To Vibrant or Not to Vibrant

mindme

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I've used it and it works. It got rid of all my GHA, Bryopsis and BA. Last year I had to leave for over a week. I put an auto feeder on my tank and it was feeding way too often while I was gone. GHA covered the tank, and there was also the Bryopsis and BA. I did a big water change, bought some vibrant and the results were great.

Cyano was probably the only side effect, which was temporary.

However, I would be less likely to use it in the future. Algae is a water purifier, and it helps keep your tank balanced. I wanted the algae gone, but at the same time all that algae growth from that overfeeding kept the tanks water better than it would have been. Without the algae growth, the nutrients would have been higher in the water column. The amount of algae that grew was in good proportion to the overfeeding. AKA, only small amounts of algae before to large amounts of algae after.

With Vibrant, the algae remains gone and it's more than just what is in there dies. Not sure how long, but it was 6 months for me before I started to see any algae grow.

Not saying I'll never use it again, because it does work and who knows I might get some more bryopsis/BA and use it for that. But I'd never use it for GHA unless it was just some extreme reason/amount.
 

NickC

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Looks to me like your tank is really young... I would say that time and good husbandry will solve the problem.

One more tip, besides fish food, don't put anything in the tank that you don't have a test kit for. just my opinion obviously.
 

SMSREEF

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I thought I read that it was Bacillus Licheniformis, but now I can't find that so I might be misremembering....

I know other, similar bacteria based algae treatments use that species
It would be interesting if someone could isolate and identify the bacteria in Vibrant.

And the one from liveaquaria for ponds, I wonder...What is the other 99.965% of ingredients?

Active Ingredient:
Bacillus licheniformis:
SB3086* 0.035%
Other Ingredients: 99.965%
Total 100%
*Contains a minimum of 2.25 x 108 Colony Forming Units (CFU)/ml

And why this warning? I just wonder if these products have an algicide in addition to bacteria.

Environmental Hazards
Do not apply directly to water other than that in your synthetically lined ornamental pond. Do not use this products on plants intended for food or feed. Do not feed treated plants to livestock or domestic animals.
 

MartinWaite

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I have just put 4 pincushion and tuxedo urchins in my tank and within 2 weeks they have stripped my tank of all gha and I used Quantum HR Nitrate remover and my nitrates have gone down to a good low level I also found the route cause of the high nitrates and the gha growth. The only thing now is I'm left to feed the 4 urchins.
I also have a small bit of Bryopsi which I will switch of the pumps and dose the base of the Bryopsi with up to 5ml on H020 3% which will see off the Bryopsi in 1 5min dose without killing all the algae ie refugium in the process.
 
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Floppyfish

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Emerald crabs eradicated all the bubble algae in a 1600 gallon tank I maintain. I added 6. Wish I had pics to show the before and after. The problem didn’t happen overnight and I guy I work with was hesitant about adding crabs. I did anyways and it took a while but 6 months later they’ve gotten rid of all of them.
My biocube I have at home had an issue with algae growing on the sand bed. Nassarius snails stirred it up kept the algae coming back, Added a small diamond goby and now my sand is spotless.
I do now have a little patch here and there of gha on my rock work. It’s still manageable siphoning it off. If it got too bad I think I’d try the vibrant method.
 
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RobertTheNurse

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I had an issue in one of my tanks I changed the intensity as duration of my lights , added a UV sterilizer, reduced feedings, weekly water changes, slight reduced temp ..... now the tank is nearly perfect! I hate adding any chemicals to my tank and will do everything possible to avoid it. I’ve heard both good and bad about that product. We had Bubble algae that could be a different story that’s a pain in the butt.
Same. What is great is that the product is not really chemical...its mostly bacteria, amino acids, and part vinegar...which is why I'm more comfortable. We use bacteria in a bottle to start up the cycle sometimes...so why not in this case. Im torn about adding an emerald. I've heard most horror stories...not all but lots...i just won't chance it. Some snails are great at eating algae, others don't give too hoots about the long stuff...mine don't...i guess its a hit or miss...this is what a little maintance did on my tank...and its been 3 days since. Like I said, gonna manually remove some more of the long stuff on the rocks and then hopefully the bigger CUC will maintain a nice length. Its always nice to know there are options out there when all else fails.

Check out what my tank looked like before when I first posted this thread to compare.
20200924_133950.jpg


Rob
 
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RobertTheNurse

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Looks to me like your tank is really young... I would say that time and good husbandry will solve the problem.

One more tip, besides fish food, don't put anything in the tank that you don't have a test kit for. just my opinion obviously.

Thanks! Yeah it is young...perhaps I let things get a little out of control. Im happy with the results I got from just sifting, raking, removing, vacuuming did. Didn't want to remove everything all at once either. Will corraline eventually over take the nuiscance algae in our tanks?

From my research that's the algae we all strive for? Mine has been naturally growing i can see on the back wall in the last month. Hopefully overtime that will be my next defense to loads of unwanted algae?

BTW love this talk!!
 

Dan I

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Here is my two cents from using Vibrant in the past and am currently using it again for some new tank uglies. In simple terms, it works. You just need to make sure you follow the directions and don't bottle out your nutrients that can lead to some cyano. Vibrant knocked out chrysophytes and some dino for me in my last tank. It doesn't happen over night but will work if you manage your nutrient export properly.

On the other hand, it doesn't seem you really need it. Maybe can be used as a maintenance dose.
 
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RobertTheNurse

RobertTheNurse

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Vibrant will make short work of that algae. If it was my tank, I would only dose .5 ml (1/2 ml)total per every two weeks so you don’t abruptly tank nutrients. Your algae problem is very minor. If it still lingers after a few weeks, then up it to 1ml total. Slow and steady wins the race imo.
Hey...so decided to give vibrant a try. Every 2 weeks im having to do some heavy GHA removal...wsnt to test Vibrant out a bit. Just re reading everyone's suggestions...for my 65G Tank...should I start 0.5mL x 6 (for 60 Gallon) 2.75 mL...or did you mean just dose 0.5mL every 2 weeks lol
 

footgal

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Hey...so decided to give vibrant a try. Every 2 weeks im having to do some heavy GHA removal...wsnt to test Vibrant out a bit. Just re reading everyone's suggestions...for my 65G Tank...should I start 0.5mL x 6 (for 60 Gallon) 2.75 mL...or did you mean just dose 0.5mL every 2 weeks lol
Read the bottle. I believe it’s 1 mL for every 10 gallons 2x per week for tanks with an algae problem. I started with 2 mL (20 gallon tank) every week then bumped it up to 2 mL 2x per week and within 3 months all my bubble algae vanished!
 

Naturalreef

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Hey...so decided to give vibrant a try. Every 2 weeks im having to do some heavy GHA removal...wsnt to test Vibrant out a bit. Just re reading everyone's suggestions...for my 65G Tank...should I start 0.5mL x 6 (for 60 Gallon) 2.75 mL...or did you mean just dose 0.5mL every 2 weeks lol

I just halved the bottle recommendation. I feel it is less of a shock on the nutrients of your system, and it still was very effective. Slow and steady wins the race.
 
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