Vibrant by UWC testing

[jason2459]

With the mention of possibly a hint of eucalyptus oil I now have this running for the next hour. It has a hint of vibration but not bad. I put in .5oz into two tubes.

 

[jason2459]

Well, that was fun. I saw no visual separation but the vials that came with it aren't very clear. I have more coming next week that are supposed to be.

But I used several pipettes to skim the surface small amounts at a time and saw no visual difference.

Doesn't mean there isn't one. But top to the bottom the liquid looked the same and acted the same.

I also took some measurements with my refractometer and through out it was 1.044 which I expected the results to be higher then the starting point (I believe 1.037 if I remember right] due to some evaporation. The centrifuge does generate some heat.

Top left and bottom right. I want to do this again when I have more time and test some more things out.

 

[twilliard]

Are the vials capped? Also do you think the heat is excessive? Thanks Jason you mad scientist!

 

[jason2459]

Are the vials capped? Also do you think the heat is excessive? Thanks Jason you mad scientist!

The vials it came with are not capped. The vials I'm getting are. I didn't get temp readings but the outside seemed hotter then the inside. But I could still hold my hands to it so I would not say excessive.

 

[twilliard]

I am starting to think more about this.
Using a centrifuge would greatly reduce my time hunting a slide for bacteria as I could concentrate the bacteria for the dropper.

 

[jason2459]

I am starting to think more about this.
Using a centrifuge would greatly reduce my time hunting a slide for bacteria as I could concentrate the bacteria for the dropper.

And I'm looking at getting these next

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005...0_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=filter+vial+centrifuge

 

[twilliard]

Oh my way too much to learn about using one of these things, spin speed-time, tube viscosity-prep
This would just lead to more grey hair LOL

 

[jason2459]

Day 28 6x doses @ 140ml total

Cyano is gradually fading away. Hair algae still looking healthy.

7th dose tonight

 

[jason2459]

Day 29 7x doses @ 160ml total

Cyano looking pretty defeated. Hair algae looking strong. Cleaning the glass every 3 days or so which was normal for me before dosing vibrant.

 

[jason2459]

It is 1% aspartic acid by weight. How much added organic matter do you think is needed to spur cyano?

I think this is to me?

I do not know. I would assume more then 1% of 20ml to make a big impact. But possible as I've never dosed aminos of any type before. I'm still dosing around 100ml per day of acetic acid.

In my case cyano was cut back quickly but then slowly crept back but has not reached to starting point yet.

Algae itself hasn't seemed to be impacted at all and in fact has increased in terms of film algae on my glass.

I'm still dosing 2x per week 20ml of vibrant and interesting to see my tank reacting. Most recently my rocks look "cleaner." That's hard to quantify or describe but to me its a very different look then I've seen and I don't blow them off or have touched anything in my display besides cleaning off the grills of my pumps.


I haven't changed anything in my maintenance. I have increased feedings leading up to this and continue to do so.

So, this question has been lurking in my mind. I'd like to know how much sugar it takes to spur on cyano.

According to this article very little is needed in a VsV mix which I've always stayed away from sugars due to the number of people reporting cyano issues. Much more so then any other carbon source. Vodka usually next but it's normally temporary.
http://glassbox-design.com/2008/achieved-through-observation-and-experimentation/


In that article they were dosing around .2ml per 100 gallons daily of the VsV mix which the sugar part was around 9% of the volume so around 0.018ml per day. So, doesn't seem like it takes much using other people's observations. But again vodka another leading complain of cyano is in there as well. So, very hard to say.

 

[NanaReefer]

@jason2459, have you noticed any changes at all in your Zoa's since dosing Vibrant?

 

[Cory]

I remember reading a thread long ago iirc 2006 or so when rhf and others were talking about aspartic acid dosing for corals.

What i found interesting was not the coral growth but one post talking about reduced algae growth.

Perhaps aspartic acid is a key to this type of bacteria.

 

[rw09903]

jason2459, what water changing regimen are you doing while performing your experiment?

 

[jason2459]

@jason2459, have you noticed any changes at all in your Zoa's since dosing Vibrant?

I do have some zoa or palythoas but they came in under my yellow Fiji leather as hitchhickers. They don't do well anyway due to the leather. But vibrant hasn't made them look any worse.

I remember reading a thread long ago iirc 2006 or so when rhf and others were talking about aspartic acid dosing for corals.

What i found interesting was not the coral growth but one post talking about reduced algae growth.

Perhaps aspartic acid is a key to this type of bacteria.

Bacteria will consume it. I'll have to look for that thread. Sounds familiar. There is a good thread linked to from Randy and Cliff's vinegar dosing article.

jason2459, what water changing regimen are you doing while performing your experiment?

Around 1% daily water changes which I was doing before as well. I think somewhere in the first few posts details my regular maintenance which I did and have not altered.

 

[jason2459]

Day 30 7x doses @160ml total

Cyano looks to be on the way out but I would not be surprised to see another resurgence.

 

[jason2459]

Day 31 7x doses @160ml total

Really the only place I'm seeing cyano now is the far right side of my tank. Not to bad. Only took a couple weeks to see a reduction in my dinoflagelets and 31 days for cyano to recede to almost nothing. Normally if I just let it do its thing it takes a few months to see the dinos and cyano visually disappear. And keep in mind my nutrient import is still increased. Export hasn't changed.

Hair algae still looks good. It's been a long time since I've had hair algae in my tank at all so I have no frame of reference or memory how long it took to go away. I had several bouts of various kinds of algae towards the start up of my tank including bryopsis so I'm no stranger to it.

But I'm not worried about its presence and actually happy to see it. I'm very curious where this will go finishing out this dosing.

I'm going to reduce my feedings to their normal high amounts now and probably reduce the vibrant dosing to once a week. I'll probably just update this thread now if there's any major changes like the cyano explodes back to life again or the hair algae finally goes away. I have no plans to touch it.

I also want to do some more tests with the product itself. So, this doesn't end this thread just the daily updates.

Last set of trouble spot pictures.

Yes, that's a sunken submarine. Christmas present from my son. [emoji4]

And everything else has looked just fine. New frag for Christmas too. [emoji1]

 

[twilliard]

Hey Jason I would like to note that cyanobacteria (phormidium) is NOT directly influenced or altered as per direct testing from 12-22
Standard .1ml@1000ml X1 daily 2mm growth rate

 

[jason2459]

Yeah, It certainly was not directly effected other then possibly fed by the agar. Back on day 7 or 8 it came back pretty strong.

 

[RamsReef]

 

[jason2459]

Ok, last set of pictures. Had someone ask what the rest of the tank has looked like. Well, while I was highlighting ugly stuff the rest of the tank looked fine. Sand white and no unsightly growths.

Everything that you see right now started as tiny frags beginning of the year and end of last year. Some have done well and some have had a hard time recovering from an ATO overdose while I was gone for a couple weeks which some did not make it.