I will say to anyone new here, well worth looking at the range of BRS videos if you have not already. Interesting how even in the year which I have been looking at things, the ideas have changed about nutrient levels. I know when I started research the idea was almost starving the fish to keep nutrients low. Now it's low phosphates and nitrates may cause problems with dinoflagelettes. It goes to show how we all can learn something new and we may need to open to new thinking. I would like to thank the BRS team for helping me learn a lot of the knowledge I have, even though I will never, not being in the US, actually purchase anything from them. You've contributed to a lot of my knowledge and therefore enjoyment of the hobby greatly. I'll throw it out even though it's off topic and say my biggest regret with the hobby is not having commonality between manufacturers. Being able to use an ecotech UPS with say maxspec gyres. Being able to export say the apex/profilux data in XML and import them into an independent log tracker. For some you can get additional "interfaces" but would be far better for consumers if things had commonality.
Been in the hobby for 26 years. The 52 weeks of reefing is some of the most valuable information ever released. The WWC series was also FANTASTIC!!! Changed the way I reef and my tanks show the results. Keep putting out the great content!! Really appreciate what you do for the hobby! 👍👍
This, in my opinion, is one of the most valuable videos you guys have released to date. 52 weeks of reefing is actually what built my confidence to the point where I felt comfortable taking the plunge into doing a reef tank, and more specifically an sps reef tank. These videos are also largely the reason I chose to purchase nearly every piece of equipment for my tank from you guys. However, I will say that there were some topics of 52 weeks of reefing that still left me with questions. I believe that myself and others included could really benefit from seeing the specific data points of the tank and the ebb and flow of this information throughout the growth of the tank. For example, I think a simple write up of this tank similar to the R2R tank of the month threads would be really useful in demonstrating what type of parameters you guys have strived for and how they changed over time and what you guys have done to react to those changes. Specifically, I'd be interested to know more about what levels of nitrate and phosphate the tank has run at, what type of photoperiod and spectrum the tank has run at, are you guys still running carbon and gfo, what types of additives did you guys ultimately end up sticking with in regards to amino acids and the likes as well as any other supplements you guys may be using and then how are these additives dosed. These data points from the conception of the tank to current I believe would be really useful to a lot of reefers, myself included.
As a complete saltwater newb your 52 weeks of reefing was INVALUABLE! You guys are truly legendary. Thank you so much for all your hard work and long hours.
Having watched a large part of this series, I have greatly appreciated all the lessons which helped me plan my first full system. I can also say that this sold me on Triton, which I will be running at home. My personal background is in plant and soils science, so I adore the idea of a refugium system based on frequent testing against natural levels. Thank you for all the great information
Bravo! Refreshing to see someone willing to say that they didn't really know it all. Feeding only half a cube of frozen food a day to a tank with more than a few fish is a fast track to starvation/animal cruelty...
Very good episode of the BRS 160. I was waiting for this video to wrap my mind of my own conclusion. Now I realized I don't have enough space under my tank and in my fish room for these gadgets ;)
I did actually message your HR person! I would just love to be a part of your team, I live near Minneapolis :) I can't wait to hear back, I would love a tour!
Thank you so much for all the effort you guys put in to educate the reefing community ! Now , all I need is to calculate how much I need to have a similar setup , wish me luck guys !
So true about the calcium reactor. Carbon Doser, Milwaukee controller set at 6.5 pH and Kamoer pulling from the reactor at the necessary rate based on a few tests. So many people have over complicated this I think mainly to overcome clogging effluent valves and unreliable regulator bubble counts. The Carbon Doser regulator and perastaltic pumps like the Kamoer have made all this fiddling a thing of the past. My alk and Ca are rock steady now.
Awesome series. It’s where I started my journey and now I feel I have a good knowledge base and I have a thriving Waterbox 230. When things go wrong, as they always do in this hobby, I have the tools to fix them. Thank you both
The 160 you guys have is still my dream tank.. If for some reason you ever decided to tear it down, I definitely would want to get it from you guy's. Keep up the GREAT work. 👍👍
I’ve seen too many episodes lol. I think this is a great series to get into reefing I’m looking at starting my tank hopefully mid summer and I’ll be stocking up tell then. Thanks for the great advice
filling my ato reservoir is part of my water change routine, so when the reservoir is empty (15 gallons), then that serves as a reminder to do another water change
I travel a lot for work - and my dogs REFUSE to do my water changes. So I bought a Flood Guardian from BRS and I turn it on twice a week with my Apex which fills my container automatically. It still makes me nervous, but it hasn't missed a beat yet!
