Vibrant gone terribly wrong

[bms270]

There seems to be definitely a pattern here.. interestingly it killed both my clowns in under 30 minutes. I did have little dyno looking algae on the substrate as visible in the image below:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sorry to see this.

The algaecide in vibrant wouldn’t seemingly kill fish at the recommended dose, but dead algae and bacteria can certainly release toxins.

 

[bms270]

Stuff like Vibrant should be removed from the shelves and banned from sales. Anything potentially harmful (when followed the label) should not be sold readily in the market. I do not care how many success stories are out there but such mass killing potential is inhumane and should be dealt with. Stuff like these is the reason some people are against this hobby.

 

[bms270]

Sorry to see this.

The algaecide in vibrant wouldn’t seemingly kill fish at the recommended dose, but dead algae and bacteria can certainly release toxins.

Thanks Randy. I was aware of the content based on the humongous thread that is here about it being algaecide and that is why I only tried it in my fish only tank but seems like the toxin it creates is so powerful that kills the fish instantly. I mean would humans sell a kind of food that can potentially kill people based on what they ate prior in that day?

 

[bms270]

looks like my RBTA is also on its last leg… sad day.

 

[Sean Clark]

Although Vibrant has reciently been exposed as not being what it claims to be... and the OP has acknowledged their knowledge of this... I do not believe that Vibrant played any role in these losses. I am not defending Vibrant, I am only calling it as I see it. This system had other issues going on prior to the implementation of Vibrant and is now seeking a scape goat reason for their losses.

 

[bms270]

Although Vibrant has reciently been exposed as not being what it claims to be... and the OP has acknowledged their knowledge of this... I do not believe that Vibrant played any role in these losses. I am not defending Vibrant, I am only calling it as I see it. This system had other issues going on prior to the implementation of Vibrant and is now seeking a scape goat reason for their losses.

I strongly disagree with such statement. This tank had no issues, was running fine and thriving except with some expected algae which I normally leave alone but this time I tried to use Vibrant since it was a Fish only tank to just give it a try. I can confirm the sequence of events as described by @edindubai and pointed out by @Randy Holmes-Farley precisely and makes total sense based on facts and scientific research. No other issues that I am aware of in my past 18 years of experience can wipe out life in 30 minutes. I am not aware of any natural phenomenon in a reef tank (given all stable parameters) that does this. Please lets look at the facts and science and stop defending a product with potential life hazards. I found this thread when this happened today and logically and scientifically it makes sense. Please read @edindubai’s post. I am not concluding anything but certainly some kind of serious neurotoxins are released paralyzing the fish caused by the addition of this product.

 

[Sean Clark]

I strongly disagree with such statement. This tank had no issues, was running fine and thriving except with some expected algae which I normally leave alone but this time I tried to use Vibrant since it was a Fish only tank to just give it a try. I can confirm the sequence of events as described by @edindubai and pointed out by @Randy Holmes-Farley precisely and makes total sense based on facts and scientific research. No other issues that I am aware of in my past 18 years of experience can wipe out life in 30 minutes. I am not aware of any natural phenomenon in a reef tank (given all stable parameters) that does this. Please lets look at the facts and science and stop defending a product with potential life hazards. I found this thread when this happened today and logically and scientifically it makes sense. Please read @edindubai’s post. I am not concluding anything but certainly some kind of serious neurotoxins are released paralyzing the fish caused by the addition of this product.

I am not aware of any natural phenomenon in a reef tank (given all stable parameters) that does this.

I am not defending this product. I am only pointing out what you also have. Nothing does this within 30 minutes. Believe what you will. But I believe you are placing the blame in the wrong spot.

 

[homer1475]

Didn't even know you could still buy vibrant? Thought it was pulled from the shelves like a year ago? Unless they bough it from fleabay? Then who knows what was actually in the bottle.

 

[bms270]

It’s literally on every LFS and some online stores like Aquacave (where I bought it) and Amazon. Awareness against potentially life threatening supplements (again when following the instructions) should be more than random threads here. Events like these will deter new hobbyist (like my younger kids) thinking this hobby is not safe. I am not saying Vibrant contains cyanide but the algaecide inside it can interact with other stuff in the tank to produce such harmful poison. In this case potentially killing Dino and releasing neurotoxins in the water. (Theoretically).

@Sean Clark maybe earthquake killed my fish but that earthquake happened 30 minutes after adding Vibrant. Such a coincidence.

 

[Sean Clark]

The vibrant controversy was never about it killing fish. It is about the product being represented as a bacterial product when it is indeed a common and widely used algacide.
I agree that this information should be more widely available to the general public and it is sad that vibrant is still being sold with improper and deceitful labeling. I am sorry that you lost your fish.

Take a look at the work that went into showing that vibrant is a common algacide here:

Understanding Vibrant: Algaefix, Polixetonium Chloride / Busan 77

The purpose of this post is to look closely at Vibrant to compare its properties to a known algaecide, Algaefix by API. This is intended to shed light on the active ingredients in Vibrant, explain its mechanism of action, and give people insight into its use and what to expect. It is not a...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[SillyReef]

Product seems to do more harm then good for most. I use chemi clean, lights out or reduce P/N(filtrations or feedings) to deal with algae along with blowing rocks with a baster, clean sand bed if you have one. Everything else seems to swing full chemical make up of system or require so much work its not worth it.

 

[shorty6049]

Hey guys,

Figured I'd throw my own story in here as well...

For the past few days I'd been noticing that my tank was getting very grungy looking.... brown stuff clinging to a lot of the surfaces.. I've dealt with red slime in the past and it didn't seem like that . Dealt with Dinos a while back but don't recall what I did other than maybe running UV ?

Anyway, This is a 25g tank with only a couple 4-stripe damsels and two trochus snails...
I fed the fish this mornign and they were both alive and well as far as I can remember (I know I saw at least one of them come out to eat as I dropped the food in)

Decided to add some vibrant...

30 minutes later I noticed one of my fish laying on the bottom of the tank. Ammonia was around .5ppm and when I did a water change this afternoon I found the other fish's body.

I do think there's probably truth to the product causing dinos to release toxins because I've used this stuff over and over again and never had an issue. But apparently I've never used it during a dino outbreak?

Oddly the snails seem to be okay still. Trying to do another water change tonight though since my ammonia levels are still high.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I cannot recommend vibrant even if it worked perfectly. A company that lies to users does not deserve our business.

 

[shorty6049]

I cannot recommend vibrant even if it worked perfectly. A company that lies to users does not deserve our business.

Yeah, given what I've read here , I'll probably end up just tossing my bottle of it... its honestly never really been all that effective in my experience anyway...