Dart Den

I just want to know what's everyone's view on buying enclosures from someone who is giving up the hobby and using as your own?

To me it sounds kind of like inheriting all of someone else's problems, but I've got to the point where my viv setups are pretty simple and quick lately.

As long as you TRUST the previous owner - that his frogs didn't have disease or die of something weird or that the tank wasn't loaded with slugs, snails, centipedes ect.

I've taken 'used' vivs before, but just be aware of the above potential.

Part of the fun of the hobby is making something you like and can be proud of. It is also a benefit to know that your brand new tank is free from pathogens.

I agree

I enjoy building tanks too much to buy pre built tanks. But on the flip side of that, I sold a bunch of tanks to Scott Menigoz in 2005 that were used and one had a waterfall that is still running strong today. So the quality someone puts into the build can also be a big factor. You could get something that starts falling apart in no time. But, better safe than sorry, and the piece of mind knowing it is disease free is worth the extra you will pay.

Scott has two really big vivs with water features but they both seem more like streams than waterfalls. Could you better describe it please...just curious.

his one large stream viv had a large 'spring salamander' in it that chowed on ffs.

Almost all of his vivs have water features actually. Usually low flow water falls, or just a trickle with a pond, and then a lot of just ponds. The two stream vivs are the terribilis tanks, that one with the wood stream. This was a 24" exo. I want to say it is the giant orange viv, but I can't remember for sure. I will snap a picture when I go there in the next week or so. I always did low flow water features, they don't saturate anything, and tend to last a long time.

I found a pic of what the viv looked like when I first built it years ago. None of the same plants are in it, but the background with that wood is, and the water fall is trickling down the back right side. I will take a comparison picture when I visit.

Ok so I went to Scott's and snapped a couple camera phone shots of tanks I built years ago. The second one pictured is the tank from the previous post I made. The water feature didn't actually stop working in this one but I believe was eroding some of the substrate. BUT, I took another shot of another tank I built as well and the water feature is still working just fine. I built these tanks in 2004 and Scott purchased them from me in late 2005 or 2006, I can't remember. But 10 years for a water feature to still be fully functional is pretty dang good