Hydros and BRS?

[Jmp998]

BRS videos definitely were charismatic, and they did an excellent job using selective facts to sell ideas.

I wish I could view them from the same lens as the people who found them educational. Unfortunately, I always viewed what they were doing as infomercials. Getting paid to make videos to sell products, pushing unnecessary equipment to unsuspecting new (and old) hobbyists.

That's not to say all videos were paid sponsorships, some were masked as educational and presented as factual in order to promote sales. After coming to that conclusion, I had a hard time watching them and an even harder time taking away anything that could be implemented in my day-to-day routine.

In the back of my mind, I always felt bad for the newer hobbyists who had no other means of comparison and were pulled in by the dynamics of the message and how it was presented. It manifested into a culture of people becoming blindly loyal to anything that was said, and the person who got hooked would have an easier time purchasing anything that was recommended in the hopes that it provided the slightest edge toward success.

One other thing that took a long time for me to figure out is how their videos shaped conversations in the forums, with topics being discussed based on whatever the latest offering was. It seemed as if the threads were an extension to solidify one person's opinion about a particular topic. To the unsuspecting reader that see's the same information written all over the place, they can take that as fact.

Giving credit where credit is due, BRS is/was a powerful influence in our hobby. Perhaps the lack of new content is the reason why we're seeing all this dissension. People have been told how to think for so long, and now that there isn't any guidance, they're having to either find someone else to guide them or flex their own cognitive muscles to develop a thought and carry it out on their own.

TL;DR:

The most convincing voice in the room doesn't mean it's worth listening to.

Of course some of their videos described/promoted the newest Ghee-Whiz product they would like to sell you, and the viewer has to be aware of that. However I found some of their videos helpful and still do. For example:

When I set up my new tank, I knew I wanted lights over it. BRS did not convince me I needed lights. The BRS videos were somewhat helpful in deciding which lights to get, and very helpful in deciding spacing and mounting height. BRS put a lot of work into taking and presenting all of these PAR measurements.

When I set up my new tank, I knew I wanted rock in it. BRS did not convince me of that. However the BRS aquascaping videos were helpful in deciding how I wanted that rock to look, and very helpful in deciding how to achieve that. Again a good set of videos that did not convince me to buy anything, just helped me do it better.

For a while they were doing a lot of test kit review videos, which again I found helpful. I need to measure alkalinity and calcium, that is not something BRS convinced me to do, but their videos helped me choose kits that work well.

There are a whole host of other videos which are similar-skimmer comparisons, salt comparisons, etc, which I found helpful in making product choices-but they did not convince me to buy some junk I did not need, just gave me background to make better choices.

I do agree the quality and informational quality of the videos has dropped, and probably will continue to do so, so that now many are just infomercials. However I think it is unfair to claim that all of the BRS videos have always been that way. Telling me how to do something better is not the same as telling me how to think.

 

[n2585722]

I thought it odd too. I have heard that they respond quickly but that's not been my experience so far unfortunately.

Have you thought about joining the Hydros facebook group? Here is a link https://m.facebook.com/groups/hydrosgroup/?ref=share . There are several people there that will answer questions some of them work for CoralVue.

 

[KirM]

Have you thought about joining the Hydros facebook group? Here is a link https://m.facebook.com/groups/hydrosgroup/?ref=share . There are several people there that will answer questions some of them work for CoralVue.

Thanks, I will do that!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Of course some of their videos described/promoted the newest Ghee-Whiz product they would like to sell you, and the viewer has to be aware of that. However I found some of their videos helpful and still do. For example:

When I set up my new tank, I knew I wanted lights over it. BRS did not convince me I needed lights. The BRS videos were somewhat helpful in deciding which lights to get, and very helpful in deciding spacing and mounting height. BRS put a lot of work into taking and presenting all of these PAR measurements.

When I set up my new tank, I knew I wanted rock in it. BRS did not convince me of that. However the BRS aquascaping videos were helpful in deciding how I wanted that rock to look, and very helpful in deciding how to achieve that. Again a good set of videos that did not convince me to buy anything, just helped me do it better.

For a while they were doing a lot of test kit review videos, which again I found helpful. I need to measure alkalinity and calcium, that is not something BRS convinced me to do, but their videos helped me choose kits that work well.

There are a whole host of other videos which are similar-skimmer comparisons, salt comparisons, etc, which I found helpful in making product choices-but they did not convince me to buy some junk I did not need, just gave me background to make better choices.

I do agree the quality and informational quality of the videos has dropped, and probably will continue to do so, so that now many are just infomercials. However I think it is unfair to claim that all of the BRS videos have always been that way. Telling me how to do something better is not the same as telling me how to think.

