Start 2 ???

[VegasMike]

Bob,

Nice to know about this Start 2 as I have been having a few problems lately with some corals that have been in my tank for months. It's not a wholesale problem, just a piece here and a piece there, maybe one every couple weeks. I have stopped dosing for now (for the next week or so) to let things stabilize a bit, before resuming dosing. My problem is I have a full large bottle of Start sitting here.

My die off has been characterized by a small section of slow die-off followed by RTN a few days/weeks later, almost like the piece is trying to hang on, but then just can't. At the same time, other pieces have thrived. One thing I have noticed is that the pieces that have died recently seem to be overly brittle and break apart very easily, at least the tips anyway.

Mike

[Aged Salt]

Hi Mike, it's good to see you here Sorry to hear of your trouble, as you have some beautiful corals. I'll ask you to fill out the sticky questions as they pertain to your reef, at the top of this forum "tell us about your tank" in order to address this properly. I look forward to hearing back from you, thnx. Bob

[VegasMike]

Here goes -

Tell us about your tank.
Please give us answers to the following questions in order to get more accurate dosing recommendations.

1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.)

660 gross gallons 450 main tank + 150 refugium + 60 in sump

2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.)

500 gallons net is my guess

3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique

Schran Calc reactor with Mg granulate

4. Are you using a PO4 reactor (how long, how long ago, etc.)

No

5. Are you using Ozone

No

6. Are you using UV

No

7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume)

Deltec AP1003, plenty big enough as you know Bob

8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels

Undetectable using Salifert test kits

9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels

CA = 430, Alk = 8, Mg = 1250

10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.)

Refugium with DSB

11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.)

8x250watt DE in ROIII pendants powered by Icecap e-ballasts, Just changed bulbs last month, from alternating 10000k and 20000k to all 14000k across back and 10000k across front.

12. What corals do you keep

Mostly SPS, one finger leather on bottom, couple LPS and 5 clams

13. Tissue color (light or dark)

Both dark and light

14. How long has the tank been running

14 months

15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system

To maintain and get back to brighter coloration

16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.)

No

17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.)

around 450 pounds, maybe a little less, most of which is 14 months old

18. Any present problems

The occasional STN/RTN on pieces that have been in the tank for months. It starts out with a dead patch that does not progress very rapidly, stays that way for days and then gone overnight.

19. Problem description (tissue loss tips, tissue loss base, diatom bloom, algae, etc.)

The tissue loss is not confined to any one part of the coral, but rather a patch that might include the tips and base, but most often tips, mainly.

20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.)

All Salifert a couple months old

21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.)

4 liters plus 10% old Zeovit, 30 drops of Bak once per week, 30 drops of food once per week, 10ml of Start 3x weekly, increase dosage frequency after Zeovit change as directed

22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.)

Salinity = 1.023, temp ranges from 79 to 81
No hair, cyano or other algae problems.

[CosmoKramer]

Is start 2 due out soon?
Sorry for hijacking mike

[invincible569]

Cosmo, it should be here soon. Not sure of the date yet, but its coming

[OUinLA]

It might be another month or so before start 2 is here

[Aged Salt]

Hi Mike, thnx. for your info. In my system of 450g net, now at 10mos. on ZEOvit, I'm dosing bak/food at 3 drops each 2x's/wk & Start1 .3ml 3x's/day daily. Your parameters are perfect Be sure the zeo-filter has a flow rate 400gph, with not much deviation. Passively, run carbon at 1ltr/mo. Knead this carbon bag every other day. Mike, your zeo-dosages are very excessive & have resulted in your coral losses. Pump the zeolites 4-5x's/day about 5-7 reps each time. I'd recommend for your system, bak/food--5drops each, every other day with new zeolites, then 2x's/wk. Dose these in front of the zeo-filter & turn off the Deltec for 60min after dosing these. Dose Start1 at .5ml. 3x's/day daily. If you notice tissue-tip thinning or recession, decrease this to .3ml. 3x's/day. It is not necessary to turn off your skimmer when just dosing Start1. Do not dose any other zeo-supplements for the next zeolite cycle. Bob