Tons Of Free Equipment!!!

erock412

Member
i hope this isnt against the rules. i apologize ahead of time if it is. a good friend of my family, uncle dan, has a friend who used to own a LFS. he got old, and closed the doors for good about 6 weeks ago. well, sad to say, the dude passed on new years eve. i guess him and his wife never really got around to selling all the stuff from the store. although my uncle dan offered to help sell all the remaining stuff, the widow told him that he could just have it, and what he didnt want would be either tossed or would sit in their basement. uncle dan used to be into swf BIG TIME. he knew i've been trying to get involved for years now, but never really took the plunge until now. he doesnt want anything, he just doesnt have it in him to devote the time to this hobby. as far as what dan tells me there is "tens of thousands of dollars" worth of equipment in this ladies basement. "skimmers, powerheads, heaters, sand, LR (base rock by now), salt, thermometers, lights, canopies, stands, etc.". he said there's a few tanks... mostly nano's. i guess the guy didn't really set aside space to display empty tanks, and they never removed the display aquariums b/c they were put into the walls of the store and i guess they were liquid-nailed in and kinda became permanent fixtures. there are a few larger tanks that he had in the store's basement: a reef-ready 220gal, 2 reef-ready 125gal's, and finally a tank that he had in the basement of his house. an acrylic tank that my uncle estimates to be in the area of 800-1,000 gal. anyways, i'd love to take it all, but my 2 bedroom house probably isnt as big as this dudes basement from what my uncle says. i'm going to head over and check things out tomorrow or saturday, whenever dan can go with me. i'd feel weird going to some old, newly-widowed womans' house to cherry pick her basement full of expensive equipment. whatever i don't take for myself this weekend, you guys are willing to have free of charge if you haul it yourself the following weekend. some of the smaller equipment, i guess i can ship to people, but postage will have to be paid, as well as a small fee for my time. i really hope this doesnt get erased, because it's a great oppurtunity for people, and i dont have friends that are into this hobby. i live in pittsburgh, FYI. i know it sounds too good to be true, but as far as uncle dan is concerned- he know's his stuff, and he made it very clear to me that there is beyond a ton of equipment here. he counted 47 skimmers alone! trust me people, i have much better things to do with my time than lie about something so cool to a bunch of folks i'll never meet. also, to those of you who choose to come and grab stuff up, i'm going to arrange for everyone to meet me in a public place at a certain time and we'll all head over together, so you know i'm not some weirdo internet stalker who prey's on people in hobby website forums. i want everyone to feel comfortable with this, because i know it could change a lot of our situations and set-ups. whatever you take home from this ladies house you have to use and not sell. if anyone was going to make $ from this, it should have been the guy who passed away. the only reason i would ask for a minimal fee for my time to ship is because i'm a busy guy, and i'll be even busier in the next few weeks (obviously) and to a guy like me time is money. my fee would be MINIMAL, i'm not looking for profit. i'll be checking this thread very often and in the next few days i will figure out a way to make this as fair to everyone as i can. thanks everyone, and to those who will be coming out next weekend: i look forward to meeting you, and i'll see you soon.
 

salt life

Active Member
i need powerheads! lol
It's really nice of you to offer to help people out, people who have tanks can't always get what they want or what they really need to mantain the tank, good lookin' out.
 

1990jpyj

Member
powerheads. like 3 of them, a new skimmer wouldnt hurt, 48" light bulbs(daylights and antics), 20" light fixture, heaters(3), thermometer(3). i need a lot. test kits if you got any. HOB filters(size doesnt really matter)i cheeped out when i bought my stuff.
my e-mail is Maggard13@att.net. i have no problems paying shipping + your time/donations. just let me know
thank you
 

invertcrazy

Member
I sure hope they don't lock this post. It's a good chance for some of us to get some things for our tanks. As hard times are hitting everyone and a lot of people loosing their jobs, this will help some of us stay in the hobby we all love so much.
 

salt life

Active Member
Originally Posted by 1990jpyj
http:///forum/post/2914910
powerheads. like 3 of them, probly a new skimmer wouldnt hurt, 48" light bulbs(daylgihts and antics), 20" light fixture, heaters(3), thermomoter(3). i need alot. i cheaped out when i bought my stuff.
nice aproach.
 

salt life

Active Member
Originally Posted by InvertCrazy
http:///forum/post/2914918
I sure hope they don't lock this post. It's a good chance for some of us to get some things for our tanks. As hard times are hitting everyone and a lot of people loosing their jobs, this will help some of us stay in the hobby we all love so much.
 