Out of curiosity, what lights, rock, skimmer did you end up buying?

As I said, I wish I could view it from your lens.

No one should have to convince you that you need lights, rock, skimmer etc. But I'd be surprised that you didn't shop at brs to purchase the majority of your equipment.

Did they do a good job in alerting you to the vast options of lights that they don't sell?

Did they convince you that live rock was a waste of money?

It's great that you got a lot of useful information, but had you known that the information provided was selective, you might have thought differently... then again, maybe not. But that's the beauty of it, the kind of people they drew in were the ones that thought they were getting unbiased information.

I'm definitely not trying to convince you to look behind the curtain. However the perspective in which I viewed the information has provided a completely different outcome.

 

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[Jmp998]

Out of curiosity, what lights, rock, skimmer did you end up buying?

As I said, I wish I could view it from your lens.

No one should have to convince you that you need lights, rock, skimmer etc. But I'd be surprised that you didn't shop at brs to purchase the majority of your equipment.

Did they do a good job in alerting you to the vast options of lights that they don't sell?

Did they convince you that live rock was a waste of money?

It's great that you got a lot of useful information, but had you known that the information provided was selective, you might have thought differently... then again, maybe not. But that's the beauty of it, the kind of people they drew in were the ones that thought they were getting unbiased information.

I'm definitely not trying to convince you to look behind the curtain. However the perspective in which I viewed the information has provided a completely different outcome.

Historically BRS has sold almost every major brand in the hobby, most of which were major brands long before BRS exploded in popularity. How can you set up a tank without using any brands carried by BRS, unless you are going to buy everything from tiny manufacturers working out of their garage? BRS provided an easy shopping experience, good selection, as good of pricing as anybody, good service/delivery-so yes I did buy probably half the equipment from them (other than the tank-Cade from AlgaeBarn). Most of the rest came from Premium Aquatics, which I have been shopping at for 20+years. When I go to the grocery, they show me 20 varieties of apples and I pick the one I want. I don't expect them to describe the other 7,000 varieties of apples, most of which are not even widely available. They are a business, of course they are trying to sell the products they have available.

BRS never made any effort to convince me that live rock was a waste of money. In fact their biome series very much gave the impression that I would have a faster, easier cycle and better diversity if I used (at least some) live rock. However dry rock makes more sense for some people (including me), and I did find the how-to videos comparing mortar, epoxy, superglue+sand, etc helpful.

Of course BRS was not perfect, no person or company is, but there is still a lot of good comparison and how to information in their older videos. Light spacing, skimmer height adjustment, all sorts of things that make the product work better-so that you will enjoy and stay in the hobby, then come back and buy more. This is not a zero-sum game where any win on their part has to be loss on my part.

Back to the start of this thread though, it does seem that some of this is changing-dropping Hydros presumably because it competes with (and in my opinion is better than) Apex, far fewer videos that are anything other than a short infomercial on a new product, etc. And that probably does reflect the venture capital influence in the background. That's why the last dry goods order I placed was with @aquacave and the next will probably be with @AquariumSpecialty.

 

[AquariumSpecialty Verified Sponsor]

Historically BRS has sold almost every major brand in the hobby, most of which were major brands long before BRS exploded in popularity. How can you set up a tank without using any brands carried by BRS, unless you are going to buy everything from tiny manufacturers working out of their garage? BRS provided an easy shopping experience, good selection, as good of pricing as anybody, good service/delivery-so yes I did buy probably half the equipment from them (other than the tank-Cade from AlgaeBarn). Most of the rest came from Premium Aquatics, which I have been shopping at for 20+years. When I go to the grocery, they show me 20 varieties of apples and I pick the one I want. I don't expect them to describe the other 7,000 varieties of apples, most of which are not even widely available. They are a business, of course they are trying to sell the products they have available.

BRS never made any effort to convince me that live rock was a waste of money. In fact their biome series very much gave the impression that I would have a faster, easier cycle and better diversity if I used (at least some) live rock. However dry rock makes more sense for some people (including me), and I did find the how-to videos comparing mortar, epoxy, superglue+sand, etc helpful.

Of course BRS was not perfect, no person or company is, but there is still a lot of good comparison and how to information in their older videos. Light spacing, skimmer height adjustment, all sorts of things that make the product work better-so that you will enjoy and stay in the hobby, then come back and buy more. This is not a zero-sum game where any win on their part has to be loss on my part.

Back to the start of this thread though, it does seem that some of this is changing-dropping Hydros presumably because it competes with (and in my opinion is better than) Apex, far fewer videos that are anything other than a short infomercial on a new product, etc. And that probably does reflect the venture capital influence in the background. That's why the last dry goods order I placed was with @aquacave and the next will probably be with @AquariumSpecialty.

