- It's BRS360 Thursday, episode three,
and it's time to share
that second part of my reefing journey
where BRS and BRStv came from.
Like last week,
many parts I've never told on YouTube before.
Hopefully you'll get a deeper insight into what we do here
and what these series are all about.
That's coming up.
(drum beats)
Hey, I'm Ryan, your host at BRStv,
where it's all about fun, successful paths
to tanks you can be proud of.
This is the BRS360,
a full circle journey
taking everything we've learned about reefing,
transforming those experiences into a 360-gallon reef tank.
This week is all about the back story,
context for what you're going to see in this series.
Where did BRS and BRStv come from?
You probably won't learn a whole lot
about how to set up or maintain a reef tank today,
so it might seem a bit foreign
to start a series on building a reef tank this way.
But my personal tank, BRS, and BRStv
has always been the back story
for all the builds we've done together.
Today you'll see how two guys with three grand each
quit their jobs, built bulk resupply,
and at the same time went from that first view on YouTube
to 1,300 individual reefing videos,
nearly 50 million total views,
and ultimately what's known as BRStv in the process.
I think you'll find the stories less about us
and more about the community's thirst for knowledge
and passion for their tanks.
Last week, you all got to see my first tank.
I didn't know it at the time,
but that wasn't just my first reef tank,
it also turned into a business.
BRStv is really the end product
of four reefing business endeavors.
For those that are interested,
we'll dive into that a little bit deeper
in today's Live immediately following this episode.
But I would like to give some context
as to how this all came together.
There are two phases in today's journey.
The four businesses that led up to Bulk Resupply
and how BRS forum transformed
into what it is today and BRStv.
The first endeavor was just Reef Chili.
Nine to 12 months into my first reef tank,
I decided to make my own frozen coral food
by chopping up shrimp, fish, clams, scallops,
fish eggs, nori, phytoplankton, copal pods,
golden pearls, amino acids, fatty acids,
selco daphnia, all kinds of things.
Making my own food was just an extension of the hobby
and something I enjoyed.
However, after using it for a few months,
I realized I'd made, like, 20 years' worth.
So I asked my local club if anyone wanted to buy some.
I sold it all in 10 minutes
and had requests for 10 times as much.
Reef Chili was born that day
simply because some of my reefing peers,
like me, wanted a different approach
to feeding their fish and corals.
As a hobbyist,
it was a dream come true for me when University of Hawaii
tested the dry Reef Chili and found it to be
one of the most beneficial coral foods they'd tested.
The next endeavor most of you probably never heard of
because it's pretty old but it was called MJmods.com.
I wish I could remember who started this project
so I could give them credit,
but I found a thread on Reef Central
where people were modifying Maxi-Jet pumps
with radio-controlled boat props
to make do-it-yourself powerheads.
Probably hard for you to understand
why anyone would do that,
but at the time two-inch Powerheads were the only maker
of high-flow powerheads and they cost $250 a piece.
So turning a $30 Maxi-Jet into a $250 pump
was a pretty attractive concept
and fit what was a hobby to me.
The project was something almost anyone could do.
It worked great, except there were a couple of challenges.
Buying all the components individually was super expensive,
hard to source,
and it was really hard to center the impeller perfectly.
A local club member that went by the name Spaz
solved that second issue by CNCing out some caps for me
which makes centering the rod effortless.
In the end, so many people wanted the caps,
they just started putting together cheap kits
that had everything you needed to do the project
with clear instructions.
Mjmods.com was born.
At the height, reefers were buying
nearly 2000 of these kits a month.
Each of these were hand-built in my basement
using the tools that I had available.
It's a miracle I still have fingers,
because it was not the safest process.
I need to throw out some credit here to Andrew Lawson
who was down there every weekend,
helping me build these.
In fact, he's been with me almost the entire way
and currently our senior purchasing agent here at BRS,
15 years later.
The third venture is the unsuccessful one.
I was growing coral so fast in my display tank,
I thought I could grow them in frag tanks and sell them.
I saved up and ultimately spent tens of thousands of dollars
getting the systems, electrical, ventilation,
and livestock for a coral propagation business
based around two four by eight foot tanks
and some clown breeding fish tanks.
In the end, I could've saved myself some time
by piling all that money up day one
and lighting it on fire.
I'd call this a total failure for a variety of reasons.
First, my skill set was not ready for this scale.
But even if it was, I think it would have still failed
because I was doing it for the wrong reasons.
No one was clamoring for another place to buy zoanthids,
clown fish, or bubble tips at the time.
I was doing this to make money
in an extension of a personal hobby for me.
I believe, because I was thinking about my own desires,
not how I could help others,
is why it failed.
Some of you may remember the fourth endeavor
as TwoPartSolution.com.
Around 2007, everyone was in the DIY chem trend
with Dowflake, a special brand of magnesium ice melt
and baking baking soda in the oven.
Problem was finding the 50 pound bags
if you didn't live in a winter state
or have a wholesale account with a chem supplier.
It was just hard to find
that special brand of magnesium chloride
that was deemed safe,
it was just near impossible to find.
Turns out we had distributors for both in Minneapolis
and they helped us source a suitable source of soda ash.
So reefers didn't have to bake the baking soda in the oven
to turn it into soda ash.
In this case, I brought in a coworker and friend,
Andrew Doneman.
We created TwoPartSolution.com.