jennln

Member
I'm in desperate need of a skimmer that is compatible with my tank. The one I currently have is too big to fit in my sump and too large for the space I've got available to use as an HOB. Right now I'm using it as an HOF (F=Front lol) which not only looks terrible, but I can't close my lid, and managed to beat my cat by about 2 inches when my eel made a leap of faith the other day. So now I've got this piece of screen going across the top of my tank....long story short it isn't a pretty sight lol. I'd be happy to pass along the skimmer I've got (less than a month old) in return to anyone who would be able to use it.
Another thought, is there any type of memorial fund set up that we could maybe make donations to for this lady? Or maybe donations to some sort of reef/research fund in memory of her husband?
 

erock412

Member
i'm going to make a list, as specific as i can get, with what this lady has. it is, however, literally an entire saltwater store in this ladies basement. i'll post said list as soon as i get it. also, i really want this to be fair to as many people as possible, and i want for people to get as much equipment as they need. having said this, if there's a ton of people that decide to make the drive, i'll figure out some sort of lottery on this thread that will narrow the # of ppl walking into this ladies house. after all, nobody wants to drive for 4 hours thinking they're getting an entire set-up only to go home with a 50 watt heater. there's so much stuff, but i'd like to make this as fair as possible, and of course worth everyones time and efforts. also, to those that can make it out, i'd like everyone to take in to account that this lady IS recently widowed, and i should hope everyone will conduct themselves accordingly. i think i'll pick up one of those HUGE thank you cards, and we can all sign it for her or do something nice for her like take her out to dinner after pillaging her basement. i'll figure out all the details in the next few days and let everyone know. FINALLY, so nobody feels cheated, i'd like to handle as much of this as publicly as possible. so if i can do this with the least amount of PM as i can. if that ends up being unrealistic, i'll address that issue if and when we need to. with that said: empty out your trunks, reserve a U-Haul, request off, find your dolly's, and clear out a room in your house...christmachaunaquanzica came late (or early depending on how you look at it)
 

bpro32

Member
I'm looking for anything metal halide. 2x150w and 1x150w specifically or anything retro. This is probably what will happen by the time I pass as well. I'm just starting at 19 and I already have 3 tanks, can't imagine what will happen in 10 years.
 

erock412

Member
One last thing (i think) i forgot to mention. if anyone has any idea's of how we could go about this in a better way, please let me know, i'm open to suggestions. maybe on the day we clear up this womans basement, we could also do something like an exchange. we could bring some of our old equipment so if we were looking for somethinng that has been all grabbed up, somebody might have what we are looking for. please, if you have a skimmer and are coming to upgrade, maybe you could bring your old one for someone else who came for a skimmer of a smaller size. something like that sounds good to me. if you do bring something, it's to GIVE away, not sell. let's make this into a give a little, get a lot type deal. so if you have some old stuff, bring it with you. i want this to be as prosperous to as many people as possible. i'm hoping that everyone can get a few hundred bucks worth of stuff. at least, that's how i'd like to set the lottery up. the lottery would just be to narrow down the amount of ppl going into her house. apparently its a mansion, so space isn't an issue, i just want it to be worth everyones time. let me take a rough inventory when i go over there, fri or sat, and we can all figure this out together. this is not a benevolent dictatorship, its a democracy... really, i'm not in need of much equipment, so i'd like some help on how to make this as fair, fun, and prosperous as possible. i gotta tell ya, it will be super interesting to meet some of you, and to hear about your experience in person.
 

bpro32

Member
I'll keep an eye on this to see how it goes. Great idea on the give and take part of it. I'm looking for some lighting so if you post a list I will take a look and pay for shipping.
 

ahammer

New Member
Hello im sorry for the loss; sounds like u have a great idea. I would really appreciate it if we could make some sort of deal as i am recently starting a tank and lack funds to get better equipment / livestock, if u could message me i would be able to specify some specific items, if not thanks anyways =)
 

woody189

Member
Sorry, I sent you a PM before I realized you didn't want them.. my bad...So here's my PM in public:
Erock, I think it's so nice of you to give this stuff away and not selling. Most people would take advantage of this situation, but you are doing the noble thing.
Anyway. I've had my tank for a little over a year and Have been looking into making it a FOWLR. The only problem is there is no way I would be able to afford the lighting. If you have any I would really appreciate. I just posted a thread on Reefs, Corals, and what not, because I really want to get into them. I was asking questions on Reef tanks, because I would love to upgrade in the future (hopefully now, near future).
Once I get my lights, I can get started, and I was hoping you could help. I need a 3' lighthing fixture for my 46 gal Bow. I don't really know anything about lighting, but I guess T5 or Metal Halides.Really not sure.
Do you have a Zip Code? The Steel city is Pittsburgh, right? I live in North Jersey, but I'm willing to drag my girlfriend along for a drive if I have to.
Thanks so much. I really appreciate it.
 

ca161406

Member
if the 220 is an 8 footer i would gladly pay shipping for it and for an appropriately sized skimmer for tank. i would also pay for your labor shipping it. if thats possible..sucks im in socal
 
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