Equipment Review and Discussion :: Where to buy large aquariums?

[javablog]

Hey. I've finally raised enough money to upgrade my 3" RES' tank. Bubble is moving from a cramped 10 gallon tank to a brand new 90 gallon tank. There's only one problem... I was going to order the tank from Petco.com but then I realized that shipping and handling is $300! I tried various coupon codes but apparently there are none that can apply to aquariums.

I've checked both petco and petsmart and neither have 90 gallon aquariums in store and I really don't want to settle for a 75gal.

So my question to you is where did you buy your larger aquarium?

I live in Houston, TX and am having a hard time locating one.

[Chrisbarnett]

Check out www.Craigslist.org, and www.kijiji.com

[javablog]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been watching craiglist for about a month now, most listings in my area are for aquariums with fish already in them. I'll have to check out kijiji, I've never heard of them before.

[Raphulk]

90 gallons is a large size, I've discovered that family owned petstores usually take orders for custom sizes

you might want to stop by some family owned pet stores if you can

one time I found a brand new 60 gallon for 70 dollars

[Chrisbarnett]

For the aquariums with fish already in them, you can take the fish and either sell them again on Craigslist, or take them to a local privately owned fish store, and they should buy them from you.

[TheComputerGremlin]

You can also look at glasscages.com, if they are delivering near you, they have good prices on aquariums, and do custom ones as well. I just checked their delivery schedule, they have 5 stops in Texas in February, including Houston on February 17th. (http://glasscages.com/?sAction=Deliv)

[javablog]

Thanks so much for the info guys! I have the next two days off from work so I'm going to check out some more petstores and this place callled Aquarium World that I've never been to. Hopefully I'll be able to locate a 90 gal, other wise I might just settle for a 75 gal. Basically I just need something to last me until I get out of college which won't be till 2014 or so (going for a law degree and I'm just starting my second semester).

[robind]

I bought my aquarium off craigslist and it did come with fish. However it was such a good deal (100 gallon glass aquarium + light for $100) that I couldn't pass it up. I ended up giving the fish to my lfs. They even gave me a 25% off coupon for it.

[javablog]

I decided to get a 75 gallon from petsmart. I just finished setting everything up but I am kind of frustrated because the Rena XP4 I bought must have been returned before. Which really isn't a big deal but all of the media its suppose to come with is missing and I didn't realize this until after I set everything up. Hopefully I'll be able to reason with management tomorrow and possible get a store credit so I can purchase the proper media. My other fear is that the filter actually doesn't work which would be even more of a hassle because I already cut the tubing.

[TheComputerGremlin]

The Rena should come with the pads and the BioChem Zorb and THAT'S IT. My Rena looked pretty empty with only 1 1/2 of 3 baskets filled. You have to purchase the remainder yourself. It's a nice little thing that isn't written on the box ...

[javablog]

Turns out my came with no media. Also I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology but if you flip over the top piece of the filter there is a part that screws off. From the pictures I see in the instruction booklet there is suppose to be a white piece that fits in there. This is missing as well. Basically after I prime the filter it fills with water but its unable to pump it back into the tank. So I end up with a huge mess. I also noticed that the labels for all the pieces were hand written, thought it was kind of strange. My basic hypothesis is that someone broke the filter and returned it and it just got thrown back on the shelf. I'm going to return it tomorrow and just order one of bigalsonline.com instead, cheaper that way anyways.

[Chrisbarnett]

That's where the impeller was supposed to go. Sounds like you did get a screwed up returned filter. Any reason you are going with the XP4? The XP3 would do that tank fine and would cost less. Or for a little more $$ and a lot more flow, check out the Fluval FX5.

[javablog]

I think I will exchange it for the xp3 then. I only got the xp4 because I was under the impression that you need a filter thats rated 3x the amount of gallons your aquarium holds for turtles. The xp4 box said its rated for aquariums up to 265 so I thought that was the closest I could get to 225 (3x75gal).

[Chrisbarnett]

I think I will exchange it for the xp3 then. I only got the xp4 because I was under the impression that you need a filter thats rated 3x the amount of gallons your aquarium holds for turtles. The xp4 box said its rated for aquariums up to 265 so I thought that was the closest I could get to 225 (3x75gal).

No, its all about the GPH(Gallons Per Hour.) The XP4 has 450gph, which means it would turnover your 75gal 6x per hour. Pretty darn good. However, I have not heard many good things about the XP4. So the XP3 is your best bet as it will still turnover your tank 4.6x per hour.

[javablog]

Thanks for the info man! Hopefully my encounter with petsmart will go smooth tomorrow and I can actually walk out of there with a NEW xp3 and some money back on my credit card.