Vibrant causing issues?

[SD_Reefer_Madness]

I’ve been dosing the recommended amount of vibrant on a tank that’s about 3 months old to help keep the new tank ugly stage under control. Added a few bottles of arc reef coralline a little over a month ago and I’m starting to see growth. But now I’ve noticed small bubbles coming off the rocks at night. Could vibrant be causing this? I’ve seen people talking about it causing issues with different algae blooms. Should I switch to chemiclean? Should I run both at the same time? Should I alternate doses? Added a video of the bubbles

 

[Spare time]

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels (and what test kit)?

Vibrant only causes issues if it wokrs too well and bottoms out nitrate or phosphate

 

[Deep]

I’ve been dosing the recommended amount of vibrant on a tank that’s about 3 months old to help keep the new tank ugly stage under control. Added a few bottles of arc reef coralline a little over a month ago and I’m starting to see growth. But now I’ve noticed small bubbles coming off the rocks at night. Could vibrant be causing this? I’ve seen people talking about it causing issues with different algae blooms. Should I switch to chemiclean? Should I run both at the same time? Should I alternate doses? Added a video of the bubbles

By adding products to a new tank you are making it harder for your tank to mature. Would have been far simpler if you had let the ugly stage ride out by itself.
You should stop adding vibrant or chemiclean or anything else.

 

[SD_Reefer_Madness]

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels (and what test kit)?

Vibrant only causes issues if it wokrs too well and bottoms out nitrate or phosphate

Salifert for both (expire in 2023), phosphate is at 0.03 and nitrates are at 2, but tomorrow is water change day. Been doing between 10 and 20 percent every week.

 

[JosephM]

Salifert for both (expire in 2023), phosphate is at 0.03 and nitrates are at 2, but tomorrow is water change day. Been doing between 10 and 20 percent every week.

Unless you have corals and are relying on water changes to maintain Alk, calc, etc up and stable I’d skip the water changes with N03 and P04 that low. You do not want to bottom out and let dinos get their chance. I’d take the ‘uglies’ any day over dinos. Just my 2 cents

 

[SD_Reefer_Madness]

Unless you have corals and are relying on water changes to maintain Alk, calc, etc up and stable I’d skip the water changes with N03 and P04 that low. You do not want to bottom out and let dinos get their chance. I’d take the ‘uglies’ any day over dinos. Just my 2 cents

I do have corals in there, but I dose all for reef for alk, cal, mg. Could I skip the water change with that factored in?

 

[Spare time]

Salifert for both (expire in 2023), phosphate is at 0.03 and nitrates are at 2, but tomorrow is water change day. Been doing between 10 and 20 percent every week.

Ah yeah I would feed a bit more. You can keep dosing vibrant but I would maybe do half the current dose or just wait till you get nitrate up. Cyano is super common if nitrates bottom out so if you see them pop up you can just do chemi clean and feed food a bit more.

 

[SD_Reefer_Madness]

Ah yeah I would feed a bit more. You can keep dosing vibrant but I would maybe do half the current dose or just wait till you get nitrate up. Cyano is super common if nitrates bottom out so if you see them pop up you can just do chemi clean and feed food a bit more.

I’ll bump up the feeding, and lower the vibrant. Been meaning to figure out an auto feeder situation anyways. Ty

 

[blasterman]

Vibrant cant hurt a young tank. In fact, I would dose it at this point just to get the ecology in place. Especially if the tank started from dry rock.

 

[Tamberav]

overdoing vibrant can cause cyano and dosing chemiclean after vibrant can cause Dino which is the worst ugly of all...

If one life form can not survive. Another will take its place.

You are tampering with the biology of your tank which has its risks. So keep that in mind.

 

[BaysEndReef]

With your tank only being 3 months old, just leave it alone and let it go through the stages it should go through in order to establish itself. At this point, all you are doing with Vibrant is killing off the small, at this point, established bacterial colony within your ecosystem. As with anything in the reefing hobby, patience is key. Nothing will happen fast, especially establishing a healthy balance of good bacteria to go along with stable parameters. Rushing things with chemicals will only bring other problems associated with eliminating a nuisance too fast. Wait it out. You will be glad you did. Happy Reefing!!

 

[Biokabe]

I’ll bump up the feeding, and lower the vibrant. Been meaning to figure out an auto feeder situation anyways. Ty

I'd recommend the Eheim autofeeder. Not fancy, but it gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. It does come with a lip mount if you don't have a lid to rest it on. It's best used with pellets. Your fish will thank you.

And +1 on discontinuing the use of Vibrant. All I've ever gotten from it is dinos and cyano.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

overdosing vibrant is the key word

 

[BostonReefer300]

The bubbles you're seeing actually could be the start of a dino buildup---especially given your low nutrient levels. Like the others, I'd suggest going lighter on the water changes, monitor your Alk, Ca, and Mg (and supplement as needed) and maybe increase your feeding to get your nutrients up. You'll get all sorts of recommendations on ideal NO3 and PO4 levels, but I'm aiming for a relatively steady 10 and 0.1 respectively.

 

[Dkmoo]

By adding products to a new tank you are making it harder for your tank to mature. Would have been far simpler if you had let the ugly stage ride out by itself.
You should stop adding vibrant or chemiclean or anything else.

+1 to this. Vibrant really isn't meant to combat the ugly stage, you are only making your tank less likely to be successful in the long run

 

[ScottB]

Miracle cures backed by transparent science and transparent data are one thing. Quick fixes are another. While I have my own suspicions about what is in Vibrant (algaecide & bacteria) and Chemiclean (erythromycin) none of us really know. Chlorine is also really effective at inhibiting algae and cyano.

Slow down. Nature works. Uglies are ideal. Let it do it's thing.

 

[G Santana]

Folks what is the difference between the two Vibrant products saltwater/reef

Thanks in advance!

 

[ScottB]

Folks what is the difference between the two Vibrant products saltwater/reef

Thanks in advance!

I believe the Reef version is a bit diluted. Check the early pages of the main Vibrant thread.