Thanks for sharing your troubles. I had velvet in the first year of my 100 gallon. I saved a few of my fish but it was very discouraging, good to know it can happen to anyone. I have a full QT setup now fish and coral.
I'm a new reefer and I recently lost a tomini tang, a clownfish, and an algae blenny to what I think is velvet. I reduced the flowrate on my UV and made sure the rest of the fish are well-fed. I'm currently fighting to the best of my limited knowledge. Your videos help immensely but it sure is heartbreaking.
I had one of those crappy lights for a refugium back in 2008. Makes sense that the high intensity lights work better. Just look at the intensity of grow lights for the MJ industry.
I studied aquaculture, and most facilities do the "automatic and constant water change" as they suck water from the ocean continuously and then drain it. It is funny how you ended up right at the start. Stage 1: constant ocean water Stage 2: recirculation with water changes Stage 3: constant water changes!
Those are twin spot gobies. VERY picky eaters and difficult to keep. We'd only suggest keeping them if you're ultra hands on and have the patience to spot feed every day.
I totally agree with your statement about Flucon and its impacts on alkalinity consumption. I saw the exact same thing. It made me wonder if the horror stories associated with flucon treatment (with SPS in particular) were due to not compensating for the decrease alk consumption. I also notices that after about 3 days of treatment the alkalinity consumption returned to normal.
Have to disagree with their statement at around 46:30. I found that high ph with the scrubber media absolutely was causing my precipitation issues. Stopped running the co2 scrubbing media and my precipitation went away...
How come you guys didn’t mount the vortech controllers on the board as well? PS...you can never do too many cord management videos. I need that in my life. Also what is that sleeve that you used to wrap all the wires in?
Are you guys running any form of mechanical filter? from the clips you showed of the sump, it just looks like the overflow goes straight into the cheato instead of through a conventional filter sock
We sometimes have a draw string filter sock tied to the drain output, but for the most part, there is very minimal mechanical filtration on this tank :)
Heavy in. Heavy out. Or.... my method of self sustain and tons of stability. Do you want to constantly do something to your tank or do you want to set the top off and walk away?
ATO system directly connected to the RODI unit...... doesn't this use up the ro membrane and DI resin faster having pressure, no pressure and so forth? My TDS readings out of the BRS RO unit goes up to almost 80 each time the system is turned on and then levels out to like 3 and then the DI brings it down to 0. If it's constantly sending 80 TDS water to the DI it seems they would be exhausted quickly.
@@BRStv I got my order of coral plus and blue plus today and they complement my kessil 360 very well. Just want to complement BRS on there fast an awesome shipping.
Hey guys, I noticed you talked about it being difficult to add new fish due to certain bullies in your tank? Who are the bullies primarily? Is it just everybody? I'm always considering stocking and am curious where caution or avoidance would be helpful.
Aren't RO/DI units pretty inefficient from TDS creep when doing really short runs like you'd be doing in an ATO situation? I'd love to remove my topoff bucket just to clear up the space, and not have to run 30ft of tube through my house when the bucket needs filled, but I'm not sure how to do it safely and efficiently.
We typically aim for a total tank average of 250-350. There will be some spikes above that and some valleys below, but if you were to map out the entire tank, it would average within that 250-350. I'd say that some of the peaks in the 160 are around 400-500.
Triton method is more expensive, especially if you have anything under 100 gallons plus it's definitely more of a pain. Also everyone I know that's used it for extended periods have some strange bad things that happen in their tanks. Just my 2 cents.
Next time Ya have to share the ups and downs cause a lot of us are here to learn what to do when things go wrong not to hear the everything is sweet and rainbow colors just saying love the channel but the dirty loundry needs to be share to
You could do 2% or even 1% if you want. Salt mix is about 40-50 cents a gallon so on a 120g that's like $50 cents to $1.50 a day depending on if you do 1-3%
Lol beautiful tank… but how is this helpful for average reefers… you got like 20k of electronics/equipment alone 😂. Should be called how to reef for millionaires lol
Holly I can’t believe it has been 5 years already. I remember waiting every week for the 52 weeks videos. Thanks for all the info guys!
