JCOLE's Big Box of Rocks

[dieselkeeper]

That's good news!! Glad the tank made it through IDA and sounds like its on the right track. Got a FTS?

I'll have dust off the camera and take some pics. I picked up a flame angel today. I can't believe he's eating pellets. It will be easy to keep him fat and happy. Hopefully he leaves coral alone.

 

[JCOLE]

Hope you're feeling better @JCOLE

Hey Tim! Yes much better. Just a tad fatigued still and loss of taste and smell which is the worst. Could be much worst though.

 

[JCOLE]

I'll have dust off the camera and take some pics. I picked up a flame angel today. I can't believe he's eating pellets. It will be easy to keep him fat and happy. Hopefully he leaves coral alone.

Yes sir! Time to take some photos! Need to start a build thread so I can have another thread to follow. I am sure he will leave the corals alone especially if he's eating pellets. Don't feed him for a couple days and it could be a different story.

 

[JCOLE]

Just found this thread that @ScottB started. I knew it! Vibrant is an algaecide!! Explains why I crashed my tank last year and explains why they say to go slow with it!!! I am beyond livid right now. I lost thousands of dollars and so much time spent on my system to crash it for over a year!! If this company would have been up front and honest with their product then I would have never used it. Read through the thread and it will blow your mind!

Great thread @ScottB and so glad for @taricha and others who put in the work to show their findings. I hope the company has to explain themselves one day!

Thread 'My speculation: Vibrant has some fluconazole in it...' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-speculation-vibrant-has-some-fluconazole-in-it.867114/

 

[ScottB]

Just found this thread that @ScottB started. I knew it! Vibrant is an algaecide!! Explains why I crashed my tank last year and explains why they say to go slow with it!!! I am beyond livid right now. I lost thousands of dollars and so much time spent on my system to crash it for over a year!! If this company would have been up front and honest with their product then I would have never used it. Read through the thread and it will blow your mind!

Great thread @ScottB and so glad for @taricha and others who put in the work to show their findings. I hope the company has to explain themselves one day!

Thread 'My speculation: Vibrant has some fluconazole in it...' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-speculation-vibrant-has-some-fluconazole-in-it.867114/

That thread was an amazing ride. I am glad you found it. I had forgotten the Vibrant role in your period of troubles. I've been OK with it, and I will say it works really well on Chrysophytes. I tried many different things on Chryso and got nowhere until the Hail Mary with Vibrant.

Once the chryso was gone though, GHA came in very fast so I restarted with Vibrant and noticed the odd "kill pattern" that mimics fluconzole.

I was so pleased that some super smart folks showed up with Taricha leading the charge. I really like the way his brain works.

 

[JCOLE]

That thread was an amazing ride. I am glad you found it. I had forgotten the Vibrant role in your period of troubles. I've been OK with it, and I will say it works really well on Chrysophytes. I tried many different things on Chryso and got nowhere until the Hail Mary with Vibrant.

Once the chryso was gone though, GHA came in very fast so I restarted with Vibrant and noticed the odd "kill pattern" that mimics fluconzole.

I was so pleased that some super smart folks showed up with Taricha leading the charge. I really like the way his brain works.

Yes it was! I read through every post and just when I didn't think my jaw could go any lower it continued until it hit the floor! Honesty what Taricha and that other member Jeff tested could go down as one of the best finds in our hobby for a long time. The owners of Vibrant are very misleading and if they would just say "Yes, there is a form of Algaecide in here" then they could save ALOT of headaches for people.

The problem is they are marketing it as this magic wonderful special bacteria that attacks algae and safe for all aquariums when it is actually more than that. An acro tank is not safe with Vibrant. They are just way to sensitive with an algaecide. The problem with Vibrant is it isn't quick. It's a slow burn. I have seen countless acro tanks suffer losses and then it's almost always that they used Vibrant or a "similar" product in the past and it just now is catching up.

My tank to this day still appears sterile. I actually miss the uglies at this point. My growth was really good when I had GHA and bubble algae. I would rather have algae and great growth than a sterile spotless tank and SLOW to no growth.

