Initial Thoughts: ReefBuilders Conducting Grand Auto-Tester Showdown/Evaluation

[@TacticalReefkeeping777]

Great video sorry for not commenting for a while been busy but been loving your podcasts keep it up ❤😂😂

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

All good brother, I’m slammed too. I totally get it. Keep on reefin’ on!

[@boosterman7023]

I love all the frequent updates! Two Podcasts in a row and a video.

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

You know how I be during the academic year! Once I know my schedule, I crank!

[@Danzig1387]

Crushing the content this week, keep it up man!

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

Thank you sir!! Feels good to be rolling again.

[@telegraham]

I’m interested in what new info Reef Builders will bring to this old party. Testers are well understood.

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

I agree, but I am glad to see them wading back into the gear side. Back in the day, they were always a source I’d look to for gear information/guidance. And then after I learned what they had to say, I’d just pull the trigger on whatever BRS told me to buy. Lol. Good times.

[@kaseyascani127]

There is an “early days BRS investigates” size hole in the reefing hobby right now. We need someone who will test gear and methods objectively and impartially.

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

Wholly agree. And I can think of no entity better positioned to 1. Get their hands on all the gear and 2. Present a legitimate accounting of that gear (given their sponsorship is spread out so much, and no one seems like they’d be heavily favored in any significant way). I hope they really take this new idea of theirs and run with it.

[@gomisreef]

I want to say ReefingwithO made a great suggestion with the costing. I think they need to test long term performance too. Not just a one and done. If they don't wait for the Maven and then throw shade that's really dumb and shitty. We know it's not ready until Thanksgiving. So either they send you a beta unit, if it performs badly it will be a painful blow. Or they say no it's not ready yet, and they'll get slammed for that. They're potentially in a lose lose scenario there. Yet we know they're probably not ready yet

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

Not sure when their reporting is going to drop on this, but to be in time for the holidays, I’m guessing it would be before Thanksgiving. Testing the units for a few weeks makes sense. If they do that, I’m betting the testing begins relatively soon. If the holdout is indeed CV, and they won’t send a beta unit, I think it’s safe to assume that the Maven is very likely not going to drop in 2024, which would be interesting news in and of itself. If they don’t have a beta unit they’re confident in right now, that means they’re nowhere near mass-production readiness. It’s almost September. I guess RB could always circle back around and give the Maven special coverage and consideration, if they aren’t prepared. But if there’s no beta unit ready in time for testing, this close to their stated “mass release” date, were I in RB’s shoes, I probably wouldn’t make an exception and wait on CV to drop the Maven, because we’re very likely looking at 2025 for that product to drop, if all the above regarding the Maven is, in fact, the case. Waiting would be a losing proposition for RB in this instance, I’d think. Thoughts?

[@winstonclyde]

I hope they wait for the Hydros Maven

[@ReefingwithO]

I think they are going back to their roots - Reefbuilders was known for equipment reviews

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

I like it!!!

[@MatixReef]

What is the live stream you are talking about?

[@MW-ut3dk]

If they are then that’s what I used to like about BRS… objective facts not sales hype

[@gomisreef]

@ReefingwithO you made a great point on price and running costs

[@Danzig1387]

Just curious, what do you use to clean your glass?

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

On the inside or on the outside? Lol!

[@Danzig1387]

@@kalamazoo_reefer both i guess haha. I have the same exact tank as you, working on setting it up.

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

I use a flipper magnetic glass scraper (the soft side) daily on the front and side. Back glass I use a flipper hand scraper every Saturday. To clean smudges on the outside, a shot of standard Windex on a sheet of paper towel. Boom done. If you stay on top of it, you save yourself a lot of work.

[@rolandmuncie]

They are not entirely an independent entity without strong industry ties. Raj owns both RB and MRC. They cooperate with many different vendors on product integration, pretty sure they don‘t want to step on toes.

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

MRC is heavily public aquarium side. Doesn’t bother me. I don’t sense any fear in them about being very honest about the realities of products in the industry. Remy and Salem have not hesitated to expose and openly discuss the myriad of bacillus-in-a-bottle products championed by many companies. I see no reason why gear examinations would be any different, especially if there’s a set of data points they’re hitting across the board, on every product equally. The data will speak. RB doesn’t have to make judgement calls, if they let the data pass judgement for them.

[@KCYT2010]

There's extemporaneous speaking and there's choosing your words carefully. One is more effective. Where do you think you fall ?

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

One of the more interesting comments I’ve received, probably. Do you teach, by any chance? It seems to me that oftentimes people have slightly differing definitions for extemporaneous speech, but by my understanding (read: that it includes a good bit of preparation), I’d say I kind of hybridize the two. I certainly try to think through and organize my thoughts thoroughly before I hit “record,” but no more formal preparation than this goes into it, and certainly no rehearsing anything. I don’t have time or interest in going to such lengths to produce content. Then I attempt (and often fail) to choose my exact words carefully “on the fly,” so as to explain my thinking best to those who wish to watch/listen.

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

I will add: I’m not sure what the implication is behind the comment, whether you meant it as a shot over the bow or if it was a true question. If you see me as someone who’s just talking out of my rear end, I get it. I’m not some science mind or deeply experienced hobbyist. I don’t claim to be of high intelligence or worthy of being listened to in some special regard. I just really love talking about reefkeeping and trying to examine and understand the hobby. If I’m wrong, like I was when I accidentally mentioned AquaForest instead of Reef Factory (I saw your comment regarding that), I do everything I can to correct the misstep. I don’t intend to ever mislead anyone. I also don’t intend to come off like a numbskull, though I’m positive it happens regularly.

[@KCYT2010]

@@kalamazoo_reefer Not a shot across your bow, what ever that means to you. I've only watched a couple of your videos and it just seemed to me that you often start focused but then you sound like you're reconsidering what you're saying as you're saying it, or feel the need to qualify it and you digress. It's hard to listen to. Ask your students if you do that when you lecture and if it's frustrating to try and follow. I'm just commenting, trying to be helpful, because you seem genuinely interested in sharing good information. You can ignore me.

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison with teaching, I guess, because I’m more or less an expert in the subject matter I teach for a living. Reefkeeping, however, is far less certain and complex ground for me to trod. Perhaps, over the course of years, I’ll be able to speak on reefkeeping the way I can in the classroom, and you may enjoy the content more at that point. It takes many years to spit golden reefkeeping content at even a fraction of Reef Beef quality. 😂