Vibrant Killing Corals..

[Reef AquaCult]

Thank you for the post. I’m having a mild GHA outbreak in my tank and I was considering using it, but I’ve been concerned about using it and this helps me with my decision.

 

[BigRich]

What else changed? Because I cannot see 3ml in 100g essentially nuking your corals within 12 hours all it is is bacteria. It calls for 1ml per 10gallons. 3ml in 100 gallons is a drop in the ocean

Well you may think it’s nots possible but my tank and corals say different. If you read prior posts, absolutely nothing else changed. No new fish, corals, inverts, additives, pumps, heaters,etc. Nothing changed, no rusty screws or magnets. Not even a change in fish food. I live alone so no one else touched the tank. Only change/variant is the addition of vibrant.

 

[jlts21]

Well you may think it’s nots possible but my tank and corals say different. If you read prior posts, absolutely nothing else changed. No new fish, corals, inverts, additives, pumps, heaters,etc. Nothing changed, no rusty screws or magnets. Not even a change in fish food. I live alone so no one else touched the tank. Only change/variant is the addition of vibrant.

Something changed. I have been using it for 3 weeks, dosing quadruple what you dosed, once a week and have seen zero negative effects. 3ml is such a small amount in 100 gallons that there is no way it nuked your corals. It’s not hydrochloric acid, it’s cultured bacteria

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

While vibrant only lists "bacteria" as their main ingredient, they also have vinegar in it, and, although I can't prove it but would love to see it tested, I suspect it also has peroxide.

 

[Brian_68]

I do find it hard to believe nutrients dropped that quickly. Did you buy it direct? Perhaps it was contaminated or old as the bottles are not sealed.

 

[jlts21]

While vibrant only lists "bacteria" as their main ingredient, they also have vinegar in it, and, although I can't prove it but would love to see it tested, I suspect it also has peroxide.

Of the 3ml:
2.85ml is cultured bacteria
0.03ml is amino acids
0.015ml is vinegar
0.105ml is other

3ml is such a small amount, especially in 100g. While yes it can drop nutrients but in order to do that in 12 hours to cause corals to die, you'd have to put 30ml in 100g, not 3

@Bulk Reef Supply

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Thank you for the post. I’m having a mild GHA outbreak in my tank and I was considering using it, but I’ve been concerned about using it and this helps me with my decision.

Get an adult dolabella sea hare. Key word here ADULT and only this species, no other species will do it. But they will eat ANY kind of algae. Again, must be an adult (juveniles are far more picky). These do not live very long though, anywhere from 3 months to a year, but they will annihilate algae, period.

 

[BigRich]

Something changed. I have been using it for 3 weeks, dosing quadruple what you dosed, once a week and have seen zero negative effects. 3ml is such a small amount in 100 gallons that there is no way it nuked your corals. It’s not hydrochloric acid, it’s cultured bacteria

We will have to agree to disagree. I haven’t changed anything. Just like you have a positive experience with the product, others like myself, have lost corals and seen negative results. The more research I have done I have read others have lost corals. I’m not the first. I log everything I put in my tank, even anytime I work in the tank. I know for a fact nothing else changed.

 

[BigRich]

I do find it hard to believe nutrients dropped that quickly. Did you buy it direct? Perhaps it was contaminated or old as the bottles are not sealed.

Yes I bought it direct and it’s the “reef” version. Maybe it was contaminated, no way for me to know. I just want to give others out there the realization that it can have a serious negative impact. Maybe 90% of users will never have a issue but the 10% should be forewarned a risk is involved when you have a lot of money invested in coral.

 

[flchamp89]

I can't imagine 3ml per 100 doing anything positive or negative. I would really check other possibilities.

 

[Brian_68]

To put it into perspective there are 378,541 ml in 100 gallons. So 3 ml equates to 0.0007925%. And another way 3 ml = 60 drops so that would be less than a drop per gallon. That would have been some extremely potent stuff that was added.

