-ish gallon, so I think it's going to be a patience/waiting game to see until something becomes available. It's like buying a house all over again (kind of lol).
Oh, another positive: I was commenting to the seller on how much I liked her aquascape and her driftwood, and she was like "oh I have a few left over that I ended up not using in the tank, here you go!" and gave me a couple of giant pieces of driftwood to take home for free. They're sitting out on my driveway now, I'll post pictures if I remember to take some. I have to look a little bit more into them since she had collected them from a lakeshore near where she lives, but her fish seemed to be doing fine with the other pieces that were in her tank and she said that one of them had been in the tank for a bit until she decided against it, so overall there's a chance that they will work out
In the meantime until I can find a reasonably priced setup, I will keep living vicariously through all of you, and doing my research

 

[Wills]

That sounds like a nice save! In terms of finding big tanks in my experience when I have a tank to sell I cant give it away but when I want one they are more expensive than new... it really is just a waiting game. The longer it takes though the more you can save up and it might get to the point where you save a decent amount for something new?

Wills