Thank you. We are here for you when you are ready. By the way, be sure to setup an account to take advantage of our rewards point program. Also if you are outside of South Carolina there is no sales tax collected by us since we haven't exceed the maximum transactions or dollar amounts.

 

[legalizedreefer]

Thank you for that response!!!

Currently I have a GHL system and have been very frustrated about the ION D not being available for years.
So I was thinking of changing to hydros.
Someone in here offered to sell me an ION D but then it became weird and he stopped responding. I am very happy with GHL but the ION D thing has made me want to change.
I want to monitor pH, salinity, temp and everything the Maven can.
I want auto dosing as well, and a controller for my pumps, protein skimmer, fan etc.
Sounds like the Maven is due to be released in fall, the same time the GHL ION D is supposed to be ready (which I highly doubt).
I am thinking if I do not get the ION D by fall I will change to Hydros.

I go down the “should I switch to GHL?” rabbit hole every few months. How is the learning curve for the programming logic? When I see threads on here coaching people how to program things I get lost in the process. It seems unnecessarily cumbersome. But for some reason it keeps calling my name.

I think it’s superficial reasons, I like it cause it’s German and everything German I’ve used in this hobby has worked well for me. I also like the form factor of the equipment.

Is the programming something that starts off very confusing and then just “clicks” one day?

 

[KirM]

I go down the “should I switch to GHL?” rabbit hole every few months. How is the learning curve for the programming logic? When I see threads on here coaching people how to program things I get lost in the process. It seems unnecessarily cumbersome. But for some reason it keeps calling my name.

I think it’s superficial reasons, I like it cause it’s German and everything German I’ve used in this hobby has worked well for me. I also like the form factor of the equipment.

Is the programming something that starts off very confusing and then just “clicks” one day?

I have only been using it about 15 months now. Someone with a lot of experience with it helped me set it up. I have been managing it ever since and I have been able to add fans, heaters, pumps etc to it for it to control all of them, rather easily. Hopefully I will get the long awaited ION D and be able to figure that out. So far it has been an easy process. But I have not done anything extreme or super exciting with it. But it has been working rather well for me.

 

[Bj’s Reef]

You can’t go wrong shopping at Aquarium Speciality. You will find that close personal shopping experience that we all like. That sadly is missing with most companies.

 

[KirM]

You can’t go wrong shopping at Aquarium Speciality. You will find that close personal shopping experience that we all like. That sadly is missing with most companies.

They do appear to have a lot of stuff. Maybe the will get an GHL ION Director soon, haha

 

[Bj’s Reef]

They usually have everything Bulk Reef Supply has. I usually get into trouble when I go there in person. As they are only around thirty minutes from me. I wouldn’t mind working there. However I probably wouldn’t bring home a pay check. Because I would spend it in the store.

 

[AquariumSpecialty Verified Sponsor]

They usually have everything Bulk Reef Supply has. I usually get into trouble when I go there in person. As they are only around thirty minutes from me. I wouldn’t mind working there. However I probably wouldn’t bring home a pay check. Because I would spend it in the store.

Maybe we will find you a position soon. If you keep posting nice stuff about us then maybe more people on R2R will buy from us and we will need some additional help .

 

[Bj’s Reef]

Scott it’s not nice to tease a reef addic.

 

[Solo McReefer]

Of course some of their videos described/promoted the newest Ghee-Whiz product they would like to sell you, and the viewer has to be aware of that. However I found some of their videos helpful and still do. For example:

When I set up my new tank, I knew I wanted lights over it. BRS did not convince me I needed lights. The BRS videos were somewhat helpful in deciding which lights to get, and very helpful in deciding spacing and mounting height. BRS put a lot of work into taking and presenting all of these PAR measurements.

When I set up my new tank, I knew I wanted rock in it. BRS did not convince me of that. However the BRS aquascaping videos were helpful in deciding how I wanted that rock to look, and very helpful in deciding how to achieve that. Again a good set of videos that did not convince me to buy anything, just helped me do it better.

For a while they were doing a lot of test kit review videos, which again I found helpful. I need to measure alkalinity and calcium, that is not something BRS convinced me to do, but their videos helped me choose kits that work well.

There are a whole host of other videos which are similar-skimmer comparisons, salt comparisons, etc, which I found helpful in making product choices-but they did not convince me to buy some junk I did not need, just gave me background to make better choices.

