When buying a used Salt water tank, what are the questions I should ask?

I found, "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist," by Robert Fenner to be really helpful. Although I think that he is a little overly conscientious on certain issues. LOL If you search for it on Amazon.com, it will come up and give links to other recommended books.

I'd use the books as a starting point, or as reference material and supplement that with information available on-line.

One issue with the books is that if you check the endnotes and references, some of the authors are all referencing each other. This is especially true of the ones that cover reefs or FOWLR tanks in general, rather than dealing with specific areas, such as coral care. So, on some issues they are all just parroting each other.

This is important, because on-line you will sometimes get advice from someone with years, and years of practical hands on experience (often running LFS, or setting up tanks professionally) that doesn't quite match what the books say.

So, use the books as a good starting point. Just keep an open mind when you go to research certain topics further.

 

How was it cleaned? Try to make sure it never came in contact with any chemicals.

 

Yea, I called and heard nothing back, so I will need to just continue on and look for others. One thing that I did think about was the fact that I live on the third floor of a condo. Is this something that I should be worried about weight wise? How do you know if your floor can sustain the pressure from a tank? Also, I dont seem to see any members from my surrounding area and havent seen anything for a club online, is there a way to find out if there is one in your area? My hope would be to find a club member who is selling some older gear near me.