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KalamazooReefer
Приєднався 28 вер 2022
Initial Thoughts: ReefBuilders Conducting Grand Auto-Tester Showdown/Evaluation
This video is just me casually giving my thoughts on ReefBuilders wading back into the gear scene in a big way.
Переглядів: 61
Відео
We The Reefers - Podcast S2E3 - “Broad Strokes Methodology”
Переглядів 15520 годин тому
This episode is me pretty much just rambling about methodology I subscribe to, and other stuff. Probably my most casual episode. Hope you all enjoy!
We The Reefers - Podcast S2E2 - “The Future Of Bulk Reef Supply”
Переглядів 5604 години тому
This episode of WTR covers the events of the Summer of 2024, with regards to Bulk Reef Supply, and looks ahead to possible outcomes.
We The Reefers - Podcast S2E1 - “ReefBuilders Matters”
Переглядів 390День тому
The first episode of Season 2 of “We The Reefers” evaluates the current state of media in reefkeeping, especially the ReefBuilders organization.
Explained: Why I’m Trying To STOP Amino Acids From Entering My Reef Tank
Переглядів 77414 днів тому
This video covers my very pedestrian understanding of amino acids and the risks associated with adding them to a reef tank arbitrarily.
Initial Thoughts: AccuraSea1 Reef Salt by TwoLittleFishies (Julian Sprung)
Переглядів 24814 днів тому
This video covers my early thoughts on AccuraSea1 reef salt.
The Ole Reef: Tank Update - August 2024
Переглядів 61914 днів тому
This video covers the progress of The Ole Reef for August 2024.
Explained: Why I Went Back To Good Old Filter Socks
Переглядів 1 тис.21 день тому
This video covers my transition back to using filter socks on my main reef tank system.
Explained: The ‘Kalkamazoo’ DIY Reactor For Dosing Kalkwasser To Reef Tanks
Переглядів 954Місяць тому
This is a lengthy overview of my DIY ‘Kalkamazoo’ reactor.
Explained: EcoFlow River 2 LFP Power Station Line For Reef Tank Battery Backup
Переглядів 652Місяць тому
This video explores the EcoFlow River 2 lineup as a reef tank battery backup solution.
The Ole Reef: Tank Update - July 2024
Переглядів 732Місяць тому
This is my July 2024 tank update on The Ole Reef.
Examined: How Sponsored Reefers Deploy Misinformation
Переглядів 772Місяць тому
This video examines a few ways sponsored reefkeepers seek to spread misinformation.
Reef Ruminations: An Ode To Those Who Rage About Gear Malfunctions
Переглядів 291Місяць тому
This video discusses reefing gear malfunctions, and the response to those issues seen in the community sometimes.
Reef Ruminations: Reef Tank Disaster Mitigation BEYOND Backup Power
Переглядів 495Місяць тому
This video covers items to have on hand for reef tank disaster mitigation beyond backup power.
The Necessity Of Constructive Self-Reflection For Success In Reefkeeping
Переглядів 617Місяць тому
In this video, I discuss fallacies in the hobby that reefkeepers can easily fall into, and the importance of being humble and deploying regular self-reflection.
