Vibrant, nitrates and my experiences. The good, the bad and the ugly

[hillbillyreefer]

Thanks for that hfp75, the more information out there the better, it doesn’t matter if it was a good or bad experience.

[gregzz4]

@hfp75
Thanks for posting your experience. This is why I am very hesitant to try Vibrant. Having a balance of both good and bad bacteria in our tanks is very important.
As you can attest to, something can go very wrong to one end of the 'scale', causing major issues or even loss of critters.
There's not a lot of info on the web about this that I can find, but I've suspected it.
Your input is greatly appreciated.

@Glenn and everyone else
On Sat I scrubbed my LR with a toothbrush and 'massaged' my sand, then when the water cleared I changed my sock.
Today, 2 days later, the 'mulm' on my rock and sand has not multiplied/spread so I feel this is a good time to try something different.
Tonight I have dosed MB7 @ the maintenance recommendation, and will do another in 1 week.
To keep my corals happy-ish, I will continue dosing TLF AcroPower @20ml/week.

Because I'm NOT dosing Vibrant, I'll move my comments to my build thread from here on.

[gregzz4]

@anyone looking to balance/re-balance the bacteria in their tanks, I've started a trek.
Check out my rebuild thread for dosing/results/updates
Greg's 75g Mixed Reef Rebuild Round 2

[Frogger]

I have a theory as to why Vibrant works for some tanks but causes problems in others. As mentioned earlier in this thread Vibrant acts like a fuel for nitrate burning bacteria similar to carbon dosing (vodka). When the tank is very low on nitrates the vibrant acts as a fuel for other bacteria like cyano.

So when you have high nitrates and this is the cause for the hair algae, Vibrant reduces the nitrates hence reduces the algae growth. But there are many reasons for algae growth and high nutrients is just one of them.

I have had a similar experience with vodka dosing before on a tank with very low nitrates.