Is this a decent deal???

First topic message reminder :

Just inquired about a 55 gallon tank on Craigslist. It's a marineland tank, with wrought iron stand, covers, two lights, HOB biofilter, heater, rocks, gravel, fake plants and decorations, and is 6 months old. He wants $175.
That is a good deal, right?

Well, it would have been a decent deal, but now that I have it home and set up I am finding all kinds of issues.
The HOB filter (Hmm, still in NEW box???) would not work at all, so I went off to Walmart and bought another one, same brand.  That one had a broken housing, which I discovered when I got it home, so I used the old housing and the new motor and impeller and voila, it is working.  I should be able to get a new housing from Walmart, too, so that wasn't too bad.
BUT, the top is one of those really cheap combo light/hoods and it meets in the middle, sort of.  If you just sneeze, the whole thing falls into the tank, including the lights!  And, one of the lights has a broken fixture.
That fix required a bit more money... I ordered an all glass top and one of Aqueon's new LED lights... has extra LED bulbs for plants.  Wasn't too expensive except the extra bulb was in addition.  My other choice was the Marineland version and it was a bit more and didn't have changeable bulbs.  
And, of course, you need a top for those lights so I ordered the all glass versa top.
Oh yeah, his air pump was missing TWO legs and sounded like a jackhammer.  That was relatively inexpensive at walmart and the $10 one is working great.
And, the heater is pretty melted so I am afraid to use it.  I ordered two 100 watt ones for about $12 each.  Heaters scare me and I rather run two than one bigger one that could cook my fish!!!
All total, an additional $150.
Still, I do believe it is STILL way less than I would have paid retail for all.

The final shock was the VIVID PURPLE plants they had...UGLY!!!!  But, I hope to be using real ones for the most part so....those will find a home at the local consignment shop.
Now, it is up and running with TWO bio sponges from the koi tanks.  Do I still need to add some frozen shrimp OR should I just put in a few of the goldfish to help cycle it?

We always run a new tank for a few days with a new sponge (just to ensure all is working well), after which we take it out and add lots of well seeded media (filter rocks and sponge from an established tank), 'bacteria in a bottle' (not sure if it really does anything, but we do it just the same!!), and a few of the fish at the same time (the fish we add are the ones that will stay there); and then after continuous monitoring/testing and water changes, we add a few more, and so on. So far, we have never had a noticeable spike in anything (ammonia, nitrites, etc) with our 220g, 36g, 20g, and the two 10g tanks doing it this way.

I have heard the "dead shrimp" method works, but you have to be prepared for the occasional stench!  

If you have a 'seeded' filter the only thing you need to do is to ensure that the bacteria don't die off due to a lack of 'food'. The easiest way to do this is to add some bioload,i.e. some fish.

Thanks, I added the three angels and the three cories... OMG, they look lost in there!!!
The neons, however, are NOT missing the angels!!!

hope they enjoy their new home!