Vibrant Killing My Corals

[Uncle99]

Dosing vibrant every two weeks for years.
Never lost anything.
Very strange.

 

[jordan9095]

i find it really hard to believe that one correct dose of vibrant can cause such catastrophic results. similar bacteria is used in other additives. maybe it was a bad bottle. i would consider running some media (purit or similar) in addition to doing water changes

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

I’ve mentioned this before. I don’t think it’s the vibrant. I think the die off of what ever the vibrant killed polluted / released a toxin into the tank.

 

[Newbiereefer98]

And you dosed it per the directions on the bottle? Just once?

Yes, recommended dose is 1ml per 10gal every 2 weeks. For my first dose I dosed 5ml for a 60gal.

 

[Newbiereefer98]

i find it really hard to believe that one correct dose of vibrant can cause such catastrophic results. similar bacteria is used in other additives. maybe it was a bad bottle. i would consider running some media (purit or similar) in addition to doing water changes

I will definitely look at some purit. I honestly can’t believe what one dose has done. I know lots of people that dose it normally with no problems.

 

[Newbiereefer98]

I’ve mentioned this before. I don’t think it’s the vibrant. I think the die off of what ever the vibrant killed polluted / released a toxin into the tank.

Not what it would of killed off. Negative effects began 24 hours in and got really bad in the 48-72 hour period. Parameters didn’t sky rocket at all and I didn’t see any algae death, I think I received a bad batch.

 

[Pistondog]

Had good luck with zoa only tank with gha.
Treated 2x with vibrant, no losses.

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

Not what it would of killed off. Negative effects began 24 hours in and got really bad in the 48-72 hour period. Parameters didn’t sky rocket at all and I didn’t see any algae death, I think I received a bad batch.

That would lend to what I’m mentioning. Vibrant being bacterial will not have an immediate effect. I would also not expect it to elevate or lower the normal things we test for.

 

[BigRich]

You can check my thread where I also only used vibrant once and it decimated most of my corals. This product really should have a warning on it that it can lead to loss of corals. Check my thread for info and pics;

Vibrant Killing Corals..

So I had some very small spots of algae in my tank, 3 spots each the size of a nickel. I decided to test out vibrant to see what this chemical was all about. I started out with a conservative dose of 3ml for a 100 gallon tank. Well this was a horrible mistake. Within 12hrs I started to notice...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Uncle99]

Not what it would of killed off. Negative effects began 24 hours in and got really bad in the 48-72 hour period. Parameters didn’t sky rocket at all and I didn’t see any algae death, I think I received a bad batch.

The algae would take weeks to start to diminish.

 

[CoralB]

What big rich said

 

[Newbiereefer98]

You can check my thread where I also only used vibrant once and it decimated most of my corals. This product really should have a warning on it that it can lead to loss of corals. Check my thread for info and pics;

Vibrant Killing Corals..

So I had some very small spots of algae in my tank, 3 spots each the size of a nickel. I decided to test out vibrant to see what this chemical was all about. I started out with a conservative dose of 3ml for a 100 gallon tank. Well this was a horrible mistake. Within 12hrs I started to notice...

www.reef2reef.com

I’ve read your entire thread, sadly before I used vibrant stupid me lol. You think your story would of kept me away. I’ve only officially lost one coral so far, hoping the rest of the tank can still recover!

 

[Newbiereefer98]

The algae would take weeks to start to diminish.

Ya I know, that’s why I think I got a bad batch and something in it just attached the corals.

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

The only thing I could think of would be the bacteria kill the algae, algae release a sugar, bacteria goes nuts and starves things for oxygen? There have been studies looking at the interaction between algae, bacteria, and coral. Anyways I am sorry for your troubles. Hope it works out.

 

[Ray23]

Hi Newbiereefer98

As we speak, my corals are also in trouble because of Vibrant Reef. The first dose of 9ml for a 100 gallon tank was fine, I noticed no change at all. The second dose a week later however.... it all went bad very quickly. I have lost a couple of nice sps overnight (RTN) and many SPS polyps are closed. A few corals don't seem to be affected but the majority is struggling bad.

I did a 30% water change and started filtering over active carbon. Dimmed the lights to about 60%. But I fear most corals are too far gone. These kind of things make me want to give up the hobby all together...

Before I started using vibrant, I read about problems people seemed to have with Vibrant. Most were due to rapidly declining phosphate and nitrate. So I tested for them every day. Sometimes twice a day. But I have seen barely any change. The only thing that caught my attention was that the skimmer was producing a far greener skimmate than before.

I have no clue what happened. My tank is about 6 years old and was pretty stable. My best guess is toxics products produced by dying algae. I send out an ICP test, perhaps that will give me a clue.

Another lesson learned; magic doesn't come in a bottle....

Hope your corals are doing better by the time you read this.

Ray

 

[old salt reefer]

If I remember correctly the bacteria in Vibrant don't live more than 2 weeks in a salt water aquarium which is why you have to dose more than once anyway. For me Vibrant= death of quite a bit except the GHA. Fluconazole killed my GHA and nothing else.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

For those that had issues, do you have a skimmer? Vibrant should not be used unless you have one.

 

[Lasse]

Every aquarium is its own ecosystem with its own inhabitants. Inhabitants that react differently to different compounds you put into the aquarium. IMO - this is the reason why it is so many opposite experiences with different additives, bacterial mixes and chemicals - Vibrant not excluded - exist. And every one is right - from their ecosystems horizont

Because many manufacturers refuse to tell you about the active ingredients in their magic mixture, there is no chance to make an assessment of whether it fits in this or that ecosystem. Every time you put in a extraneous compound in just that ecosystem - you do not have any idea how this system will react. That´s the reason why I stay out from using things that I can´t know the content or the how it works.

In the past I have used chemicals in order to defeat cyanobacteria - in the first aquarium - it works like a charm - in the second try - the same aquarium but 2 years older - it kills a lot of corals. If I´m tempted to take a shortcut - I try to get all information I can get how it works - not others report because I do not know how my ecosystem differ from theirs - but the way it act. If I can´t disclose how the underlying mechanisms work - I stay away from this magic bottle.

This will not help you in the present situation. The only way I can think of is to do some WC but because it says that it contain 95 % bacterial blend - I'm not sure it helps.

I do not either think that this magic bottle contain the normal set of bacteria that other brands have. No one have report this effect from any other brand. It seems that the action is against the chlorophyll in the algae. and that rise other questions too.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[LeftyReefer]

I think its important to keep in mind that Vibrant is bacteria and vinegar. so it is a form of carbon dosing. Which can lower your nutrient levels in the tank. I would not dose Vibrant if your nutrient levels are already very low or undetectable.

 

[Mexican_Bigfoot]

How much flow are people putting through their tanks here? I have had issues in the past with bacterial activity damaging corals when flow is inadequate