Experience: Chasing Stability In My Reef Tank
Переглядів 698Місяць тому
Experience: Chasing Stability In My Reef Tank
Explained: My New Approach To The Reef Tank Microbiome
Переглядів 1,4 тис.Місяць тому
Explained: My New Approach To The Reef Tank Microbiome
Explained: My Approach To Mixed Reef Tank Flow
Переглядів 489Місяць тому
Explained: My Approach To Mixed Reef Tank Flow
Experience: The Visual Impact Of ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro Reef Lights
Переглядів 593Місяць тому
Experience: The Visual Impact Of ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro Reef Lights
Review: ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro Reef Lights - A Lengthy Discussion
Переглядів 833Місяць тому
Review: ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro Reef Lights - A Lengthy Discussion
Explained: One Way To Connect Your Neptune Return Pump To Backup Power
Переглядів 159Місяць тому
Explained: One Way To Connect Your Neptune Return Pump To Backup Power
The Ole Reef: Tank Update - June 2024
Переглядів 4402 місяці тому
The Ole Reef: Tank Update - June 2024
Explained: Options For Combatting Aiptasia Pest Anemones In Reef Tanks
Переглядів 4602 місяці тому
Explained: Options For Combatting Aiptasia Pest Anemones In Reef Tanks
Announcement: EcoFlow River 2 Backup Battery For Reef Tanks - EPIC SALE PRICE
Переглядів 3892 місяці тому
Announcement: EcoFlow River 2 Backup Battery For Reef Tanks - EPIC SALE PRICE
The Intersection of Art & Reefkeeping
Переглядів 5583 місяці тому
The Intersection of Art & Reefkeeping
The Ole Reef: Tank Update - May 2024
Переглядів 1,3 тис.3 місяці тому
The Ole Reef: Tank Update - May 2024
Experience: How To Get Interceptor For Acro Bugs
Переглядів 3743 місяці тому
Experience: How To Get Interceptor For Acro Bugs
FULL Review: Top Shelf Aquatics (TSA) - New Coral Frags
Переглядів 6313 місяці тому
FULL Review: Top Shelf Aquatics (TSA) - New Coral Frags
I love all the frequent updates! Two Podcasts in a row and a video.
I think they are going back to their roots - Reefbuilders was known for equipment reviews
I like it!!!
What is the live stream you are talking about?
If they are then that’s what I used to like about BRS… objective facts not sales hype
Add Eheim to the list of companies BRS is no longer selling.
@@brianbaier1616 For real? Of all companies. Eheim. Wow.
One thing you didn’t touch on that I would be interested to hear: Why would Aperture do this? I get that they’re venture capitalists but if they’re profit driven, why would they buy up a bunch of companies, drive their value into the ground, and then let them fail/bankrupt/disappear? There would have to be a reason for it.
That’s the two pathways I posited. I probably spread out the discussion too much! So I think either: 1. They don’t have the money to pay for gear from other manufacturers anymore (hence why everything is discontinued or out of stock), or 2. They are offloading everything reef-related and hoping that a large entity like Spectrum buys them whole (or at least pieces of them).
Also, as for the “reason” for this end, it’s often the case that venture capital fails. Reefkeeping is a unique bird. I highly doubt any of the Ivy League business people they put in charge of Aperture really understood the hobby. And that showed, as respect for Aperture plummeted following them taking over.
I agree with your salinity thought!! Have ordered fish and coral recently and every specimen bag has different readings??? Couldn’t believe some things were even living!
Don’t even get me started on the wild salinities we all see on stuff that gets shipped in. It’s so bonkers!
I have a custom 160cmx long 80cm deep it was a little two much in reality, but I can't go back now hehehe
There’s never any going back! It’s like when my wife made me push my peninsula against the wall after deciding she didn’t want it jutting out into the living room. No going back! 🤣
good stream, methodology and habits are always an interesting discussion and the results they can bring across the spectrum of the hobby. My testing discipline varies like a cycle over time, im currently at a low, i know i should do better (more testing) but I also feel like some of the other things that ive started doing better (stability, no changes) allow me that slack, along with the knowledge that ive gained over time in watching my tank and fundamentally seeing the health and being able to understand when things are and are not right. i'll forever be still figuring things out as long as im in the hobby and be wrong more than Im right.
Bingo! That’s what I’m talking about. You said it better than I did. You literally “earn” slack. That ingrained, hardcore stability, coupled with intimately understanding your system, leads to the ability to enjoy slight slack on testing. I like that thought process.
I have an Aqua 8 watt Advantage 2000 on my 20 gal Nano and it's very effective. No Dinos, no parasites. The key is keeping the flow low enough that the exposure time is sufficient. There's nothing magic that happens at 15 watts. Not sure where you got that information.
