Shrinkflation by BRS
- Thread starter Mike konesky
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Sean Clark
7500 Club Member
I can not comment on If these claims are true or have any merit to them.
I will comment on the complete lack of sense that the hobby applied to dosing quantities.
For example... I dose 100 ml of alkalinity a day... What does that even mean? Nothing. What are you dosing and at what concentration?
I can mix up anything I like and call it a solution.
If BRS has changed the amount of material included in their 1 gallon solution pouches for their calcium additive then there are only a few possibilities.
1. They are selling less for more and you are getting less calcium per ml for your 1 gallon pouch.
2. They are selling you a more concentrated product; allowing them to ship you less product while still providing you the same amount of calcium per ml for your 1 gallon pouch.
3. (And I feel like this is the most likely) Nothing has changed. Moisture content is a variable and will cause a measurable weight difference when the actual product contents has not changed.
You mix up your supplement with a gallon of water and you get x amount of supplement per ml. That's it. It doesn't matter if your pouch weighs 400 grams or 500 grams. The content is the same.
I once received a sealed bag of "pretzels" full of air; sold by weight not volume. That doesn't mean that Schnider of Hannover is the big bad big business trying to get one over on me.
I will comment on the complete lack of sense that the hobby applied to dosing quantities.
For example... I dose 100 ml of alkalinity a day... What does that even mean? Nothing. What are you dosing and at what concentration?
I can mix up anything I like and call it a solution.
If BRS has changed the amount of material included in their 1 gallon solution pouches for their calcium additive then there are only a few possibilities.
1. They are selling less for more and you are getting less calcium per ml for your 1 gallon pouch.
2. They are selling you a more concentrated product; allowing them to ship you less product while still providing you the same amount of calcium per ml for your 1 gallon pouch.
3. (And I feel like this is the most likely) Nothing has changed. Moisture content is a variable and will cause a measurable weight difference when the actual product contents has not changed.
You mix up your supplement with a gallon of water and you get x amount of supplement per ml. That's it. It doesn't matter if your pouch weighs 400 grams or 500 grams. The content is the same.
I once received a sealed bag of "pretzels" full of air; sold by weight not volume. That doesn't mean that Schnider of Hannover is the big bad big business trying to get one over on me.
Last edited:
spsick
Valuable Member
They source a raw material. I work in the chemical industry and can say with certainty that 2 products spec’d the same from 2 suppliers may not be the same. 2 batches from the same supplier may not be the same in terms of concentration compared to weight OR volume. They do not list the moisture content and I feel this is the variable here.
The important part is what is the the concentration of the finished product? I’m betting the difference is smaller than what our hobbyist grade tests can decipher. Or maybe I’m completely wrong and they are different.
And this is why I went DIY.
piranhaman00
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So people buy there additives and dump it into a gallon and call it good??
You should be weighing out the chemicals and calculating the concentration anyway.
You should be weighing out the chemicals and calculating the concentration anyway.
A_Blind_Reefer
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Well, except for liveaquaria, RedSea, tropic marin salt, vibrant, instant ocean, hanna checkers, Neptune salinity probes, hahaha yeah. I’m just poking fun
workhz
Valuable Member
There’s a place called Texas Donuts that’s a little further away and I’ll hit them up once or twice a month. KK is still better than most supermarket donuts though. It’s something I’ll get 2-3 times a year when I’m craving a donut but everything is closed.
ColoredRock
Well-Known Member
how about this one
Powertronic Smart Power Bar
Smart Control Over Your Aquarium Devices Wireless control of device power from anywhere in the world Three Modes: On, Off, and Auto Includes 4 power outlets and 4 USB ports 24 hour scheduling of devices Responsive to Mastertronic or Alkatronic readings The Powertronic is a smart power bar...www.bulkreefsupply.com
its also the same thing as the hydros wifi that cost 39.99.
I have been shopping more at salwtwateraquarium.com/premium aquatics anymore as they have gone from good place to shop to now corporate greed
Can you get the amazon product to work with the focustronic ...
"The Powertronic is a smart power bar made to wirelessly control your devices from anywhere in the world. Use the Powertronic in conjunction with a Focustronic Mastertronic or Alkatronic in order to gain complete control over your aquarium system. Use the “Auto” mode to set rules that will trigger your equipment to turn on or off for any duration based on measurements taken by your monitoring devices. For example, when NO3 is too low, it can turn off your filter or skimmer for a couple hours or days to allow nutrients to raise up again."
the amazon product is OEM, that allows you to develop to its API...
Like you said on the hydros...this would be a better comparison.
Hydros Wifi Power Strip
Expand Your Hydros Controller! The HYDROS Power 4 WiFi Power Strip is a smart power bar designed to work specifically with the HYDROS controller platform. The Power 4 has four 120V AC outlets and four USB ports that are WiFi controllable using the HYDROS app for Android and iOS/Apple mobile...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
It's my own fault if i dont shop around. not the vendors.
Agree on the rest
Spare time
10K Club member
The only companies in this hobby that get on my nerve sometimes are AI (fantastic meltable lights) and Brightwell (absolutely horrible instructions that confuse people). Tropic marin get on my nerve in the same way Apple does lol
Jonreefer
Valuable Member
i dont know anything about the focus tronic. but I have that amazon powerbar on my Hydros and it acts 100% same as the unit that comes with the hydros.Can you get the amazon product to work with the focustronic ...
"The Powertronic is a smart power bar made to wirelessly control your devices from anywhere in the world. Use the Powertronic in conjunction with a Focustronic Mastertronic or Alkatronic in order to gain complete control over your aquarium system. Use the “Auto” mode to set rules that will trigger your equipment to turn on or off for any duration based on measurements taken by your monitoring devices. For example, when NO3 is too low, it can turn off your filter or skimmer for a couple hours or days to allow nutrients to raise up again."
the amazon product is OEM, that allows you to develop to its API...
Like you said on the hydros...this would be a better comparison.
Hydros Wifi Power Strip
Expand Your Hydros Controller! The HYDROS Power 4 WiFi Power Strip is a smart power bar designed to work specifically with the HYDROS controller platform. The Power 4 has four 120V AC outlets and four USB ports that are WiFi controllable using the HYDROS app for Android and iOS/Apple mobile...
It's my own fault if i dont shop around. not the vendors.
Agree on the rest
ColoredRock
Well-Known Member
Good point.. its not the powerbar hardware its the controller connecting to it, that is making the API calls to the powerbar.
AFHokie
Active Member
I completely agree that many companies change as they grow larger and what was once a great niche business becomes the “evil corporation.”
However, unless you live under a rock everything has increased in price. The last couple years have seen massive price increases in many materials. I don’t doubt “questionable” business practices but as the global economy changes so do bottom line costs.
In a hobby where people will drop $2000 on equipment that will do what a $15 test kit will with 5 minutes of time it seems silly that we get so wound up by 100g of chemical.
However, unless you live under a rock everything has increased in price. The last couple years have seen massive price increases in many materials. I don’t doubt “questionable” business practices but as the global economy changes so do bottom line costs.
In a hobby where people will drop $2000 on equipment that will do what a $15 test kit will with 5 minutes of time it seems silly that we get so wound up by 100g of chemical.
BroccoliFarmer
10K Club member
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