Vibrant Killing Corals..

[BigRich]

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 corals turning brown and dying, all fast. Different types of corals as well, favias/chalices/montipora/acros. Now at around 24hrs after I’ve lost 50% of corals and I think that number will go up. I’ve never been more disgusted with this hobby then I am right now. My best educate guess on what happened is vibrant took all my nutrients to zero causing the corals to die. Nothing else has been added or changed in the tank. Literally nothing else has changed except the addition of vibrant. I’ll attach some pics so you can see how quickly the rtn/death happened. I’ve done water changes and running carbon. I think it’s all too late though. In these pics you will see a Jason fox red hot sestosa, a CB favia that was around 5in wide, 4in long completely dead, a J fox raja rampage that was really beautiful destroyed in less than 24hrs. A few other Frags I didn’t bother taking pics of out of disgust were some TSA signature acros as well as a Jfox beach bum monti. Just wanted to share so others could now that this can happen.

 

[Travis Alderman]

Sorry to hear. I hope they bounce back.

I use vibrant. From what i can tell its a bacteria that focuses on eating algae.

Therefore, once it eats your algae your nutrients should go up, not down, because there is nothing that can absorb it anymore. That is why they say your tank may look great but your nutrients could be out of whack while using it.

I would look elsewhere.

 

[BigRich]

Oh I almost forgot, it also wiped out my coraline algae the was along the back of the tank. Went from being a really nice pink/red to brown to gone. So far corals that’s don’t seem to be bothered are my hammer, zoas, palys, acans.

 

[MERKEY]

Holy cow man I am so sorry, i cant imagine how frustrated you are. I cant think of anything but what you are doing. I'm so sorry

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Have you contacted Vibrant? They may be able to help you figure out what happened.

 

[BigRich]

Also tank stats;
Prior to vibrant: 5 nitrate
.02 phos
Post vibrant: both measurements are pretty similar, nitrate looking a little closer to 10 on salifert test. My guess is nitrate increase due to coral die off.

All/CA/mag are measured by trident so that hasn’t deviated at all.

 

[ACF930]

Very sorry to hear. I've used Vibrant before regularly to fight Dinos. It did not harm any corals, but caused a massive outbreak of red cyano that I'm starting to get over.

 

[DSC reef]

Vibrant is some crazy stuff, had issues when using it too. Corals did not react well.

 

[alton]

Vibrant is great for cleaning up and controlling bad algae like bubble, a couple small spots is not enough to feed Vibrant, so it has to feed on something

 

[BigRich]

Sorry to hear. I hope they bounce back.

I use vibrant. From what i can tell its a bacteria that focuses on eating algae.

Therefore, once it eats your algae your nutrients should go up, not down, because there is nothing that can absorb it anymore. That is why they say your tank may look great but your nutrients could be out of whack while using it.

I would look elsewhere.

I’m really OCD on my tank so there’s nowhere else to look. Nothing else changed, nothing was added or taken out of the system in months prior. No new cleaning products or pumps installed. Nothing rusted or pump went bad. No stray voltage. Literally only addition was vibrant in the past few months. Not even a new bottle of Alk/CA supplement was started or a new fish food. Everything is the same, on the same schedule.

 

[BigRich]

Have you contacted Vibrant? They may be able to help you figure out what happened.

No I figured what realistically can they do. I’m planning on sending in multiple water tests to see if anything is out of order.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

No I figured what realistically can they do. I’m planning on sending in multiple water tests to see if anything is out of order.

I really hate to hear about this. I have read where other people have had issues as well.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I would contact then anyways, it may help others avoid similar situations. I have used it with no ill effects with numbers simlar to yours. I did have bubble alage though...

Could it be a like of algae that made it attack your corals?

 

[BigRich]

I would contact then anyways, it may help others avoid similar situations. I have used it with no ill effects with numbers simlar to yours. I did have bubble alage though...

Could it be a like of algae that made it attack your corals?

I don’t know. I wish they would give a warning that it could happen, I would have never used it if I thought their was a chance of such loss. I really debated on starting a thread about it because I’ve been so down and frustrated. My reason for starting a thread is to just warn other hobbyist that it can happen.

Interesting notes is how it also destroyed coralline algae in my tank(prob took out a solid 80%). But I have a algae scrubber that I only run 6hrs a day(to keep nitrate up I run it less time) the algae growing in there shows zero signs of dying. The algae inside the scrubber is as green as ever, that may change as time goes on, I just don’t know.

I’ve been going back and forth, I can’t think of one thing I’ve changed besides the addition of vibrant. I live alone so no one else could have touched my tank, no other pets even. I log every time I do anything with my tank so I know nothing has changed or been introduced.

 

[Dave Cureton]

Vibrant is crazy powerful stuff. I had a hair algae outbreak after tearing my tank apart to pull fish due to an ich outbreak. A 5ml dose of Vibrant on a 150 gallon tank cause the hair algae to turn white overnight. I could see it wiping out nutrients we nothing else to feed on. Hopefully your tank can make a comeback.

 

[MTBake]

Put me on the list that had issues while dosing Vibrant. Corals turned very pale and I lost a couple. Bacterial additives can be crazy powerful.

 

[Travis Alderman]

I’m really OCD on my tank so there’s nowhere else to look. Nothing else changed, nothing was added or taken out of the system in months prior. No new cleaning products or pumps installed. Nothing rusted or pump went bad. No stray voltage. Literally only addition was vibrant in the past few months. Not even a new bottle of Alk/CA supplement was started or a new fish food. Everything is the same, on the same schedule.

Did you notice a change in water clarity?

Do you run activated carbon?

Maybe the amount of light the corals were getting increased dramatically?

 

[jlts21]

I honestly have no idea why people are having issues like this, but I want to find out. Especially after only dosing 3ml to 100 gallons. I’ve dosed 3 times 12ml once a week and have noticed zero issues. The small amount of algae is clearing up, no3 and po4 are very slightly lower and tank looks crystal clear

 

[BigRich]

Did you notice a change in water clarity?

Do you run activated carbon?

Maybe the amount of light the corals were getting increased dramatically?

No I didn’t notice a difference in water clarity. I don’t run carbon. I actually checked my PAR readings today(when I was making sure nothing had changed) and everything was still exactly where it was when last checked. Remember I only dosed 3ml in a 100 gallon tank, I was trying to be cautious but that didn’t workout well. I don’t think 3ml made the water so clear more PAR was reaching corals & causing rtn.

 

[jlts21]

No I didn’t notice a difference in water clarity. I don’t run carbon. I actually checked my PAR readings today(when I was making sure nothing had changed) and everything was still exactly where it was when last checked. Remember I only dosed 3ml in a 100 gallon tank, I was trying to be cautious but that didn’t workout well.

What else changed? Because I cannot see 3ml in 100g essentially nuking your corals within 12 hours all it is is bacteria. It calls for 1ml per 10gallons. 3ml in 100 gallons is a drop in the ocean