No fancy aquascape?!?! Boo this man 😂
Says the person who works on scapes while listening to podcast 😂
Hahahha! I appreciate fancy! I don’t like them hyper-spindly. I was yammering on the fly today, I probably parsed words poorly 😂🤣 Even me, Mr. Stacked Rocks, can appreciate a beautiful scape!
@@kalamazoo_reeferfair enough 😅. My scapes are typically bulkier than those “hyper-spindly” scapes. Those skinny ones don’t give enough habitat for fish.
That’s my primary concern. The poor fish on those insanely spindly scapes, man. Lol! They’re just like always scared and lost 🤣
For the price of a roller mat can buy a lot of filter socks 😜 Throw em in the wash then dip in ro and dry, call it a day.
ioaoi makes pretty solid stuff at great prices. Kinda like jeboa/jecod. Have this in non-usb style on a fluval evo 13.5 more than enough flow at constant 6/7 setting. All the included gear for cleanly routing the wiring was a classy touch. Packaging was top notch.
There’s entirely too much energy being spent on this subject. Venture capitalist have a playbook, and what’s happening to BRS is part of that playbook. Sure maybe they weren’t straight up with their intentions with the owners of BRS when they were courting them, but this isn’t the first time a venture capitalist has done this. My wife worked for 30 years for a major luxury retailer. We watched various venture capitalist buy the company gut it and sell it and then it happens over again. Products that are good and worth their salt are gonna find other outlets if some companies get hurt because they got in bed with BRS then so be it. If they’ve got any strength at all they will weather and learn something from it. As for me, I spread my cheese around to champion lighting supply, saltwater aquarium, and TSA aquatics when I’m not visiting my local fish stores. Can we just talk about reefing, please?
There are myriad other podcasts for you to listen to, full of guys yupping it up about their favorite fish or coral of the week. That sort of content is not what I generally do. Sorry to disappoint you. Incidentally, though, my next episode, which is already uploading as I write this, is just me casually chatting about my reefkeeping methodology and my tank, so that might suit your taste more. I don’t exclude the “fun and games” content, I just don’t trend toward it exclusively, like many other reef-centric podcasters do.
Who are the best alternatives to BRS for buying Reef Supplies?
Champion Lighting & Supply, SaltwaterAquarium-dot-com, Premium Aquatics, etc. There are many smaller distributors out there who aren't controlled by big venture capital operations.
I'm in the camp of if I was Ryan I would have taken the bag....I'm thinking after his sabbatical he retires.
I think there never was a sabbatical. He's gone, as far as I'm concerned, and always was.
@@kalamazoo_reefertotally! It was probably away to transition and live up to his contract terms.
Now that would’ve been a brilliant move 🤣
CRITICAL NOTE: Replace AquaForest commentary with Reef Factory. Both European. Totally mixed those up. Oof. I feel kind of terrible about that, my apologies to AquaForest.
1:01:45 what's the whirring in the background? Please tell me it's not that awful autofeeder
@@gomisreef I don’t hear it! I tried to listen for it twice. I muted the entire video before marrying it to the spoken audio, there shouldn’t be any noise. That’s so weird.
@@kalamazoo_reefer Maybe it was in my apartment haha
Is that true about aqua forest? I knew that was trh deal with reef factory. I didn't know AF did the same
Can’t believe I mixed those up. They’re both European and I flipped them in my head. I added a pinned comment instantly. Nobody else caught it. I feel awful about that.
@@kalamazoo_reefer Just listening now and I wondered wtf is he talking about. AF is a very strong brand in Europe with a good reputation. I think they'll find a new distributor here and move on. Reef Factory just did the same thing that Ryan did, took the best financial option. Business is business.
Ha yeah, I added a note to the episode about the mixup and apologized in the episode I posted today. Sorry AF 😂 Only human.
