Disclaimer: This page contains advertisements and/or affiliate links. We receive compensation from clicks and/or purchases made through these links. Though we may not have tested the specific product(s) mentioned, we do our best to recommend products that are beneficial to our visitors.
BRS No Longer Carrying CoralVue and GHL Products
Last updated on June 1st, 2024
Bulk Reef Supply Drama
If you follow certain social media groups or watch the forums, I'm sure you noticed some drama around BRS, GHL, Hydros, and a few other brands. I'm not going to dig into the "right" or "wrong" or the outlooks on any of this, but rather just lay out the information currently available.
What Happened?
Long story short, a number of Hydros and GHL controllers were put on sale at Bulk Reef Supply without approval from the manufacturers. Many of these larger brands have a Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) that is allowed. By putting these items on sale, they break this MAP rule, and cause a stir about the fact that they are selling these products for far less than anyone else can.
Adding fuel to the confusion fire, they marked products as "Discontinued" after they sold out. This caused a variety of questions, because the products are not actually discontinued. Rather, BRS is not going to be selling these products any more. Making them "Discontinued by BRS". Though this label is on some of the products, but it is not on all of them.
Official Communication
So far, GHL and CoralVue have made brief communication informing reef keepers about what is going on.
So what does this mean?
It means less than I think you were hoping or expecting. Basically, if you're looking for any products that were "Discontinued" by BRS, like anything else they don't sell, you'll have to buy it elsewhere. Some places you can still buy these products are GHL (https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/usa/store/), saltwateraquarium.com, premiumaquatics.com, and a variety of other online and local retailers.
Why was this seemingly so dramatic?
The first reason was because BRS chose to use the word "Discontinued". So a large number of people thought that the Hydros products they were using were being discontinued entirely. This simply isn't the case. BRS just won't be selling them anymore.
Additionally, selling below MAP pricing causes a stir among retailers. MAP pricing is used for 2 reasons. The first is to make a standard price on quality products. That way there is a specific branding that goes with a product. The second is to keep all things fair across retailers. Larger companies can typically absorb larger losses, and sell for less than say an LFS. So MAP pricing prevents large companies from pricing small companies out of business.
Conclusion
What does this mean for Bulk Reef Supply? What about Hydros, and GHL? Or any of the other brands? Honestly, we don't know. We will all just have to wait and see. If nothing else, this should help clear the air about what happened.
About the Author
John Krenzer
John is a Software Engineer with a passion for saltwater aquariums, as well as the founder and president of Reef Stable. He started in the aquarium hobby as a child with a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium. His interest in aquarium life grew and in 2008, John set up his first saltwater aquarium.
Today, John maintains an over 300 gallon reef tank system, consisting of a 120g reef and a 210g reef. These large tanks are contained within the same system, sharing a sump as a means to reduce total maintenance and increase total water volume.
John writes articles for the blog as a means to learn about more reef aquarium topics. These articles act as a reference for the readers as well as himself. John updates these articles frequently to provide additional information or make corrections as new information becomes available.
If you would like to request an article, tank tour article, or to collaborate, let me know via the Contact Me Page!
Social Media