Tank specs(week 3 in first zeo cycle)

[westy]

Gross water volume 340ltr(89usg)Net270ltr(71usg)

• Dupla calc reactor. no po4/ozone/uv. Lifereef protein skimmer run off t4 velocity pump. po4 was .15 now .005. nitrate was 12 now 2-3ppm.sg 1.025,temp 26C

• Ca 410/Alk 8.7/magnesium , never tested prior,now 1110,so added zeo mag chip to calc reactor today.

• Shallow coral sand bed,berlin filtration.live rock

• Lighting:Arcadia 3 series pendant ,2x 150w aquaconnect 14000k mh, 2x actinic,marine glo/dayglo

• Coral:majority hard coral,sps,taken out most leathers just a few favourites (yellow tonga),left.

• acros are brown,although new stock is vibrant and maintaining colours ,non descript acro has suddenly decided it has blue polyps,cool!

• Tank has run nearly two years,coralline totally covers all rocks,i think due to the light combination.running on the slightly blue side.

• Supp dosing: ceased all since zeo.

• Approx 30 kg's of live rock elevated on a black eggcrate base using sched 80 (grey)pvc feet.A spraybar runs the back length shooting forward,this keeps the base clean and mixes crud into the water column.rocks at front along with shallow sand bed totally disguise that the majority of tank has bare bottom!

• Circulation:two 6100 tunze streams on 7094 controller,love these things! two spraybars,1 at top left,other at bottom back share water return line thru techy 4 way valve.Allows a good blast to bottom of tank occasionally!

• Test kits all salifert

• ZEOVIT:Running approx 1/2 bag zeo during first cycle,will increase to 3/4~1 in the next. zeostart twice daily at .20ml early then prior lights out.Small eheim 600 pump runs reactor allows flow rate 150-600 ltr per hr.timer at 3 hour intervals on pump.Bak/food every 2/3days.

[Aged Salt]

Hi Westy, looks good so far? Can you tell us about your nutrient levels/ your coral appearances/ your bak/food7 dosing quantities? You will need to use Epsom salts to raise the Mg level to >1200, then the Mg granules in your Ca Rx will maintain that level. I've used SeaChem's Mg Advantage crystals in the past to raise Mg levels safely, & recommend this[Epsom salts]. For your system, 3/4ltrs of zeolites at a flow rate of 300l/h to be correct. Continue the intervaling of the zeo-filter. Try to decrease the KH to 8. Bob

[westy]

Pics

Tank now full of sps,this was taken after changing rock formation,will post some when worthy of viewing.

[westy]

Cheers bob ,thanks for the good advice,will get onto the Mg,and continue cycling the reactor.I tested the nitrate after a few days away and to my surprise after never getting below about 10ppm for about a year,the nitrate was 3 and this after only three weeks.tested the Po4 and down to .005,the brown acro's i've had for a while are lightening and the tips are starting to haze with colour.new additions are healthy maintaining if not enhancing in colour.Is it correct that the only way to decrease the kh is by diluting with water changes?will this stabilise or is something driving it up(calc reactor)? bak/food 2 drops every 2/3 days.

[nyfireman3097]

cant wait to seee ur tank after a month of ZEO
Nick

[Aged Salt]

Hi Westy, thnx. for your info & I can see your corals are striving After the zeolite exchange[3/4ltrs.] dose bak/food7 every other day for the first two wks, then 2x's/wk. Continue your present quantity & frequency of Start. The KH factor revolves not only your Ca Rx & it's speed of action, but also the alk. of your mixing salt[or do you use NSW?]. If you must, as I've needed to do, one must run the Ca Rx partime, supplementing Ca/Mg until the KH is decreased, then dial-in your Ca Rx to hold the parameters. Bob

[westy]

Kh reduction

Great stuff,bob,will check the alk of the IO topup water on next change,and juggle the calc to suit.I really was expecting to have a few months of dutiful dosing before seeing any result from zeo,although very early in the process,changes for the better are already occurring! Getting the chemistry right is goodfun,never thought that at school!

[nyfireman3097]

u dont top off w/ IO do u ?
Nick

[westy]

Water

Ta,the water changes are done using instant ocean,the top up water is reverse osmosis

[nyfireman3097]

lol thats what i was hoping lol i changed to Oceanic from IO and it was the best thing i ever did
Nick