Warning: Use Vibrant at your own risk

GARRIGA · Feb 25, 2022

workhz said:
I can see Budweiser picking up on this for the next superbowl commercial. The finest cultured bacterial blend libation in the land.

Plus makes your pee a weed killer

tharbin · Feb 25, 2022

Cell said:
They highlighted the product when they started carrying it.

People need to stop with the BRS conspiracy theories. They aren't at fault here. Nor are they the only vendor that sells Vibrant. Most online vendors and LFS's sell the stuff. We and they were all duped by UWC.

The thought that BRS needs to make a statement here before UWC does is backwards.

I suffered through the ridiculous BRS Vibrant test video yesterday because it has been mentioned so many times in these threads. I actually started to watch the video once before, saw that the tanks each had a Kole Tang in them and found something else to watch. Anyway, I toughed it out and watched the whole thing. It seems clear to me that BRS believes, or at least believed at the time, that the product is mostly live bacteria. I see no complicity there. The test however was possibly the worst video I have ever seen from BRS. No inverts of any kind just one piece of rock covered with algae, a 6-line wrasse a couple of clownfish and a kole tang in each tank. Why on earth would you put a herbivore with the chops of a tang in a test tank to test an algae control product? It makes no sense. All they proved is that Vibrant kind of kills algae when used with an herbivorous fish without killing fish. Big deal.

RobB'z Reef · Feb 25, 2022

rmorris_14 said:
Well, when I called BRS looking for guidance back in November. We were discussing options and the expert told me that Vibrant was the best option for me to use because it was a "natural bacteria and not a chemical" like the other products. So they are still pushing it over the phone.

Dangerous to assume they actually know what the heck they're talking about when it comes to proprietary ingredients by a company they don't control.

Pntbll687 · Feb 25, 2022

BanjoBandito said:
BRS is 2 for 2 with product pushing. Lol. Never used the stuff. There's no magic in a bottle for this hobby.

There may be no "magic" in a bottle, but products that are accurately labelled with detailed instructions are much easier to use and stand behind.

I'll use seachem phosguard for example. The bottle and the website clearly say how much phosphate it can bind and remove from the water. Therefore I can test the water, calculate how much phosphate I need to remove, and then use the appropriate amount of product. I'll use less product if I want to bring down the phosphate slower, and more product if I need to bring it down quickly.

I think the major issue with Vibrant is that it is sold as one thing, but looks like from testing that it is a completely different product.

The bacteria category and the amino acid supplements seem to be the wild west right now, very similar to the supplement industry for humans. Everything is hidden behind "proprietary blends" and "patent pending formula". If a company were to come out and say we use a blend of X,Y,Z bacteria in this ratio for our product the would literally be swimming in money in a few months. People could then go research the bacteria and realize the company isn't making things up or embellishing what the product can do.

Arego · Feb 25, 2022

GARRIGA said:
Amazon ratings can be manipulated. Manufacture can create multiple accounts. Buy one item. Leave feedback. We would be none the wiser. It’s eBay on steroids. Good thing they have a great customer support system. I’m confident any referencing the testing done on this forum and implication of potential mislabeling that doesn’t display it as having a algaecide will result in a refund even if outside the refund process. Just don’t expect them to stop selling it.

At this point. I’d expect online vendors to honor the same. Assuming they are convinced this should have been labeled same as Algaefix. At a minimum. Stop selling it until this is resolved.

Similar to those companies who say free trial equipment! Just log in on Amazon buy it there, give a good review then we will refund you.. That is not how those things are done.

Lay Z boy did not shoot a commercial in my house and supply all new furniture to film it and then ask us to pay for it but we'll refund you later if the ad works. Extremely broad example but it did happen lol.

blaxsun · Feb 25, 2022

Could someone summarize what the (potential) harm is? I gather it's one of the main ingredients that can (potentially) buildup over time and permanently harm the reef and/or inhabitants? Thanks.

JCOLE · Feb 25, 2022

blaxsun said:
Could someone summarize what the (potential) harm is? I gather it's one of the main ingredients that can (potentially) buildup over time and permanently harm the reef and/or inhabitants? Thanks.

Yes. The company can.

Pntbll687 · Feb 25, 2022

blaxsun said:
Could someone summarize what the (potential) harm is? I gather it's one of the main ingredients that can (potentially) buildup over time and permanently harm the reef and/or inhabitants? Thanks.

Most reef-building corals contain photosynthetic algae, called zooxanthellae, that live in their tissues.

If the testing that has been done is accurate and correct, then Vibrant contains an ALGAECIDE which would have the ability to kill coral

Reefbuds · Feb 25, 2022

This has crashed my systems and killed livestock on multiple occasions. Didn't realize it was the vibrant causing it til the 3rd or 4th time. Never again. Take heed @everyone

Karen00 · Feb 25, 2022

jda said:
This is an actual post from UWC in a response after I posted that it had no bacteria and was an algaecide. Nobody can make sense out of this... it is just stupid to try. They flat out say that it has flash frozen bacteria. It does not multiply in our tanks but you can culture it.

When people started to check for the bacteria, that is when the narrative switched to enzymes... but it cannot be more clear below that they said flash frozen bacteria, right?

I just want to caution that anybody who tried to come up with a reason why they might be telling the truth has looked a fool so far.

So the part that you highlighted (starts with "I'm not going to go back and forth with you on this...") is the UWC reply on Vibrant? If so wow, weird. First they state the bacteria is flash frozen and dormant. Then the very next sentence says it's not live bacteria. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a state of dormancy still living? So is it dormant or is it dead? Maybe bacteria can be dormant and dead at the same time? Sounds like Schrödinger's cat.