I do agree the quality and informational quality of the videos has dropped, and probably will continue to do so, so that now many are just infomercials. However I think it is unfair to claim that all of the BRS videos have always been that way. Telling me how to do something better is not the same as telling me how to think.

They sold me on Bubble Tips and clowns

And KZ stuff

Sucker for blue bottles

I buy cobalt dropper bottles on Amazon and put Vibrant, Acropower, et al in them

Oh, and Vertex and RE stuff.

Honestly, I always saw Ryan as selling stuff as much as 'educating' stuff. But he always gave the impression that he liked and used it

 

[BigMax]

As BRS tries to disengage from competitors of their parent company, it will be interesting to see what happens with Reef Octopus and Kamoer, for which CoralVue is the sole US distributor. It is likely that CoralVue will lose some of its exclusivity and control. One would have to believe Aperture will use all leverage to close their relationship with CoralVue, as the working relationship with CoralVue will likely deteriorate significantly. BRS cannot walk away from Reef Octopus skimmers. Potentially a significant hit to the CoralVue pocketbook....we'll see?

Ultimately all these powerplays will not be good for the consumer.

Responding to my own post of May 30, because I feel like I was likely right, we'll see.

I see that today almost all Reef Octopus skimmers are listed as out of stock at BRS. One would have to assume that BRS is putting pressure on Reef Octopus to remove CoralVue as a middleman.

BRS is probably 50% of all aquarium product online shipments, but based on their current antics this may change? If BRS remains by far the major player CoralVue's revenues will likely drop very significantly as the lose distribution control....does this make Hydros/CoralVue vulnerable long term?

 

[Jmp998]

Responding to my own post of May 30, because I feel like I was likely right, we'll see.

I see that today almost all Reef Octopus skimmers are listed as out of stock at BRS. One would have to assume that BRS is putting pressure on Reef Octopus to remove CoralVue as a middleman.

BRS is probably 50% of all aquarium product online shipments, but based on their current antics this may change? If BRS remains by far the major player CoralVue's revenues will likely drop very significantly as the lose distribution control....does this make Hydros/CoralVue vulnerable long term?

I feel like most people are more interested in the product rather than the dealer, and for better or worse BRS is no longer putting out the same quality or quantity of content and therefore has less influence in shaping the marketplace. I suspect you could be right about their intentions, if nothing else they are trying to streamline their inventory management and cut costs because that is what MBA’s and VC understand, but I think the overall effect will just be a boon for other dealers that no longer have to compete with BRS on some very popular product lines. If BRS no longer wishes to sell me the product I want, I am happy to take my business elsewhere.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Post deleted

 

[rtparty]

Responding to my own post of May 30, because I feel like I was likely right, we'll see.

I see that today almost all Reef Octopus skimmers are listed as out of stock at BRS. One would have to assume that BRS is putting pressure on Reef Octopus to remove CoralVue as a middleman.

BRS is probably 50% of all aquarium product online shipments, but based on their current antics this may change? If BRS remains by far the major player CoralVue's revenues will likely drop very significantly as the lose distribution control....does this make Hydros/CoralVue vulnerable long term?

It doesn’t say discontinued by BRS though. At least not yet. That could change.

What if CV isn’t sending product to BRS? Why can’t it go both ways? I wouldn’t put it past CV to pull that. Just playing devil’s advocate.

At least if Aperture got distribution of Reef Octopus we would get good customer service. CV passed the buck when my RO Elite skimmer came in with busted parts. No way UPS or BRS could have broken them (unopened RO box in perfect shape) and all I wanted was the piece replaced. BRS had to send me an entirely new skimmer since CV wouldn’t help me.

 

[BigMax]

It doesn’t say discontinued by BRS though. At least not yet. That could change.

What if CV isn’t sending product to BRS? Why can’t it go both ways? I wouldn’t put it past CV to pull that. Just playing devil’s advocate.

At least if Aperture got distribution of Reef Octopus we would get good customer service. CV passed the buck when my RO Elite skimmer came in with busted parts. No way UPS or BRS could have broken them (unopened RO box in perfect shape) and all I wanted was the piece replaced. BRS had to send me an entirely new skimmer since CV wouldn’t help me.

Pure speculation on my part but it's interesting to watch how the game is played.

I could well be wrong, but Reef Octopus is staple for skimmers and BRS discontinued Royal Exclusiv. Dumping Reef Octo isn't in my mind a likely scenario, and I doubt CoralVue is in a position to play hardball on distribution? Great way to lose the US distributorship.

To your point I've had some issues where I've needed CoralVue's help and to say they were slow is an understatement. To BRS's credit they have always been courteous and very responsive. I've purchased at least $10k with BRS over the years and cannot say I have had any issues with them.