I’m glad someone touched on this subject . I’ve seen the good days of this company . Endless choice of products now it’s like walking in the Kalahari desert 🌵. I recommend people getting replacements parts for some of the equipments they still carry because lot of theirs products are being discontinued
Replacement parts themselves are a whole other facet of this. They’re starting to shift away from replacement parts entirely. Fodder for another episode. But your advice is sound.
Brs is dead to me. I got back into the hobby about 6 years ago and brs was my place. Once they sold out there not the same at all. I do think the hobby has priced itself out of a lot of people’s budget more so now than ever.
Absolutely. Too many companies and corporations taking advantage of prices of everything going up, and hiking their prices like crazy. Massive profit is all fun and games until suddenly the spigot starts to give out.
Another thoughtful video. Thank you
I might be totally wrong. But I used what perspective I could offer to hash out what I think could come to pass.
I cant help but wonder if Ryan and his partner saw the numbers growing far more than expected and saw lots of profit and decided to reach out to Apeture and other investors to pitch their businesses and convince them that it was a great investment but were smart enough to know it may not last but what a time to sell at top dollar. He agreed to stay on to not piss people off but knew he'd eventually leave with excuses all in a charade to make us think that shit just happens. Plot twist. He had already gotten Neptune and Ecotech to sell too as a package deal. Lol
It’s possible. I’m not sure who called who, we may never know, unless it’s been stated and I just haven’t heard. But him just quitting in the middle of the new “52 Weeks” makes it seem like he just got totally fed up. Lol.
I like AF there stuff is pretty good and it works but this is the same thing like the railroad/big UA-camrs all get bought up and liquidated basically and then the company shuts down or runs on skeleton of what it used to be but imma capitalize on the sales tho
Oh I have definitely capitalized on some sales! I try to redirect my dollars, but sometimes, that price is just too sweet. Hopefully everyone has snagged a thing or two. A deal’s a deal.
It’s getting rough my two saltwater shops by my house hurting one guy does DoorDash part-time trying to keep the doors open, and the other guy had to get rid of half of the staff
Oh it’s bad. For sure. The hobby’s hurting.
While I emphasized this multiple times in the episode, I’ll say it plainly here again: this interpretation of what’s going on, and projections about possible future paths for BRS, are all just conjecture. Clearly something is going on, but I can only work with my knowledge set and publicly known details. Nevertheless, I felt it warranted discussion.
Some supply
nems split either because of happiness or stress. I love hate nems splitting in my tanks, because If I'm too lazy to catch one to trade, it might move around and sting my coral :(
What power level (percentage) are you running your Nero’s on?
@@TheJamester28 I set their intensity range to 55-70%.
well, it's been 5 months. What worked? Or have the bubbles become our new overlords?
Dude really liked to hear about your microphone cause I could tell right away that you had a quality Mike phone so definitely good money spent. Congratulations on the promotion dude. Hell yeah you work for that. You deserve it. Great perspective on Reef Builders and intriguing. well flowing conversation. Not an easy thing to do!
Why would anyone keep buying Radions that cost more, put out less light and by all accounts are a pain in the ass to use via Mobius?
@@ttown918 Because hype. And Aperture is pretty good at generating that. But by any logical measure, Radions are not worth the cost, when compared to the field.
Your analogy about Alfa is complete opposite in my experience with foxface ( one spot one)
@@estonianreefer2851 Interesting! Yeah, I was surprised to see mine act this way.
You should use the DC barrel plug to power the Nero or mp40. Should be more efficient then converting ac to dc.
@@nueok No stomach for tearing into my Nero control boxes to make that work. Not for now, anyway. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll try it. I’ve actually connected my return pump to it since this video.
@@kalamazoo_reefer actually you wouldn’t rip anything out. You’re basically replacing the power supply(brick) of the Nero. Replacing the brick with a 12v to 24v booster cable. Similar to what Ecotech sells for their vectors pumps. The EcoFlow river pro can power just the power heads in an event of a power outage, probably last hours and hours. And the other EcoFlow river you have can power you ac stuff. Just an thought:)
Nero should be plug and play long as you can find the proper barrel plug sizes and adapters. The power supply is doing an AC to DC power conversion so efficiency is lost. Also the EcoFlow is doing a DC to AC, so lots of current being switched back and forth causing tons of losses. When you turn on the AC plug on the EcoFlow, it needs to convert the DC to AC.