If it is dead then can you culture it like they say you should try? Also.... Who has ever used or seen or thought of bottled bacteria as the "brown gunky type, stinky bacteria that most people think of when they they think of bottled bacteria"? If I opened a bottle of bacteria and it was brown, gunky and stinky I would be returning it immediately. Sounds like they're talking about Miracle Mud (is that what it's called?). Maybe there is brown, gunky, stinky bottled bac that I don't know about. It's also weird that they only gave a rebuttal to the bacteria part of your query and not the algaecide part of your query. Is that a new form of "silence is the best path to deniability"? That whole reply was weird and confrontational.

piranhaman00 · Feb 25, 2022

I just keep coming back to see a response from anyone big!

N.Sreefer · Feb 25, 2022

I would bet that one of these companies will come out with an "herbal" algae remedy, plant allelochemicals will be next after this. Use methanol extraction/distillation on alleopathic aquatic/semi aquatic plants and you can get a cheap algaecide you can say is plant based. It's a similar work around to using algaecide extracted from "cultured bacteria".

Karen00 · Feb 25, 2022

Haacheew said:
First and foremost, dishonesty is bad, either from the moral or legal standpoint. Moral dishonesty and the product efficacy against gha/bubble algae are different subjects to me. You can far cry or boycott all you want.

Vibrant DOES help me clean up green hair, bubble algae and no side of effect of that I aware in my mixed reef tank, besides destroying my chaetos (it was my fault for I forgot to remove it before dosing). Have been using it for more than 2 years. As long as it gets the job done, I personally don't care its algaecide, snake oil, voodoo magic, or whatever. It works and that's all it matters. I will keep using it when the time calls for.

Btw, coralline algae grows fine in my tank during all these Vibrant applications, just you know.

The fact that it kills algae is not the point of this thread. Aside from it being illegal to improperly list ingredients, people chose to use this product thinking it was a safer alternative to using an algaecide based on the ingredients they have listed on the bottle. Everyone has the right to use a product "eyes wide open" but that is not the case here. Further to that, if people suffered ill effects in their tank they might not think it was related to the vibrant based on the ingredients listed. On the other hand if they suffered ill effects and knew there is an algaecide in the product it makes troubleshooting the damage easier.

Karen00 · Feb 25, 2022

MnFish1 said:
It is pretty well known that bacteria produce toxins that kill algae. Not saying thats whats in vibrant, just FYI

Even if this were the case if the byproduct is an algaecide I think they have to list it. When I heard about this product I thought it was algae eating bacteria (like copepods eat some algae). I was about to buy it on this assumption (safe algae eating bacteria). I would not have bought it if they referenced that it's a bacteria based algaecide (with the same effects as a chemical algaecide). I would pay half the money and buy API's version. Having said that based on the analyses of Vibrant it looks like they only found chemical markers and nothing related to biological markers from bacteria which suggests bacteria is a lie regardless.

LeftyReefer · Feb 25, 2022

MB7 is rather stinky. (just sayin')

BRS posted in a MB7 thread a while back that sort of pertains to this issue....

BRS previous comments about proprietary bacteria blend products

Karen00 · Feb 25, 2022

Aside from the illegal aspect of mislabeling what irks me is the fact that people were cheated out of making an informed decision when buying this product for their tanks. I was about to buy a bottle thinking the bacteria blend ate the algae just like some copepods do which would be a much safer alternative for all of my inhabitants (corals, fish, inverts) compared to other brands so even if it were true and the bacteria produces an algaecide as a byproduct to kill the algae it still needs to be listed. Natural products can be just as strong/deadly, if not more, than chemical based products. If algaecide had been listed (even as a byproduct) then people are using it eyes wide open and can take the appropriate measures needed like removing delicate inhabitants. People could also choose to buy the cheaper API version. It also makes troubleshooting any fallout easier if you have an accurate list of the ingredients.

It's all a bit moot as to the "natural" aspect of the product. Looking at the analyses that was posted it looks like bacteria is not in the mix and if it is, it's not 95% of the composition.

Hopefully UWC will comment and prove us all wrong.

wmb0003 · Feb 25, 2022

Has anyone tried calling or emailing them about this? If they won't respond on here, maybe we should reach out for an answer.

Cell · Feb 25, 2022

Karen00 said:
Aside from the illegal aspect of mislabeling what irks me is the fact that people were cheated out of making an informed decision when buying this product for their tanks. I was about to buy a bottle thinking the bacteria blend ate the algae just like some copepods do which would be a much safer alternative for all of my inhabitants (corals, fish, inverts) compared to other brands so even if it were true and the bacteria produces an algaecide as a byproduct to kill the algae it still needs to be listed. Natural products can be just as strong/deadly, if not more, than chemical based products. If algaecide had been listed (even as a byproduct) then people are using it eyes wide open and can take the appropriate measures needed like removing delicate inhabitants. People could also choose to buy the cheaper API version. It also makes troubleshooting any fallout easier if you have an accurate list of the ingredients.

It's all a bit moot as to the "natural" aspect of the product. Looking at the analyses that was posted it looks like bacteria is not in the mix and if it is, it's not 95% of the composition.

Hopefully UWC will comment and prove us all wrong.

Well said. I'll add that the supposed nature of the product helped justify the premium price. If that was a lie, consumers have been severely ripped off in a what seems like a clear case of price gouging and deceptive advertisement.