Kooma
Well-Known Member
So I’ll preface this by saying I’ve been looking for a new skimmer for the tank, and of course wanted to go for the best that I could.
I’ve been looking at reviews and videos for a few months now, and really wanted another Reef Octopus skimmer, something with great quality behind it and the best performance. Up here in Canada, the model I was looking at, a Regal 250 INT, is $1,400 plus tax. At over $1550 out the door, that’s been enough not to buy one yet. I was debating waiting for Black Friday, buying a simplicity model, or something used but couldn’t find one big enough local to me.
I was cruising through FB marketplace a couple weeks ago and found a listing with a terrible photo, very little detail, and no idea what I was getting into. I sent a message on a listing that said “RO Skimmer, pump issue, could be a 250 or 300 INT”. That’s all I had to go on, so off I went trying to get ahold of the guy.
Surprisingly, I got a response. I sent him a message through Facebook and then we exchanged a phone number to text. He was about three hours away from me and I was trying to arrange when I could come down but every time I message him I get a couple responses and then nothing for a day or two. Eventually, I figured out where he was located, and found out that a friend of mine lived about two blocks away. I text the buddy and asked him if he’d be able to pick it up and sure enough he was. I didn’t get a lot of details, but he told me that it was some kind of semi detached house and the guy looked like he might’ve had some fun with some recreational substances in the past. My buddy told me that it was about the sketchiest thing that he’s ever done but after seeing photos and then driving down last weekend to pick it up, everything was there surprisingly.
While I was there we had a look at it and realized that the pump was fairly stuck but i wasn’t exactly sure why and that it was indeed a regal 250 INT. To be standing there holding this thing after all of that and have the model that I was looking at and thinking I wouldn’t be able to achieve was pretty surreal.
I do the drive back and drop the pump in some water to soak for a little while. I pulled the pump apart and gave it a good cleaning and it started to free up almost immediately. Assembled it, dropped it back in the water, and to my surprise pump spun up with zero issue. I left to run in the bucket of water for an hour or two while we closed up for the evening and when I went back out, it was still chugging away with the controller working just fine and the pump running dead silent.
I took everything apart, including the skimmer and scrubbed it all down as it was caked with grime and growth from whoever’s tank it came from. it looked like it had been turned off or taken out without anything else happening to it no cleaning or rinsing just turned off and set aside. To my amazement when I put everything back together, it looks brand new and it actually ran. Even the cup sensor was still wrapped up and has never been used.
The craziest part about this and also the sketchiest was that the guy was asking 60 bucks Canadian for it which is $42 American. I’m not exactly sure and maybe I don’t wanna know where it came from or how he got it but I’ve somehow managed to get my dream skimmer for about the price of a case of beer.
It definitely has to be the cheapest regal skimmer ever sold, I bought it fully expecting to have to replace the pump and thought that even at that point it’s still a good deal. The fact that it’s been running in my tank for a week and is operating dead silent with zero issues to me is just mind-boggling.
I was thinking what if it’s stolen or where did this come from? How did the guy get it and why is it so cheap? But then how do you steal a skimmer? Why would you and there’s just so many unanswered questions that I can only guess on.
Anyways, I had to share the story as this is one of the wildest reefing stories that I think I’ve experienced and definitely the craziest deal I’ve come across.
Enjoy some photos
I’ve been looking at reviews and videos for a few months now, and really wanted another Reef Octopus skimmer, something with great quality behind it and the best performance. Up here in Canada, the model I was looking at, a Regal 250 INT, is $1,400 plus tax. At over $1550 out the door, that’s been enough not to buy one yet. I was debating waiting for Black Friday, buying a simplicity model, or something used but couldn’t find one big enough local to me.
I was cruising through FB marketplace a couple weeks ago and found a listing with a terrible photo, very little detail, and no idea what I was getting into. I sent a message on a listing that said “RO Skimmer, pump issue, could be a 250 or 300 INT”. That’s all I had to go on, so off I went trying to get ahold of the guy.
Surprisingly, I got a response. I sent him a message through Facebook and then we exchanged a phone number to text. He was about three hours away from me and I was trying to arrange when I could come down but every time I message him I get a couple responses and then nothing for a day or two. Eventually, I figured out where he was located, and found out that a friend of mine lived about two blocks away. I text the buddy and asked him if he’d be able to pick it up and sure enough he was. I didn’t get a lot of details, but he told me that it was some kind of semi detached house and the guy looked like he might’ve had some fun with some recreational substances in the past. My buddy told me that it was about the sketchiest thing that he’s ever done but after seeing photos and then driving down last weekend to pick it up, everything was there surprisingly.
While I was there we had a look at it and realized that the pump was fairly stuck but i wasn’t exactly sure why and that it was indeed a regal 250 INT. To be standing there holding this thing after all of that and have the model that I was looking at and thinking I wouldn’t be able to achieve was pretty surreal.
I do the drive back and drop the pump in some water to soak for a little while. I pulled the pump apart and gave it a good cleaning and it started to free up almost immediately. Assembled it, dropped it back in the water, and to my surprise pump spun up with zero issue. I left to run in the bucket of water for an hour or two while we closed up for the evening and when I went back out, it was still chugging away with the controller working just fine and the pump running dead silent.
I took everything apart, including the skimmer and scrubbed it all down as it was caked with grime and growth from whoever’s tank it came from. it looked like it had been turned off or taken out without anything else happening to it no cleaning or rinsing just turned off and set aside. To my amazement when I put everything back together, it looks brand new and it actually ran. Even the cup sensor was still wrapped up and has never been used.
The craziest part about this and also the sketchiest was that the guy was asking 60 bucks Canadian for it which is $42 American. I’m not exactly sure and maybe I don’t wanna know where it came from or how he got it but I’ve somehow managed to get my dream skimmer for about the price of a case of beer.
It definitely has to be the cheapest regal skimmer ever sold, I bought it fully expecting to have to replace the pump and thought that even at that point it’s still a good deal. The fact that it’s been running in my tank for a week and is operating dead silent with zero issues to me is just mind-boggling.
I was thinking what if it’s stolen or where did this come from? How did the guy get it and why is it so cheap? But then how do you steal a skimmer? Why would you and there’s just so many unanswered questions that I can only guess on.
Anyways, I had to share the story as this is one of the wildest reefing stories that I think I’ve experienced and definitely the craziest deal I’ve come across.
Enjoy some photos