Anyways, you can tell I woke up this morning still a little upset about this. The biggest thing is the company is shady and will not tell the customers what the product truly is. They don't have a problem coming on this forum and arguing with @jda and other's but will never say what the product actually is. They need to just come out and say what is also in the product that kills algae besides this ultra rare bacteria they only know about.

They were probably banking on getting away with it because they know hobbyists are not going to spend thousands of dollars getting tests done in a lab, etc. What they underestimated was the big brains we have in this hobby that forged ahead and found out their dirty little secret!

 

[jda]

Here is the crazy thing... it took a guy that I know about 10 minutes with a tech in his lab to have a 100% assay of what is in it. He said that nearly every town with a morgue and a basic science set could do this... most college or HS chemistry teachers (Walter White?). You all would not believe the fanboy hate PMs that I have gotten over the few years... of course, you see the posts on threads where I tell people that it was an algaecide. Even on that thread that you posted, people are making excuses and trying to put forward edge cases as possible solutions... but it appears that most have accepted the obvious finally. Most people seem to understand why I never posted the results, even though I had many requests. I just wanted UWC to wise up, shut up and be honest and not to have somebody file an EPA complaint with them since QACs are regulated products and require instructions and disclosure on the container. I own a small business too, understand how hard it is and I guess that I am naive to think that they might change. I knew what was in it, but I could not show the work since I was not in the lab. They thought that I was trying to destroy them, but I was trying to help since I always figured that somebody would do the work, like what happened.

Combine organic carbon in there with the algaecide. Many who have had issues have had their building blocks drop too quickly too.

 

[drawman]

Very interesting guys I'll give it a read but I'm not surprised. A lot of these bottled bacteria have me skeptical but that's next level.

 

[JCOLE]

It's one of my favorite days today!!!

 

[BCSreef]

I still need to read all 14 pages of the @ScottB thread since I too have had issues with Vibrant.

I too used Vibrant once and only once in late 2019. just that one dose wiped out all algae including macro algae in my refugium. It was over a year until I was able to get good macro growth back. Like @jda, I run a high import high export (NO3, PO4). That one treatment sent my tank into a tailspin and nutrients skyrocketed. I never had the mass STN event that Josh had. but I believe I would have, had I continued to dose it.

My background in microbiology made me think the bacteria claim was dubious at best.

Thanks to all who conducted the detective work of which I am about to read..

 

[ScottB]

It's one of my favorite days today!!!

Who is in that box? Don't just leave us hanging!

 

[JCOLE]

Who is in that box? Don't just leave us hanging!

I like to leave a little suspense!

@BCSreef hooked me up with another shipment of beautiful healthy corals. Some of the one's I have had my eye on for a very long time. If anyone wants some nice true old school hobbyists sized frags then they need to reach out to @BCSreef ASAP.

TGC Creamsicle
BC Battlejuice
Blue Tip Purple Stag
UC Blueberry Shortcake
JF Shocktart
Nicks Purple Passion
BC Tubbs Mystic Blue
WTBO Raspberry Cheescake
BC Bubblebath Unicorn
Sexy Corals Orange Passion
CB Flaming Phoenix
WWC Afterparty

I will get some pictures a little bit later when the frag tank lights come on.

 

[JCOLE]

A little update on the system.

The good news is Covid allowed me to really focus some much needed time on the tank and not only is my passion back for the system but the tank seems to be on the upswing now.

Because of work, boys ball, and other things I really went through a 3-4 month spell where I really didn't think about the tank or even care which is worst. I neglected the tank and let it get way out of control. My NO3 and PO4 are the highest they have been in years. In the 30s for both. Just received my ICP back and it confirmed my high 38.9ppt salinity and high nutrients.

Last week I did a much needed deep cleaning on the sump, fuge, frag tank and did the first couple water changes in 4 months. I deep cleaned the skimmer and pump and I am skimming wet now with really good skimmate. I also lowered my T5s. I have thought for a while that the PAR just wasnt there even though the meter was showing ok levels. I lowered the lights about 2 inches on both the DT and the frag tank.

Must be on the upswing because corals are looking good Alkalinity consumption is really taking off now. Havent had to bump up the doser for awhile now. Usually keep the tank around 8 and it is fairly stable with a +/- .3 swing daily. However, since the changes it has shot down. Promising and definitely looking forward to the next couple months.