I see Ryan Batchellor as the #1 contributor to the success of people entering and progressing in the hobby, which hopefully, countered the impact of the two "Tanked" clowns who made it look too easy. Tanked probably contributed to the greatest demand and death rate for fish and corals in the world. How many times did they say "adding this stuff instantly cycles the tank"? Ryan's videos were based on his personal structured research in various areas. BRS is on a slide downward. BRS bought out the competition (Marine Depot) , then shut it down. During the COVID period of reefkeeping growth, Bertram/Aperture tried cornering the market with several equipment manufacturers, along with BRS. Now things have slowed down considerably, and Aperture is in big trouble financially. With the face of BRS leaving, it could be the nail in the coffin for Aperture.
I've never had much coralline growth, but I've always had beautiful reef tanks. I've mad the decision to paint my new aqua scape purple. I think that would be really cool
Reef builders is cool, I suggested that they have a tech segment because life support is a big factor, 90% of the questions if you work as a retail associate are not biome related though I get that’s where the current trend is going and it is important to hold companies accountable.. in the past the “product reviews” lack important info, power consumption, maintenance, capabilities, tech specs, that would allow budget minded buyers (the vast majority) to appropriately select equipment and use it properly… Remy said it’s an interesting idea, no dice yet.. just my two cents.. we need to be holding the tech creators accountable too not just biome product manufacturers
I’m pretty confident that they’ll get back into the gear side of the hobby eventually. As a total gearhead, I’d love to see that kind of content. Totally hear ya.
Congrats on the promotion from a fellow TT prof.
Thank you very much!
Congrats on your faculty appointment! That is great news for you and your family. I just went up in rank from assistant to associate professor…wasn’t fun and very all consuming to get there…but can breathe a little bit now. Wishing you success this year on your podcast as well; really enjoy it and the topics you cover!
You know, it makes sense to me that you’re a teacher. Lol. I absolutely get that “vibe” from you, as the kids would say 😂 Many thanks, my friend. It was a long road to get to this point. Really slowed myself down by deviating into the private sector for a few years, but doing that confirmed that I was destined for teaching. Just a vastly better fit for me in all ways. Keep up your content, I watch it all. We’re representing the reefer-teachers!
@@kalamazoo_reefer I must confess, I am 100% on the research track, so don’t teach, but do guest lecture sometimes. I unfortunately don’t possess your qualities…It would likely take me 2-3 times longer to build out some worthy curriculum for sure!
Thats very intereresting. I always suspected about a bad correlation between aminos and dinos specifically, since there are many reefers stating that the start of amino dosing triggered dino outbreaks. This was particularlly about the red sea ab+ but now im starting to think that the whole amino acid insertion can lead to many other bad outbreaks, not only dinos. Great video. First one i see covering this topic.
Thanks, friend! Yeah, the companies of the reefkeeping hobby just want people to keep buying bottles of juice. That’s their whole angle. So just because corals happen to use amino acids, the companies go: “Great, let’s encourage reefkeepers to buy bottles of aminos and dump them in their tanks, more cash for us.” People don’t know the science. So they buy the bottles, trying to help their animals. In reality, corals get plenty of aminos, even from us feeding our fish, so we’re excessively flooding our systems with aminos by dosing them out of bottles, and very likely fueling more bad guys than we are helping the good guys. I respect the science above all else, and this is what the science is indicating.
Congratulations on the faculty position! That’s awesome! The adjunct thing sounds like it would be terrifying. As a nurse I’ve never had to worry about availability of work and it’s something I definitely appreciate after hearing about your situation. Microphone sounds good btw!
Thanks Trevor! Man, it has been a long time coming. I was starting to really stress about getting enough classes to pay the bills. Now things should be much more stable. And glad the mic worked well!
