Mixing MB7 and Vibrant

Nano427 · Jan 31, 2020

I use Vibrant in my aquarium, I’ve been battling gha. I have a separate bucket of live rock that I dose MB7 to keep the live rock fresh. I want to use some of that rock in my aquarium. I thought that I read on one of the product descriptions to not mix the products, and of course I can’t find those direction again. So now I’m asking is it ok the use MB7 seeded rocks in a Vibrant dosed tank?

Additionally, a couple weeks ago, I did give my aquarium a shot of MB7. I was looking to get the water extra clear as I was having company over and wanted the tank to look it‘s best. Since then, its seems like the gha had a quick growth spurt, and I got a weird yellow green algae on the sandbed. I didn’t originally make the connection, but now after reading about not mixing products, I wonder if adding the MB7 caused the algae. A week or so later the algae outbreak seems to have mostly cleared up.

Quietman · Jan 31, 2020

Short answer is yes, adding fully cycled rock to a tank shouldn't be an issue. Make sure it is fully cycled.

Both products are bacteria additives. There's a lot that's not known on how these interact and compete. Some do produce positive results in specific circumstances, like adding starters to cycle will reduce cycle times and some will reduce algae. Other benefits advertised from routine additions of bacteria populations to existing cycled system are ill defined with little evidence.

You only need to add a clean food source (ammonia) and heat to rock to keep it cycled and sustain a bacteria population.

All that said...you could see a repeat of your previous experience. So I would add in steps slowly, monitor tank response before proceeding.

Good luck!