Hello there!!
I am new to this website, and I am here to get some help. I have a rather large, 95 gallon, 1/4 cylinder fish tank that I can no longer keep. I inherited the tank from a neighbor, so I have no idea what it is worth. I tried going to a few local aquarium supply places to get some help, but most places suggested searching the internet. The tank comes complete with a stand, light, filter and I also have 4 African Cichlids that will go with it. If anybody could help me in maybe a direction to start looking, I would really appreciate it. I don't want to put this on Craigslist for not enough money and have somebody who can't take care of the fish take it, but I can't keep it. I'm located in Sacramento, Ca.
Thanks for any help,
Kelly
My Tank Is Worth What????
3 posts
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Okiimiru - Posts: 275
- Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm
Do you know about aquabid.com? You can auction off your fish there.
Shipping fish is really easy. It's summer right now so you don't have to use a heating pack. Do you have Kordon breathing bags? If not, you can put the fish in a normal pet store fish bag, 1/3 or 1/4 full of water, then put a second bag around the first to protect against the bag popping. I use USPS Priority speed shipping; you can pick up the box from the USPS office and take it home and put the fish in it and come back and ship them. I also buy a seventy cent tracking number when I ship. This one time the person said they never received the fish, so I had to reimburse them, so ever since then I've bought a tracking number so that both the person receiving the fish and myself will be able to see its progress as it travels. Don't feed your fish for a day or two before they get shipped so they don't foul their water inside their box. USPS also has a policy that the box they get shipped in has enough absorbent material to absorb the water should it spill, so you should pad the box with toilet paper or paper towels.
Regarding how much your tank is worth, well, I only know the prices for Cleveland, Ohio. But in Cleveland, a 95 gallon tank would be worth anything from 100 to 300 dollars. I myself bought my 55 gallon tank for 25 dollars, with most 55 gallon tanks going for anything from that all the way up to 200 dollars. The way to get the most money out of your tank is to sell the fish, drain it, and post it on craigslist as being a complete tank; stand, lights, filter, gravel, decorations, everything included. The person buying your tank isn't likely to want to put the same fish species you had in it, but they are going to want it to come with a stand, lights, and filter.
Visit your local pet shops and see what buying a 95 gallon tank new would cost. That will give you a better idea of what the fish tank market in your area is like. You won't get as much as a 95 gallon tank costs new, but you shouldn't have to sell it for less than half of that unless it's a situation where the fish tank needs to be gone immediately. If you can afford to keep it in the spot it is now for a few weeks dry, then you can wait and get the maximum offer for it.
Tip: Hook your filter up to like a bucket or something and keep feeding that water fish flakes as if you still had fish. This will keep the beneficial bacteria alive and you can charge more by calling the tank "already cycled" and saying you have a "live filter". It will save the person who buys the fish tank up to a month by keeping the nitrogen cycle intact.
Shipping fish is really easy. It's summer right now so you don't have to use a heating pack. Do you have Kordon breathing bags? If not, you can put the fish in a normal pet store fish bag, 1/3 or 1/4 full of water, then put a second bag around the first to protect against the bag popping. I use USPS Priority speed shipping; you can pick up the box from the USPS office and take it home and put the fish in it and come back and ship them. I also buy a seventy cent tracking number when I ship. This one time the person said they never received the fish, so I had to reimburse them, so ever since then I've bought a tracking number so that both the person receiving the fish and myself will be able to see its progress as it travels. Don't feed your fish for a day or two before they get shipped so they don't foul their water inside their box. USPS also has a policy that the box they get shipped in has enough absorbent material to absorb the water should it spill, so you should pad the box with toilet paper or paper towels.
Regarding how much your tank is worth, well, I only know the prices for Cleveland, Ohio. But in Cleveland, a 95 gallon tank would be worth anything from 100 to 300 dollars. I myself bought my 55 gallon tank for 25 dollars, with most 55 gallon tanks going for anything from that all the way up to 200 dollars. The way to get the most money out of your tank is to sell the fish, drain it, and post it on craigslist as being a complete tank; stand, lights, filter, gravel, decorations, everything included. The person buying your tank isn't likely to want to put the same fish species you had in it, but they are going to want it to come with a stand, lights, and filter.
Visit your local pet shops and see what buying a 95 gallon tank new would cost. That will give you a better idea of what the fish tank market in your area is like. You won't get as much as a 95 gallon tank costs new, but you shouldn't have to sell it for less than half of that unless it's a situation where the fish tank needs to be gone immediately. If you can afford to keep it in the spot it is now for a few weeks dry, then you can wait and get the maximum offer for it.
Tip: Hook your filter up to like a bucket or something and keep feeding that water fish flakes as if you still had fish. This will keep the beneficial bacteria alive and you can charge more by calling the tank "already cycled" and saying you have a "live filter". It will save the person who buys the fish tank up to a month by keeping the nitrogen cycle intact.