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Hi! Thanks for stopping by. We're glad you're here. This space is for Fish Perfect's Founder, Adison Landon, to share her insights into aquarium keeping and the aquarium industry in general. We hope to update often and cover a broad range of topics.
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Vibrant and Dinoflagellates
August 15th, 2022
Months ago, a new product came into many aquarists' hands: Vibrant. Vibrant promised to be a new "blend of propriety bacteria" that was going to eliminate nuisance algaes without affecting corals. This was a blatant lie.
The active ingredient in Vibrant, as determined by lab tests is actually polixetonium chloride, an algaecide. This is the same active ingredient as API's AlgeaFix. While it is then effective against bubble and to an extent hair algae in marine tanks, it also wreaks havoc upon SPS corals and, very importantly, your aquariums microbiome.
And here is where I have to make a confession. In the past I practised some learned bad habits, and these included an over reliance on nitrate and phosphate removing media, particularly Purfiltrum and Phosgaurd. In tanks that regularly experience nitrates above 10 ppm and phosphates above 1.0 ppm these are perfectly fine to use to control nutrient levels. But in tanks without detectable or very low nitrates and phosphates, continuing to use this media will not "starve nuisance algae" as I previously understood but will rather starve out beneficial phytoplanktons.
Performing water changes when nutrient levels are low will also further dilute nitrate and phosphate levels which can then exacerbate the problem.
Taken together, dosing an algaecide like Vibrant and or removing all nitrates and phosphates creates an empty ecological niche in our aquariums, like a freshly plowed field, and this just invites trouble. What's worse, when phytoplanktons are removed and silicates are also reduced via Phosguard use, our copepod and diatom populations also crash. Where does this leave us? Primed for dinoflagellates.
Dinoflagellates, as their name implies, are ancient single celled organisms capable of autotrophic (photosynthetic) and heterotrophic (nom nom nom) metabolism. They are the weed that rolls over the freshly plowed field. Some dinos are even responsible for red tides that are harmful to humans and aquatic life alike. They are a natural part of any aquatic microbiome, but our human meddling creates the conditions for them to "break out" and out-compete everything else.
Dinos are often misdiagnosed as either cyanobacteria or a type of hair algae as this is how they can appear to the naked eye. Getting a positive identification requires a microscope capable of 400-1000x magnification, and a positive ID is required in order to properly treat the outbreak. And wouldn't you know it! Fish Perfect now has such a microscope.
Fish Perfect has also upgraded its testing equipment to more accurately measure nitrate, phosphate and alkalinity levels in seawater. While treating a dino outbreak requires a positive ID, broadly speaking controlling nitrates and phosphates are required in all cases. The goal is to maintain nitrates between 5 and 10 parts per million, ideally closer to 10; and phosphate lower than 0.40 ppm. This has always been listed as the "ideal" range on your service sheets.
In tanks that are fully stocked and well fed it is often difficult to keep levels from exceeding these thresholds and so we perform frequent water changes to reduce nutrient levels. In systems struggling to maintain these levels we may actually introduce nitrate and phosphate via dosing. Fish Perfect has then also acquired organic sources of nitrate and phosphate and is consulting with a biochemist to determine the best method and dosage amounts for reef systems. In addition to this Fish Perfect has also ordered a silicate dosing solution.
Silicates are removed by many phosphate removing medias like Phosgaurd, but are essential to the health of invertebrates like corals and clams. They are also absolutely essential to the formation of diatoms, the fossilised source of diatomaceous earth. Diatoms are another unicellular organism that often "bloom" in our aquariums, especially new tanks. In the case of a dino-bloom, we want to encourage a diatom bloom to outcompete the dinoflagellates. Diatoms are unique in their silicate skeletal structures which suppress dino mats from forming, and is why their fossilised forms are so great at controlling small pests! Of course, Fish Perfect is now also able to test silicate levels in your aquarium. :)
Finally, introducing live beneficial bacterias, phytoplanktons and copepods are the next steps in rebuilding our reefs' microbiomes. Afterall, we are keeping a small slice of the ocean at a mile above sea level and thriving biodiversity is essential to our success in this uniquely human endeavor. We need to turn the plowed field back into a beautiful prairie.
Unfortunately, this means your aquarium may endure an "ugly" phase while we reestablish its microbiome. There is no quick fix to a dino infestation. Looking for a quick fix is how we end up with dinos in the first place! Hundreds of reefers from all over were duped into thinking Vibrant was a safe, miracle fix-in-a-bottle and are now struggling with dinoflagellates. It's for that reason I plan to make a YouTube video decrying its use and alerting reefers to the true nature of this misleading product.
