How long for nutrient depletion?

[jwaltman21]

First off I hope everyone had a great Xmas holiday.

I've been running the Zeo system for about a month now. I have been dosing as per Bob's suggested schedule.Here are my current parameters:

PO4 0
Si 0
NO3 5 ppm
Alk 8.0 dKh
Ca 410
Mg 1350

I am curios as to when I should start seeing a nitrate drop. It hasn't budged this last month. Will it take a few 6 week cycles to see it improve? Can I speed up the process by reducing / removing the dsb I have in the tank that must be a nitrate / nutrient sink? If so, what is the recomended depth and granule size for a sand bed in a zeo system ( i like the look of something on the bottom but don't want to vacuum every week as tank access is difficult)?

Thanks in advance for your always helpfull replies!

Cheers

[Aged Salt]

Hi Jamie, I trust you had a great Christmas too I'd leave the DSB for now, & you're right, nutrient deepletion does take longer in a tank with a DSB[sequestered nutrients] For now, if you wish to increase the Bak/Food/Start2 quantities by 50% for the next cycle, please do so. Don't worry about cleaning the brown film more often from the panes, but watch for any excess brownish-green patch accumulates on your sand or slimey desposits with small air-bubbles on the rocks. If you notice the these, simply drop back to your previous dosages. Bob

[jwaltman21]

As always...thanks Bob.

I will go with the double dose and see how it works out. Have a great New Year.

Jamie

[Spur2]

I think you should take your time. Zeovit required time and patient, you don't want to take a chance to crash or damage your corals. Just a thought, i am a rookie.

[jwaltman21]

Thanks rookie... like everything else in this hobby, patience is the key to sucess!!

[Orion76]

Nutrient depletion takes longer in DSB tanks but DSB's can be effective nitrate filters so removing a DSB in a tank with nitrate issues will require a pretty well thought out approach. Simply siphoning out the DSB without also addressing the nutrients and pockets of detritus in between your LR could actually increase your nitrate problems at least in the short term.

For now I wouldn't mess with the DSB, feed sparingly, blast your rocks with a powerhead daily, skim aggressively and stay the course.

HTH

[Spur2]

By the way, i am now dealing with algea problem again. I after adding the Iron, the algea blooming. it look much healthier this time.

Orion 76: i have a question, what benefit do we get from blasting the rock with powerhead, I have never done it as well as vacuum my sand. May be that is the reason why my tank has algea.

This question for all the zeo expert
My tank is 5x2x2, currently handle by 3x250w hamilton HQI. I plan to add another hamilton HQI. the question is if i add another hamilton HQI beside the fact i will add more electric bill, will my corals color up better? I really want to sell all my lights and go with 400wSE but i only have them for less than a month.

[G.Alexander]

If you notice algae growth from adding iron, I would recommend to stop its dosage until the algae are gone, followed by a much lower dosage, observing if the algae start growing again.

G.Alexander

[Orion76]

Orion 76: i have a question, what benefit do we get from blasting the rock with powerhead, I have never done it as well as vacuum my sand. May be that is the reason why my tank has algea.

The rocks trap uneaten fish food, fish poop, dead algae and other detritus. If you leave it there to decompose the end result is increased Phosphates and Nitrates in your tank.

If you blast it with a powerhead the detritus will float around in your tank so your skimmer can remove it from the water column before it decomposes.

When you do this I would recommend you set your skimmer so that it is almost overflowing and produces very watery skimmate while the detritus is floating around, this way the most particulate matter will be removed from the water.

Give it a try, you will be amazed how much crap will come from your rocks when you do this

[Orion76]

This question for all the zeo expert
My tank is 5x2x2, currently handle by 3x250w hamilton HQI. I plan to add another hamilton HQI. the question is if i add another hamilton HQI beside the fact i will add more electric bill, will my corals color up better? I really want to sell all my lights and go with 400wSE but i only have them for less than a month.

3 x 250W should be sufficient for a tank of your size.

[Spur2]

I just sold my 250w lighting system. I am now running 2x400w SE with luma max reflector. It is so bright and not that much heat transfer. Sunlight supply reflector and ballast is awesome. Thanks Orion, I am now happier with the new lighting setup. SE 400w radium bulbs look great. I will blast my rock with powerhead tomorrow and will do it everytime i do the water change. Hopefully i can get rid of my algea problem.

[Aged Salt]

Hi Steve, I turkey bast all around/under my reef daily to prevent pockets of eutrophic conditions from occuring--you may need to do this also to rid the algae & prevent it's reoccurence Bob

[Orion76]

I concur with Bob, you have to be pretty compulsive about blowing the detritus off your rocks, especially when you are having algae issues. Personally I do it 3 times a week but right now you should probably be doing it every day.

Hair algae also traps extra detritus which becomes fertilizer if it decomposes there.

[Spur2]

Thanks Bob and Orion. I am doing my water change today and will blast my rock as well. May i use the powerhead to blast them? I have the small Mag pump it run around 400-450gph. You guys such a great help. I am learning and getting ready to grad from reefrookie

[Aged Salt]

Hi Steve, a small PH is fine as long as your corals are well anchored, Bob