Is it vibrant and dr tim waste away have same function?
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Chrisv.
2500 Club Member
I've tried and use both. I started down the rabbit hole when I was combatting dinos. I followed the Dr. Tim's formula for treating dinos and it worked extremely well. In his protocol he uses waste away and another bacterial community called re-fresh. I really liked what these did with that tank. I think refresh is more like vibrant and waste away is more suitable for continuous dosing. They have a slow release waste away gel too.
I use vibrant on another system, and from time to time on that system. I could be wrong, but my impression is that the Dr. Tim's products are more focused on biofixation of nutrients, where as vibrant (and perhaps re-fresh) are microbial communities that specifically consume algae as a food source.
Maybe @DrTim could weigh in. I love all three products. I really was surprised to see how far the hobby has come in terms of microbial additives. These are NOT snake oil.
I use vibrant on another system, and from time to time on that system. I could be wrong, but my impression is that the Dr. Tim's products are more focused on biofixation of nutrients, where as vibrant (and perhaps re-fresh) are microbial communities that specifically consume algae as a food source.
Maybe @DrTim could weigh in. I love all three products. I really was surprised to see how far the hobby has come in terms of microbial additives. These are NOT snake oil.
Chrisv.
2500 Club Member
I followed the dinoflagellate treatment protocol on the dr. tim website, whcih included a blakcout, then re-fresh, then waste away. I now routinely dose waste away and every now and again i dose with refresh.
I think it also comes down to the question of "why are you dosing these things?"
If you are trying to combat a specific issue (cyano, dinos, etc) I suggest you check out the dr. Tim website and see his protocols. They worked well to get rid of my dinos. When I got rid of the dinos, some GHA briefly took hold. At that point I did a month of vibrant and bolstered my CUC to include a couple of chestnut turbos (who ate like 5 square inches of GHA per night). The dinos never came back, the GHA never came back. I still dose waste away a few times a week. every few weeks I do a vibrant dose but I dont know if it's really required.
I will say that my tank is cleaner than it has ever been in several decades of reefing.
Chrisv.
2500 Club Member
Haha I forgot to mention, if you do go with refresh, it looks like you're straight up dumping mud water into your aquarium. It's only a capful per ten gallons, but...it looks like muddy water. I'm not brave enough to smell it.
Spare time
10K Club member
Similar goal. Vibrant has a bacteria that may eat algae so and has a tiny bit of vinegar. I am not sure if vibrant is refugium safe because of this, or if people just starved nitrate and phosphate out with it
Chrisv.
2500 Club Member
I use both. I think vibrant is better at actually eating algae. Could be wrong.
Spare time
10K Club member
I don't believe waste away is designed to eat algae but rather compete with it and eat phosphate and nitrate sources before they become available for algae.
Chrisv.
2500 Club Member
It depends what you're trying to address! What's happening in your tank? I did both because I was following the instructions for treating dinos.
Chrisv.
2500 Club Member
Honestly, I'm not completely sure! I don't run a refugium so I probably ignored that part when reading the instructions. He has very detailed instructions on his website.
Spare time
10K Club member
Brightwells MB7 is the same as waste aways says BRS. PLus much cheaper to use! Ony 5 mls per 20 gallons If only I could figure out the brightwell equivalent to refresh. I killed my dinos before with MB7, vibrant and I think peroixe and uv.
I really wasnt noticing much of a difference until I added the uv but I kept doing water changes which is a no no!
I have them again but I know Vibrants int sold by any magor retailers anymore because they say its just fluconazole and has no bacteria in it like they claimed it did. It is available on amazon though.
I really wasnt noticing much of a difference until I added the uv but I kept doing water changes which is a no no!
I have them again but I know Vibrants int sold by any magor retailers anymore because they say its just fluconazole and has no bacteria in it like they claimed it did. It is available on amazon though.
Spare time
10K Club member
Vibrant is the same as algaefix, not fluconzaole. Also, I think MB clean is the same as waste away, not MB7 based on advertising.
Spare time
10K Club member
This thread is out of date so ignore my comment here. Vibrant is not a bacteria, it is an algaecide.
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