Andrew and I had worked
at a grocery store together for a brief time and,
by chance, later found ourselves
working at the same steakhouse
for many years together, as well.
The problem we were solving turned out to be legit.
The difficulty finding this stuff was so hard
that the day we opened TwoPartSolution.com,
we had 10 orders a day and it went from there.
During the next year or so,
we added bulk carbon, GFO, RO filters,
dry rock, and other options.
Bulk Reef Supply and, shortly after, BRStv was born.
So looking back at that journey,
three successes based on helping people
find what they were looking for
or solving unique challenges.
And one failure based on what I was looking for.
There's a lesson in there, at least for me.
At that point,
there were two things that happened that catapulted BRS.
One, most people probably don't know about,
which is a business framework called EOS,
which gave a method to the madness.
And, of course, the entrance of BRStv.
I don't wanna bore everyone with entrepreneurial books,
but if anyone is interested in EOS or the book "Traction,"
ask in today's Live and I'll share a bit more.
It's just a healthy working structure for achieving goals.
However, without BRStv,
I think that would've been a moot point.
The very first episode was based on my own frustration.
Back in 2004, things were not like they are today.
I had a handful of SPS corals that never grew.
I went to the store and asked about calcium
and they sold me a container of Kent Turbo Calcium.
The instructions more or less said
add a teaspoon every week or so.
I did that and nothing happened.
So I just stopped.
A while later a local club member came over to my house,
showed me how to mix do-it-yourself two-part,
which was a lot cheaper.
More importantly, explained that
it's both calcium and alkalinity that's important.
Alkalinity even more so.
Best results come from daily additions,
showed me a calculator which did it accurately,
and then set up a couple dosing pumps that make it happen.
And boom, the tank was off to the races.
That 30 minutes that he spent with me
was a miraculous experience
that transformed the tank and my hobby.
An experience that founded episode one of BRStv
on June 26, 2008 over 11 years ago,
I asked my business partner for $1000
to buy a digital camera
and try and recreate that experience on YouTube,
which itself was only three years old at the time.
BRStv was born with an eight-minute video
on how to source, mix, adjust current levels,
begin daily dosing of two-part, and automate it if you want.
An attempt to replicate that experience
that someone gifted me and transformed my tank.
Only part that was missing
was the why calcium alkalinity even matters,
or the science behind it,
which would come later as I got better at this.
I think it's pretty obvious
I had zero skills at video at the time.
After that came the RODI videos, plumbing, carbon,
GFO, drilling holes, silencing your overflow,
all based on my own challenges
and just a wish that someone had told me
before I did it wrong the first few times.
Or even prevented me from stopping doing the right thing
because I didn't know what to expect from the results.
For instance, I brought 110-gallon tank
into a store to be drilled once,
which required a couple of guys to carry it,
a bunch of time, cash, and a pain in the butt.
Later, someone showed me
how ridiculously easy it is to do this at home
and I just had to share with others
so they could avoid that frustration.
This is where this comes full circle
with the beginning of today's episode.
Turns out, with BRStv we're filling a demand
that I didn't even realize but looking back it's clear.
The biggest source of pent up demand in the reefing industry
wasn't more products, better products,
or even cheaper products,
it was actually an easy-to-find source of accurate,
helpful information that makes reefing easier,
helps newer reefers find a higher percentage path
to the desired results that, in turn,
makes the hobby more fun.
Well we were selling product,
helping others succeed at their desired goals in life
is that reciprocal relationship where everyone was winning.
Fast-forward to today,
while there is a retail business that supports BRStv
and we do want to sell gear,
the most fulfilling path to that
is helping identify the right tool for the right job,
how to use that gear to achieve the desired results,
and what the results look like when realized.
When those looking for information are able to find it,
the success rates, results, and enjoyment just go up.
In the end,
reefers' success with their tanks is our success and,
again, that reciprocal relationship where everyone wins.
That success has really allowed us
to keep working on the quality, accuracy,
quantity, and helpfulness within BRStv.
So that's really what these series have all been about.
Ranging from Reed and I's
"How to Start a Saltwater Tank in my Basement,"
"Clown Harem Build in a Lobby,"
"BRS went 60 in 52 Weeks of Reefing in the Studio,"
"BRS/WWC Hybrid in the Lobby in My Office."
Clear paths to success, documented and explored.
And sharing the successes right along with the failures,
learning together,
now this time in a 360-gallon tank
I plan to maintain for a decade plus in my home.
Hopefully all this provides a clearer picture
to the professional journey
and how connected it is to my personal reefing journey.
Even more so than the reef tank itself,
my personal passion is learning new things
and then sharing them.
And this is just a good time to thank everyone
for helping me find my dream job
where Randy, the team, and I
all get to explore all things reefing every day,
learn and share almost in real time.
Without all of you caring about your tanks,
sharing the same passion for learning, sharing,
and producing reef tanks we can be proud of,
none of this would be possible.
So a big thank you to you.
In just a couple hours,
we've got two things happening.
First, Randy, my friend Jeff Jacobson, and I
are going live and talking reef businesses
so you can ask us anything you wanna know.
We'll share the secret sauce.
Jeff is a local tank installer
and does some of the best tanks in Minneapolis
and the owner of Vibrant.
As a special bonus, after today,
I'm also going to walk around
and give you a tour of the 30+ tanks here at BRS,
so by the end of the day there'll be a link here to the live
and a link here to the tour.
Pick your pleasure.