I will say to anyone new here, well worth looking at the range of BRS videos if you have not already. Interesting how even in the year which I have been looking at things, the ideas have changed about nutrient levels. I know when I started research the idea was almost starving the fish to keep nutrients low. Now it's low phosphates and nitrates may cause problems with dinoflagelettes. It goes to show how we all can learn something new and we may need to open to new thinking. I would like to thank the BRS team for helping me learn a lot of the knowledge I have, even though I will never, not being in the US, actually purchase anything from them. You've contributed to a lot of my knowledge and therefore enjoyment of the hobby greatly. I'll throw it out even though it's off topic and say my biggest regret with the hobby is not having commonality between manufacturers. Being able to use an ecotech UPS with say maxspec gyres. Being able to export say the apex/profilux data in XML and import them into an independent log tracker. For some you can get additional "interfaces" but would be far better for consumers if things had commonality.
Been in the hobby for 26 years. The 52 weeks of reefing is some of the most valuable information ever released. The WWC series was also FANTASTIC!!! Changed the way I reef and my tanks show the results. Keep putting out the great content!! Really appreciate what you do for the hobby! 👍👍
This, in my opinion, is one of the most valuable videos you guys have released to date. 52 weeks of reefing is actually what built my confidence to the point where I felt comfortable taking the plunge into doing a reef tank, and more specifically an sps reef tank. These videos are also largely the reason I chose to purchase nearly every piece of equipment for my tank from you guys. However, I will say that there were some topics of 52 weeks of reefing that still left me with questions. I believe that myself and others included could really benefit from seeing the specific data points of the tank and the ebb and flow of this information throughout the growth of the tank. For example, I think a simple write up of this tank similar to the R2R tank of the month threads would be really useful in demonstrating what type of parameters you guys have strived for and how they changed over time and what you guys have done to react to those changes. Specifically, I'd be interested to know more about what levels of nitrate and phosphate the tank has run at, what type of photoperiod and spectrum the tank has run at, are you guys still running carbon and gfo, what types of additives did you guys ultimately end up sticking with in regards to amino acids and the likes as well as any other supplements you guys may be using and then how are these additives dosed. These data points from the conception of the tank to current I believe would be really useful to a lot of reefers, myself included.
As a complete saltwater newb your 52 weeks of reefing was INVALUABLE! You guys are truly legendary. Thank you so much for all your hard work and long hours.
This tank thru the series has helped so many be successful in the hobby. Can’t be said enough.
5 years! I've watched from the very beginning!!! I can't believe it! Awesome episode guys! I can't wait till part 2! 👍👍
Can’t believe some would give a 👎 down to very good and helpful research keep up the great work 👍👍👍👍👍
No worries, there are always haters 😉
Having watched a large part of this series, I have greatly appreciated all the lessons which helped me plan my first full system.
I can also say that this sold me on Triton, which I will be running at home. My personal background is in plant and soils science, so I adore the idea of a refugium system based on frequent testing against natural levels.
Thank you for all the great information
Bravo! Refreshing to see someone willing to say that they didn't really know it all. Feeding only half a cube of frozen food a day to a tank with more than a few fish is a fast track to starvation/animal cruelty...
Very good episode of the BRS 160. I was waiting for this video to wrap my mind of my own conclusion. Now I realized I don't have enough space under my tank and in my fish room for these gadgets ;)
I did actually message your HR person! I would just love to be a part of your team, I live near Minneapolis :) I can't wait to hear back, I would love a tour!
Thank you so much for all the effort you guys put in to educate the reefing community ! Now , all I need is to calculate how much I need to have a similar setup , wish me luck guys !
So true about the calcium reactor. Carbon Doser, Milwaukee controller set at 6.5 pH and Kamoer pulling from the reactor at the necessary rate based on a few tests. So many people have over complicated this I think mainly to overcome clogging effluent valves and unreliable regulator bubble counts. The Carbon Doser regulator and perastaltic pumps like the Kamoer have made all this fiddling a thing of the past. My alk and Ca are rock steady now.
