New to zeo and need some suggestions.

[prodman]

I want to go zeo now because my tank is still very new and doing quite well. So well that I want to take every percaution to keep it that way. Most of my reefkeeping friends are using this system and having good luck.
So today I visted my friend the local zeo rep and purchased 1 liter of stones,start2,zeobach,zeofood and 1 small ammino acids.
I also visted Tap plastics and got most of the supplys for my reactor.
So any suggestions on dosing would be great. And I am also tring to figure out what pump to feed the reactor with .
Thanks -Paul

My tank info is as follows.I upgraded to this tank 3 weeks ago from a 65g.
-120g in tank 30 in sump.
- livestock is 1 lavender tang and lots of sps frags.
-80-100lbs of lr some new and some almost 2 years old. But all cooked before tank was setup.
-skimmer is a euro-reef 8-2 recirculating. With new beta pump that pulls 900 liters of air.
- geo CA reactor with koralith media
-2-250w pheonix 14k on m80 ballasts and pfo mini pendents.
-I have fairly stable parameters of
-CA 440
-dkh 8-9
-Mg 1300+
-p04 .03 with the hanna meter
-salinity.025
-temp 79-80
Weekly 10% water changes

I

[cookie extreme]

only one fish? i give you the thumbs up already. what are your nitrates? what are your colours at present and how is your growth? why do you think zeovit will help you achive even more?

you said that your friends are having good luck! are you having second thoughts about the zeovit system? hope not its a good thing.


keep us informed

[prodman]

Honestly I havent tested my nitrates lately. But they have always been 5 or less. My colors are so so. Some things look great but some are brown. My growth is been better since I have brought my CA up in the last couple months.

[Aged Salt]

Hi Paul, with the ZEOvit method, our parameters are kept as NSW, ie. Ca>400/Mg>1250/KH-6-8 & stable/salinity 1.023-.025. As nutrients will be reduced with the help of ZEOvit, plz. reduce the KH to the above guidelines. For your system, I recommend:
1)dose 1/3 ltr. carbon, in a filter sock, passively in a low-flow area of your sump. Knead this 3x's/wk. & exchnge monthly.
2)dose 1 ltr. zeolites at a flow rate of 100gph. A little more or less is fine. I would recommend a MJ 600 for your filter pump but any pump regulated to 100gph flow will work. Pump clean the stones once or twice a wk. Cycle the stones "on" & "off" at 3hr. intervals. The initial zeolite time-period will be 4 wks., thereafter, it becomes 6wks.
3)dose 3 drops/Bak/Food7 daily for the 1st 2 wks, then 3 drops each 2x's/wk. Dose these in front of your zeo-filter pump. Turn off your skimmer for 60min after dosing these.
4)dose Start2 .15ml 2x's/day daily. It is not necessary to turn off your skimmer when just dosing Start2.
5)dose AAHC 3 drops daily in your display tank
Ask any questions & be sure to repost your tank's stats when the first zeolite exchange periods arrives for new zeo-dosages. BTW, check out Niclas's thread "coral bleaching" to see how he made his zeo-filter from a Deltec RP Rx, Bob

[prodman]

Thanks I will do that. But I have had a hard time getting my kh that low. Any suggestions?

[Aged Salt]

Paul, to reduce the KH, I use Oceanic[Hi Ca/Mg/low KH] which enables me to slow down my CR effluent flow. It's just a matter of not working your CR so hard, Bob

[prodman]

You mean oceanic salt right? I use IO salt. And add seachem reef calcium which seems to lower the kh while raising the Ca. I guess I can just add more.

[prodman]

my zeo reactor

Heres the reactor I built last night.

[prodman]

Should my zeo reactor pump be running when I add the bak and food? Or can it be added during an off time? And Should I turn off the skimmer when I add the Amino acids? I have had one coral start to reaccede as well it is one that I have not had for that long and has never been in perfect health but wanted to mention it anyway.
Thanks

[Heinz]

zeo reactor pump should be running when dosing bak food, also most dose it near the zeo reactor pump intake,

[Aged Salt]

Paul, as Heinz mentioned dose the zeo-components with the filter running[including AAHC] Turn off the skimmer for 60min after dosing Bak/Food. With all the other zeo-components/supplements, this is not necessary. I dose everything in the display tank with the exception of Bak/Food/Start2 which is dosed near the filter pump. Paul, tissue recession is non-zeo-related--plz. check thoroughly your parameters, especially the KH, which must be between 6-8. BTW, your zeo-filter may be losing too much flow up the sides, rendering inefficiency to the zeolites which you mentioned previously. Bob

[prodman]

Thanks guys. I will start dosing when the reactor is on. And I just pulled the reactor to check out the flow. And the inner chamber actually filled a little faster than the space between the two.

[prodman]

Well its already been 4 weeks and need some new dosing schedules. Tank looks great and my po4 just tested at .04 with the hanna color meter. Thanks Paul

[Aged Salt]

Hi Paul, the zeolite interval period will now extend to 6wks. For these next 6wks., I recommend the following :
1)continue the same quantities of carbon/zeolites
2)dose the same quantites of Bak/Food7 but with the new zeolites, dose Bak/Food7 every other day for the 1st two wks. then dose these 2x's/wk
3)dose Start2 0.1ml 2x's/day
4)consider dosing PIF at 3 drops 2x's/wk; Fe at 1 drop 2x's/wk; Coral-Vitalizer at 1-3 drops daily per 25g net volume
Bob

[prodman]

Thanks for the quick response. So after the first 2 weeks I will dose 2 times a week for the remaining 4 weeks? And I a not familiar with the other products you reccomend so I will have to look those up.