@@kalamazoo_reeferyes agree mic is great. You’re in the top 5% of audio quality on UA-cam now
Hahaha good to know! I didn’t realize the bar was so low, but I’ll take the win!
@@kalamazoo_reeferoh it’s REALLY low. 😆
I don’t think Jake was a dick I think he was just a smart reefer If you owned a dog (coral) and someone asked what kind it was I would think you could have told them
He was absolutely a brilliant reefkeeper. However, if someone told me they owned a weener dog, I wouldn’t correct them and say: “Don’t you mean a Canis Lupus Familiaris?” That’s more what I’m talking about. He was not a bad person or anything of the sort, it was just who he was, his natural personality, and he owned it instead of trying to temper it.
I agreed with @kalamazoo_reefer that Jake could be a dick. On time he called out my YT post for disagreeing with him without really providing evidence to contradict me. I don't mind that he called me out, but he definitely didn't like to have a conversation - it was his way or you were wrong.
All RB needs is thomas for product reviews 🙏
They should totally poach him LMAO
Would the same concept apply to carbon dosing
@@cesarjuarez2066 You’ll never keep all carbon addition out of your tank, I don’t think, just because you’ve got to feed the animals, especially if you’ve got fish. But yes, I try to reduce all carbon sources contributing to dissolved organic carbon levels in my reef tank.
Interesting and thoughtful episode. Jake got me back into the hobby despite his shortcomings. Thank you.
Jake helped me a ton in this hobby. I tried to give him all due credit, while still being honest about my views on everything.
Best salt you can get is fauna marin, cleanest salt and everything in it matches natural sea water.
I know very little about it. Actually, I didn’t know they sold a salt mix! Interesting.
All of their products are really good, it's all I use besides red seas 4 part dosing regiment@@kalamazoo_reefer
I enjoyed listening to this episode on Spotify during my drives, thank you! I also thought Remy and the RB crew are doing a fantastic job right now, and I have been enjoying their pods, videos & in-depth contents. 👍👍
Much appreciated, sir! I put a lot of thought into this episode and tried to be very honest about how I see this aspect of the hobby.
Season 2!!
I have a full tank of sps and I can see that dosing amino does have good affect for my tank. I can only speak for my tank as every tank is different.
@@michaelho1671 I subscribe to the science, not to experience. The actual science shows that adding additional aminos to your tank is likely not that beneficial to the animals, but highly beneficial to pathogenic “bad guys” in the microbiome. Of course, with great reefkeeping practice, you can keep visible negative impacts of significant extra amino acid dosing at bay. This creates a sort of falsehood, where you’re attributing success to amino acid dosing that you should really just be attributing to your good coral husbandry. At least, this is my take on the whole thing, after listening to leading scientific minds in the hobby.
I think people fail to realize that amino acids are the building blocks of protein. What’s in fish food? Mostly protein. What’s in protein? Amino Acids. Therefore, everyone is dosing amino acids if they are feeding their tank. Adding a specific bottle of amino acids just isn’t necessary. A 9th grade biology class refresher would do this hobby wonders and save people a lot of money.
@@TrevorHiller Right. You’re putting them into your tank all the time. Dumping way more than needed into the tank just isn’t needed. Some lesson in there about “too much of anything isn’t good” or something, you know?
Yes Trevor!
@@gomisreef Trevor’s the man.
Just picked up the 512w River 2 Max one for my reef tank...will run the entire tank 3 × Ai Prime lights, heater, 3× DC Pumps for 5 hours and if i just run the essentials the dc return pump and 1x wavemake its good for 48+ hours
Fantastic unit. That’s what I run on my main system.
Man I hope AA’s aren’t that much of a problem. I got a shit ton of AF reef salt to go through 😢
Me too. I’ve got it off my main system. But I’ll be using the rest up on my other two tanks. Sad panda.
@@kalamazoo_reefer Tropic Marin pro reef was good for me but not my pockets. Let’s hope for a sale soon