Awesome series. It’s where I started my journey and now I feel I have a good knowledge base and I have a thriving Waterbox 230. When things go wrong, as they always do in this hobby, I have the tools to fix them. Thank you both
The 160 you guys have is still my dream tank.. If for some reason you ever decided to tear it down, I definitely would want to get it from you guy's. Keep up the GREAT work. 👍👍
Really enjoyed this long conversation - felt like a good podcast 👍
So awesome watching the evolution. Thanks for the info over the years
Summary: you need an entire space similar to a garage to have a saltwater tank. ;P
I definitely agree that being a “fish nerd” was much weirder before the internet. Great job, guys :)
www.amazon.com/Baensch-Marine-Atlas-3-set/dp/B000K7J5CM
You guys should have a companion book out for the little guys. I can 100% picture you as a fish magazine.
I’ve seen too many episodes lol. I think this is a great series to get into reefing I’m looking at starting my tank hopefully mid summer and I’ll be stocking up tell then. Thanks for the great advice
Dang 5 years already.. i remember waiting and looking forward to each weeks video : )
filling my ato reservoir is part of my water change routine, so when the reservoir is empty (15 gallons), then that serves as a reminder to do another water change
I travel a lot for work - and my dogs REFUSE to do my water changes. So I bought a Flood Guardian from BRS and I turn it on twice a week with my Apex which fills my container automatically. It still makes me nervous, but it hasn't missed a beat yet!
great information guys. thank you
Our new Trigger System 26” Emerald sump and new t 5 lights from brs have dramatically helped our corals grow better. thx brs
Can't wait for a video on the electrical side of things!
I got most of knowledge by u thanks sir u r the best in world
I haven't cleaned a jabao in a year and a half and it still works
Great vid chaps 👍👍👍
Thanks for sharing your troubles. I had velvet in the first year of my 100 gallon. I saved a few of my fish but it was very discouraging, good to know it can happen to anyone. I have a full QT setup now fish and coral.
I'm a new reefer and I recently lost a tomini tang, a clownfish, and an algae blenny to what I think is velvet. I reduced the flowrate on my UV and made sure the rest of the fish are well-fed. I'm currently fighting to the best of my limited knowledge. Your videos help immensely but it sure is heartbreaking.
I had one of those crappy lights for a refugium back in 2008. Makes sense that the high intensity lights work better. Just look at the intensity of grow lights for the MJ industry.
I was running a refugem 12 years ago....but I ran a HPS weed growing fixture....but it was so hot I had to down grade.
I've been out of the hobby for about 3 years and looking to get back into it. It seems like coral prices have gone through the roof!
For some of the "high end" collector pieces, you may be right. That said, there are still many deals to be had on some of the more common corals 😀
I studied aquaculture, and most facilities do the "automatic and constant water change" as they suck water from the ocean continuously and then drain it.
It is funny how you ended up right at the start.
Stage 1: constant ocean water
Stage 2: recirculation with water changes
Stage 3: constant water changes!
What's the goby at 2:36? Gotta get a pair of those for a future build
Those are twin spot gobies. VERY picky eaters and difficult to keep. We'd only suggest keeping them if you're ultra hands on and have the patience to spot feed every day.
I totally agree with your statement about Flucon and its impacts on alkalinity consumption. I saw the exact same thing. It made me wonder if the horror stories associated with flucon treatment (with SPS in particular) were due to not compensating for the decrease alk consumption. I also notices that after about 3 days of treatment the alkalinity consumption returned to normal.
Great video, but can we have more comparison shots to see how far corals and fish have come. How has various equipment held up?
If someone started this video half way through, they may think your talking about making atomic bombs standing in front of a fish tank 🤣
Someone please help!!! What is the fish @0:28 with the grey/black/orange. I LOVE IT!
That would be a Naso tang! 😃
Best automatic zeovit reactor is the PRS zeo reactor. I am using it for years. Automated and soild japanese engineering..
Have to disagree with their statement at around 46:30. I found that high ph with the scrubber media absolutely was causing my precipitation issues. Stopped running the co2 scrubbing media and my precipitation went away...
For the calcium reactor you could also add brightwell neo mag to dose your magnesium
The trick with the carx method you described is using a good ph prob and reader. Using a ph prob that is not reliable can cause disasters...
Make this a PODCATS!
How come you guys didn’t mount the vortech controllers on the board as well?
PS...you can never do too many cord management videos. I need that in my life.
Also what is that sleeve that you used to wrap all the wires in?
all good info.. however, i wanna see video shots / pictures of the corals.. cmon!
What are the pink fish with spots? Looks like there are 3 in the tank behind them.
I believe you're looking at our borbonius anthias 🙂 Beautiful fish!