Alkalinity over this week.

 

[JCOLE]

Some of the frags I received last week. They are looking good and happy. Pictures do not do them justice and I tried to get a good representation of what they look like in person but still not true to what I see.

TGC Creamsicle

SC Orange Passion

CB Flaming Unicorn

ORA Hawkins Echinata

BC Tubbs Mystic Blue - I could not get a clear picture of the tips. The polyps are bright blue. Going to love this one.

Nick's Purple Passion - This one is lighter in person. Going to be a favorite also.

BC Battlejuice - Not the best picture but look at those purple polyps!

Blue Tip Purple Stag - This one was impossible to get a picture of the blue tip. This is going to be in my top favorites. A purple stag with bright translucent blue tips. I mean come on!!

UC Blueberry Shortcake - Couldn't get the colors on this one but those purple tips on the aqua body are going to be beautiful when it gets bigger.

 

[sawdonkey]

One of our office employees brought it in and four of us got hit with it. I tested positive on Thursday and Friday I received the Monoclonal Antibody Infusion. Those are awesome! I recommend anyone to get it done if they test positive.

It was nothing severe. I was just weak and drained for about a week. Started feeling better 2 days ago. The crappy part now is I cannot smell or taste which is weird but it is what it is. I needed to get the tank under control for awhile now and all it took was covid......

Anyways, it is good to post again and I will take an FTS today when the lights kick on.

I literally had all of this happen to me almost exactly the same as your timeline. Coworker brought it to the office. I started getting a fever, cold sweats, chest pain, cough, bad headache, etc. I also got the monoclonal antibodies and literally felt 95% better the next morning. Today is day 11 for my, the first day I can actually hold my kids again.

Your tank looks great. You’ve inspired me to focus on mine again.

 

[JCOLE]

I literally had all of this happen to me almost exactly the same as your timeline. Coworker brought it to the office. I started getting a fever, cold sweats, chest pain, cough, bad headache, etc. I also got the monoclonal antibodies and literally felt 95% better the next morning. Today is day 11 for my, the first day I can actually hold my kids again.

Your tank looks great. You’ve inspired me to focus on mine again.

Yes those monoclonal antibodies are the ticket!! Glad you got better quick! I know the feeling I have 3 boys and my wife isolated me to the master bedroom. Felt like prison except I couldn't get rec time for good behavior.

Thank you. That means alot coming from you! I follow your thread and your tank has always been an inspiration to me!

 

[BCSreef]

I like to leave a little suspense!

@BCSreef hooked me up with another shipment of beautiful healthy corals. Some of the one's I have had my eye on for a very long time. If anyone wants some nice true old school hobbyists sized frags then they need to reach out to @BCSreef ASAP.

TGC Creamsicle
BC Battlejuice
Blue Tip Purple Stag
UC Blueberry Shortcake
JF Shocktart
Nicks Purple Passion
BC Tubbs Mystic Blue
WTBO Raspberry Cheescake
BC Bubblebath Unicorn
Sexy Corals Orange Passion
CB Flaming Phoenix
WWC Afterparty

I will get some pictures a little bit later when the frag tank lights come on.

Thanks for the kudos!

 

[JCOLE]

I am also a sucker for old school no fancy name Acro's. This is a white tip green stag that I absolutely love. Yeah, it's no rainbow and it's green but I love the color and the white pink tips compliment it very well.

It appears to be an Acropora cervicornis. I think it's too thin to be a muricata but could possibly be a yongei. what do you all think?

 

[drawman]

I am also a sucker for old school no fancy name Acro's. This is a white tip green stag that I absolutely love. Yeah, it's no rainbow and it's green but I love the color and the white pink tips compliment it very well.

It appears to be an Acropora cervicornis. I think it's too thin to be a muricata but could possibly be a yongei. what do you all think?

Very nice but definitely not a cervicornis those are atlantic. I am also a sucker for some good old school acros!

 

[JCOLE]

Very nice but definitely not a cervicornis those are atlantic. I am also a sucker for some good old school acros!

And I thought I had it