Hi im joe im new to the forum

I'm currently putting away a little cash here an there to upgrade to something with a v8 and rear wheel drive. Almost bought a purple 78 camaro with a 350 for $600 a few months ago
 
Pretty (except for the color) car but truly, drive an electric before you decide. It will be awhile before a used one is affordable but worth the wait! M3 does 0-60 in 5 sec with all the torque you could want (and it is NOT the performance version). No more gaskets, oil changes, radiator, starter or exhaust, just silent get up and go.
 
Hi Joe,

I’m new here also, but have been around saltwater for years.

I’ve only bought one new skimmer, and that was one that someone bought, found out that it was too big to fit in their sump, and brought it back to the LFS. I bought it after I watched it sit in the LFS for a year and the price was lowered to half the cost of a new one.

I don’t know if you have any large cities around that might have other saltwater hobbyists, but their club Facebook or forum sites are a good place to look for used equipment.

There are some national sites like reef central or reef2reef where you can also find used skimmers, but before buying - you want to be very careful and be sure that they are packing it well and that it is insured! A loose pump can easily bust a skimmer cup or body.

Most of these national reefing forums have equipment review pages that you can read up on different skimmer models.

Another pointer to buying a used or new skimmer is to stick with brands that are on some of the online reefing supply houses (like BRS, premium aquatics, or marine Depot). They will be offering better brands that are requested by experienced reefers.

The only skimmer that I have purchased and been unhappy with is a GSM3. While these are very popular from years back and many swear that they are great, I could never get mine to skim well.

Lastly the big thing that goes out on a skimmer is the pump. Before buying a used skimmer, find out what skimmer pump is on the skimmer. See if you can locate one online and what the cost for a new pump would be. I’ve swapped different brands of skimmer pumps, but you want to be very careful and do some research because the pump outlet and the skimmer inlet may be different sizes -and not work.

My last skimmer that I bought is an older Reef Octopus 200 that is rated for double the size of my tank for less than half the cost of new. The Sicce pump is a little on the noisy side, but my sump isn’t in my living space. The thing skims like a champ!

Hope this is helpful to you.
 

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