@@BRStv exactly right. Thank you for the info! I agree. Beautiful!
Are you guys running any form of mechanical filter? from the clips you showed of the sump, it just looks like the overflow goes straight into the cheato instead of through a conventional filter sock
We sometimes have a draw string filter sock tied to the drain output, but for the most part, there is very minimal mechanical filtration on this tank :)
Heavy in. Heavy out. Or.... my method of self sustain and tons of stability. Do you want to constantly do something to your tank or do you want to set the top off and walk away?
ATO system directly connected to the RODI unit...... doesn't this use up the ro membrane and DI resin faster having pressure, no pressure and so forth? My TDS readings out of the BRS RO unit goes up to almost 80 each time the system is turned on and then levels out to like 3 and then the DI brings it down to 0. If it's constantly sending 80 TDS water to the DI it seems they would be exhausted quickly.
"I want you to carry these two buckets, walk, and spill as much as possible"
Would love to see a list of the successes!
@brs what t5 spectrum you settled on along side the LED?
they said blue plus
All ATI Blue Plus bulbs 🙂
How about the led, any specific spectrum mix you liked with the t5 choice?
@@DC-xg6gt all they said was they are using kessil 360x
@@BRStv I got my order of coral plus and blue plus today and they complement my kessil 360 very well. Just want to complement BRS on there fast an awesome shipping.
WE WANT A BRS PODCAST!
Already exists on Apple/Google platforms 🙂
@@BRStv no Spotify?
Does the pump/tube that removes tank water during the auto water changes get scuzzy?
We started with clear tubing and over time saw some gunky algae buildup in the lines. Now we're swapping them out for black to avoid that issue.
Hey guys, I noticed you talked about it being difficult to add new fish due to certain bullies in your tank? Who are the bullies primarily? Is it just everybody? I'm always considering stocking and am curious where caution or avoidance would be helpful.
In our case, the two Purple tangs seem to be the biggest aggressors.
Aren't RO/DI units pretty inefficient from TDS creep when doing really short runs like you'd be doing in an ATO situation? I'd love to remove my topoff bucket just to clear up the space, and not have to run 30ft of tube through my house when the bucket needs filled, but I'm not sure how to do it safely and efficiently.
Was the tank zeovit befor triton ??
Yup it sure was! We started the BRS160 on Zeovit during the 52Weeks of Reefing series, then slowly evolved to other methods over the years.
@@BRStv and known in 2021 wich method would you recommend?
What is that new neon green mini colony Acro on top left? 😋 Great video! 👍🏼✅💯
I think the one you're looking at is the Green Slimer Acro :)
@bulk reef supply what is the par level at the top of your rocks currently when all lights are on?
We typically aim for a total tank average of 250-350. There will be some spikes above that and some valleys below, but if you were to map out the entire tank, it would average within that 250-350. I'd say that some of the peaks in the 160 are around 400-500.
@@BRStv thanks!
Triton method is more expensive, especially if you have anything under 100 gallons plus it's definitely more of a pain. Also everyone I know that's used it for extended periods have some strange bad things that happen in their tanks. Just my 2 cents.
Bio-pellets + Chaeto + Zeovit supplements/additives + 2 part dosing + No waterchange; for me.
Time flys super fast
Next time Ya have to share the ups and downs cause a lot of us are here to learn what to do when things go wrong not to hear the everything is sweet and rainbow colors just saying love the channel but the dirty loundry needs to be share to
Funny while talking about vectra there is a hint it failed on you guys..just say it ha ha
Surely 3% daily auto water changes is too expensive in salt on anything but a really small system?
You could do 2% or even 1% if you want. Salt mix is about 40-50 cents a gallon so on a 120g that's like $50 cents to $1.50 a day depending on if you do 1-3%
Man, those are big borbonius you got
Hello there #brsteam
👍🏾👍🏾
Buffers do work. You just need to know more chemistry to understand what it does.
Lol beautiful tank… but how is this helpful for average reefers… you got like 20k of electronics/equipment alone 😂. Should be called how to reef for millionaires lol
Please leave me alone
Sorry i forgot, you guys difinetly mentioned the tank height for the tank behind!! Can anybody answer me，please?
The tank itself is 20" tall. The tank and stand together are roughly 57.5" in height.
@@BRStv thanks for your reply. I though it is way shallower lol. About 15 or so.