[willertac]

I went to the thrift store right up the hill from my house today, hoping to find some cool things. And I did!
Today's find:
5g tank, complete with 25 watt heater, sponge/bubble filter, air pump, and incandescent light fixture with hood. Also included was coarse sand-like substrate and some decorations.
Usually, I am weary of keeping all the little bits from the tank such as substrate and the like, but the main reason I can see for the tank being given up is the fact that it's old. The heater and pump are "old-fashioned", if I may, and the pump even reads "remanufactured". The bulb is incandescent, as stated, and only takes up half of the fixture. From what I can see, however, this previous owner knew their stuff.

Also there today was a 10g tank complete with hood and light fixture, air pump, gravel, sponge/bubble filter, and various other tank care items. This tank, however, was $49.99.

A while ago, I found a 29g tank for only $24.99, and the price was 25% off of that! This tank, however, needed some work. I removed the gravel, most of it looking as though it were driveway gravel, and found a caked-on layer of carbon underneath. It took about an hour of scrubbing, picking, and placing a hose directly over the stuck-on carbon to finally remove it.
Also included with this one was a bubble-breathing dragon (which I accidentally broke:-(), a plastic plant, working heater, working light with hood, and a bag of ceramic rings sitting on the gravel.

So.... any similar expierences and/or advice about thrift-shop tanks (like whether or not to use the stuff in them)? It's all welcome!

 

[Sylverclaws]

I think the best deals I got was a 5 gallon bowfront complete set-up(except for substrate) for $25, and a ten gallon tank with a complete set up and a rather nice heater and filter for $44.99. In my opinion those are both still pretty costly for how small the tanks are, but not when you count in the filters and heaters I suppose. =)

 

[dancelady]

Local thrift stores are great!

I found yesterday a 3G bow front Marineland Eclipse tank with a built-in filter, hood, light, many decor accessories for $3. It has a biowheel filter that works fine, and is a good size for Bettas, QT, or baby tank. Also to keep cycled in case of buying a new fish or wanting to separate a mating pair.

Before this, I also found 2-10G tanks with hoods, inside filter, air pump, heater, and more decor for $3. There is no way that this wouldn't have cost ~$60-80 new.

So even if it takes you quite a while to clean it all up, thrift stores are excellent, as long as the tank holds water, and you can see through it.