 

[TTNuge]

I would think you could drop 3ml of battery acid in a 100g tank and not have the kind of issues the OP is having but he's convinced so what can ya say.

 

[Frontosa]

I feel your pain this is just 1/2 of my loss in pass 2 weeks zoas huge clam and hammers fine every sps is prob deff not going to make it I get a sick feeling ever time I look at my tank

 

[jasonrusso]

I used Vibrant 3 times. First time it tanked my NO3. Acan and kenya tree closed up for over a week. Second time I monitored NO3, Acan and KY closed up. I also lost some no name acros. Third time, same thing. Dumped the remainder of the bottle out to prevent me from trying again.

Also, cyano outbreak everytime as well.

Needless to say, I'm not a believer

 

[jrill]

This doesn't make any sense. 3ml on 100 gallons is nothing. I use 2ml in 15 gallons with only positive results. Something is missing from this event.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Again, i would contact them. It cant hurt. It almost seems like it reacted with something in your tank. You checked for stray voltage? It is such a small amount!

Anyways, sucks for sure man. Sorry.

 

[BigRich]

Thought this might be of interest. I’ve been reviewing all my data from my Apex/Trident trying to find something that jumps out. Only thing where a change took place after the addition of vibrant is ORP. My orp is usually between 380-400, after addition of vibrant orp dropped to 204! In time since(between 24-36hrs) it’s up to 289 currently. Now if this could be a reason for such coral loss would be interesting. Anyone else experience a significant orp drop after dosing? Everything else in my tank stated stable, ie alk/ca/mg/phosphate/nitrate.

I still don’t know if the drop in orp can cause corals to rtn, I must do more research on it. If it can why would vibrant cause this in my system, was something else going on that created a “perfect storm” type of negative event? I don’t know I may setup a experiment in the future to see if I can replicate the orp swing and coral issues in a frag tank.

I want to thank everyone for their input, questions, and guidance. I will let everyone know if any other changes are observed.

 

[Reef Dude]

Thought this might be of interest. I’ve been reviewing all my data from my Apex/Trident trying to find something that jumps out. Only thing where a change took place after the addition of vibrant is ORP. My orp is usually between 380-400, after addition of vibrant orp dropped to 204! In time since(between 24-36hrs) it’s up to 289 currently. Now if this could be a reason for such coral loss would be interesting. Anyone else experience a significant orp drop after dosing? Everything else in my tank stated stable, ie alk/ca/mg/phosphate/nitrate.

I still don’t know if the drop in orp can cause corals to rtn, I must do more research on it. If it can why would vibrant cause this in my system, was something else going on that created a “perfect storm” type of negative event? I don’t know I may setup a experiment in the future to see if I can replicate the orp swing and coral issues in a frag tank.

I want to thank everyone for their input, questions, and guidance. I will let everyone know if any other changes are observed.

I’ve been following along, as I stumbled upon this thread just as I was getting ready to add Vibrant for the first time. Your experience made me hesitate and re-think things yesterday as I was getting ready to add my first dose. I decided to go ahead with my first dose of Vibrant. I started with a half dose, which for me means that I added 7ml to my 140 gallons of total water volume. It had absolutely no impact on my ORP. I’m sorry to see what you’re going through. I just thought I would let you know about what I noticed with regard to ORP when I added Vibrant. I’m wondering why your ORP dropped so drastically? I’m still following along, rooting for things to improve for you.

 

[tehmadreefer]

The only thing it liked in my tank besides the gha and ba are zoas.

 

[Billdogg]

I'm sorry you are having troubles with your tank!

I have been using Vibrant for about 18 months now with good results. I have used it at 1/2 the recommended dosage, full strength, and at 2x. I have not lost a single coral or clam. My tank includes multiple acropora colonies, a number of montiporas, a couple chalices, and a variety of LPS as well. None have been affected that I can tell. It has, however, knocked out my bubble algae infestation and helps to keep other undesirable algaes in check.

Thanks for reminding me that I need to order another couple bottles!

FWIW, the tank is a 120DT with 40b sump.