Vibrant by UWC testing

[jason2459]

And here's an article on it.
http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium

The chart in that article is fairly conservative but safe. I did much greater jumps until I got big chucks of bacterial mulm blowing into the aquarium from my return on start up and then cut back. Now I only get a little bit of mulm blown out on start up of my return pump.

 

[jason2459]

Day 24 6x doses @ 140ml total

Not cleaning glass again tonight. Has a bit of film build up but not noticeable from the outside.

Cyano maybe a bit cut back holding on to the thicker areas. Algae above pump looks unchanged.

 

[NanaReefer]

Even though via Salifert my PO4 reads .0 and my NO3 reads 2.5? I've no nuisance algae at all. So I'm unsure what nutrients I'm trying to reduce.

 

[jason2459]

Probably good to just not do anything you weren't doing before then. [emoji6]

Just siphon out what you didn't want.

 

[jason2459]

Another view of that algae gowing above the gyre. Its pretty thick and healthy.

 

[jason2459]

Even though via Salifert my PO4 reads .0 and my NO3 reads 2.5? I've no nuisance algae at all. So I'm unsure what nutrients I'm trying to reduce.

Also to add, I highly suggest reading the two threads linked to at the bottom of that vinegar article.

 

[jason2459]

Photosynthate

Ive read scientific articles that state much bacterial growth on the reef is fuelled by algal glucose. Next is coral slime.

While I'm suggesting reading materials


Coral reefs in the microbial seas

Easy and interesting read that revolves around coral reefs and bacteria. It was suggested to me by another forum member Timfish.

available on kindle too.

 

[jason2459]

One more thing to note is I did find my tuxedo urchin the other day and did find my short spine urchin tonight. I'll assume my pencil urchin is fine and hiding as normal.

So, I haven't seen anything negative to things I want to keep around.

 

[Brew12]

Ok researchers.. let me throw my experience out there.
As I've said before, my tank was in it's ugly phase and heading in the ugly direction very quickly. I started dosing Vibrant twice a week and it almost immediately knocked out my hair algae. My skimmer was going nuts and it was hard to keep it from overflowing with dark skimmate.
So I reduced feeding by almost 50%. Most of the hair algae was gone when I started getting Cyano. The hair algae never would go completely away but the cyano kept growing. On a recommendation, I added GFO and it initially seemed to knock back the cyano but didn't do much long term. Throughout this time I never saw any detectable nitrate in my system. I only had the Hanna low range phophate checker and never saw any detectable phosphate on it. To combat the cyano I started dosing 1ml/10 gal H2O2 for around a week with little noticeable change to my cyano.
At this point the cyano was having a very negative impact on my plating corals and my SPS's were very pale with almost no polyp extension. My hammer coral and pipe organ didn't look as bad but weren't doing well. My zoas were absolutely thriving. 2 of the 3 more than doubled their number of heads in 2 weeks. So I had signs of low nutrients based on my SPS's, high nutrients based on my zoa's, nothing detectable using my kits and a hard working skimmer. Out of frustration on Saturday I pulled my GFO, stopped dosing H2O2, and decided to stop using Vibrant.
Now, my cyano is receeding. The little remaining GHA is dying off. My skimmer is still working hard but I can go 2 days without emptying instead of doing it every day. No change in my corals but I expect them to be slower to respond. Not what I expected when I stopped using these products. My ultra low range hanna checker came in yesterday and I had 0ppb phosphates using it.
So this is what I am thinking....
The Vibrant worked great for me early and released all sorts of nutrients into my tank. As I worked through getting these nutrients removed I reached a break over point where I had almost no NO3 or PO4 left in my water. What was there was consumed by the Vibrant. This Vibrant biomass was used as food by my zoas and the cyano but couldn't be processed by my SPS's. When I would clean the tank, the cyano would break down and fuel minor GHA growth which was then consumed by the Vibrant and fed more cyano. Now that I have discontinued Vibrant, I am no longer adding the food the cyano was using and it is dying off.

Not sure if my observations help but thought I would lay them out there.

 

[CaptainOver]

One more thing to note is I did find my tuxedo urchin the other day and did find my short spine urchin tonight. I'll assume my pencil urchin is fine and hiding as normal.

So, I haven't seen anything negative to things I want to keep around.

Jason, any noticeable dino left? Or are you mostly just tracking the cyano now?

 

[jason2459]

Jason, any noticeable dino left? Or are you mostly just tracking the cyano now?

The dino bubbles have gone with in the first couple weeks so none visually. I am going to try and find the kind I believe to be Amphidinium massarti which when I last looked didn't look right. At least not what I have observed before.

 

[BlueCursor]

Even though via Salifert my PO4 reads .0 and my NO3 reads 2.5? I've no nuisance algae at all. So I'm unsure what nutrients I'm trying to reduce.

PO4 can get sucked up by plants and algae very quickly, and held until needed. Before they are going to die, the plants have to use their reserves and not be able to replace those reserves. That reading of 0 PO4 is deceptive. It's only a measure of PO4 in the water column that hasn't been grabbed by plants and algae.

Also keep in mind that when we focus on algae nutrients we primarily speak about PO4 and NO3 because these are typically the problem. But excess other nutrients can also be an issue: amino acids, lots of dead bacteria not skimmed out, etc. This is why some people can have 0 P04 and 0 NO3 from test kits but explosive growth of macro algae.

If you really want to learn a bunch about algae, go read the forums on algae control in freshwater planted aquariums. I spent years controlling algae in a planted aquarium while growing plants that require good nutrient content in the water. Because corals are used to growing in a nutrient poor environments, it is easier controlling algae in a reef tank. Even through it's easier, it still requires the same basic principals and even more patience because in a reef tank you have to make changes slowly.

 

[jason2459]

I ordered this, 20ml tubes, and rack after you mentioned oils.

https://www.amazon.com/Kenley-Deskt...d=1482355760&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=centrafuge


edit: and looks like I'll get it this week yet

Christmas present just came!

I can't wait to use it!

Edit: and to note I have no idea what will happen and may not be powerful enough if minute amounts of oil is present. This is just for fun and I was wanting one anyway. [emoji4]

 

[twilliard]

Christmas present just came!

I can't wait to use it!

Edit: and to note I have no idea what will happen and may not be powerful enough if minute amounts of oil is present. This is just for fun and I was wanting one anyway. [emoji4]

Awesome!
4k should be fine for separation
Lets see this in action!

 

[jason2459]

I'm hoping so. It seemed to have good overall reviews for a relatively cheap centrifuge.

This was in one of the reviews on it
"I have used this successfully to separate oil from liquids, and have had some success separating oil and liquids from solids (such as crushed peas) at the highest speeds."

 

[Cory]

So the purpose of this device is to see if it has eucalyptus oil or in it?

 

[jason2459]

So the purpose of this device is to see if it has eucalyptus oil or in it?

Something. Just to see if any kind of separation occurs.

 

[Brew12]

So the purpose of this device is to see if it has eucalyptus oil or in it?

The smell of eucalyptus oil served the purpose of an excuse to let him buy a new toy.

 

[jason2459]

The smell of eucalyptus oil served the purpose of an excuse to let him buy a new toy.

Yes. [emoji1]

 

[twilliard]

The smell of eucalyptus oil served the purpose of an excuse to let him buy a new toy.

HAHA ya thats how it happens. Would be cool to just have one on the bench