New here

[caribbeanguy]

Hello all I am new here and beginning to lean towards doing this method. I have heard nothing but good reviews about it. Can anyone pinpoint for me things that I should be doing as a newbie to this method? For instance are there any preperations I should be making to my tank in the prelude to starting this method? Thanks all I hope to someday reap the benifits that you all have.
Caribbeanguy

[CAReefer]

Hey Caibbeanguy and welcome Zeovit.com. You will find that the folks here on Z.com are very friendly and knowledgeable. We try and use first names so let us know who you are.

The first thing you need to do is go to the Captive Oceans website, read and familiarize youself with the Zeo Vit guide. Here is a link to the guide. It is in PDF format.
http://captiveoceans.com/pdfs/ZEOvitGuide1.pdf

If you can't open it, here is their website.
http://captiveoceans.com/

Zeo requires paramaters near NSW and you should start moving slowly in that direction. These are critical in the uber low nutrient environment created by the Zeovit system. When your ready to start looking into dosing (or even before) fill out the questionaire you will find here:
http://zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14

Glad to have you here and feel free to ask any questions that come up.

Marshal

[nbd13]

Hey Fabian,

nice to see you over here,

please make a new thread or just answer the questions here.

read this thread "tell us about your tank"

http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14

then make a new thread or post and answer the questions in this thread.

that way Bob (AgedSalt) can come by and tell you exactly what to do.

Also the links above are great to read along with the links that are in the "stickys" at the top of this general thread. just click on them to open them up and in the thread there will be the links.

again welcome and glad to see you here.

Nick

[skippyreef]

Welcome Fabian!

It's Mike from MR. Nick and I can be found here much of the time

[nbd13]

I convinced him to give it a try Mike, it seems like more and more MR people are coming over here.

Nick

[caribbeanguy]

AS nick pointed out my Name is Fabian
1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) = 86 Gallons
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) = Around 60 Gallons
3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique = Soon Diy Calcium reactor
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 = Eventually
7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume)= Euroreef 5-3
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels = [email protected], [email protected] 0.25 ?? (Have to recheck)
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels = Calcium is high around 485, Alk was 14dkh, Mg @N/A
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.) = Fuge with DSB, in tank Sand is around 3"
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.) = 250W MhH (10K), Adding 150w Vho Actinics shortly
12. What corals do you keep = right now just one ric and a Blastomussa I am rehabbing and A frag of an Acan
13. Tissue color (light or dark) + Tissue color on Ric is dark but that may be from it's own coloration, Everything else is as introduced to tank
14. How long has the tank been running + System has been runnig for around 4 Months, It has been resetup from a previous display where I had it running for over a year
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system= easy I havae heard nothing but great reviews and I would like to acomplish what it is I have seen on this site
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.) Kalk
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.) = 50lbs over 3 years old
18. Any present problems = none to my knowledge
19. Problem description (tissue loss tips, tissue loss base, diatom bloom, algae, etc.)
20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.) Use test kits from LFS ( I know I have to invest in my own shortly) Typically most are red sea test kits
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.) None
22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.) 1.025, temp @ 77

presently recouping from a break in overflow box resulting in my drilling the tank and plumbing straight to the sump.

[Aged Salt]

Hi Fabian, congrats on beginning the ZEovit method. Be sure to read all the stickies at the top of this forum for indepth discussion on ZEOvit. With the ZEOvit method , Kalk, & UV are not used. Before beginning ZEOvit, plz. drop the parameters into the guidelines: Ca>400<450/Mg>1200<1400/KH 6-8/Salinity 1.023-.26. Drop your alk. slowly over the next 10-14 days to ~7.5 & keep it stable there. For your system, I recommend the following:

1)place 2/3 Cup carbon in a filter sock, passively in your sump. Knead this bag 3-4x's/wk & exchange monthly.
2)place 2/3 ltr. zeolites in a zeo-reactor with the flow rate ~ 65gph[a MJ 400 should be perfect] A little more or less is fine. Cycle the reactor with a timer, on & off at 3hr. intervals. Clean the stones 1-2 x's/day when the zeo-reactor is "on". Exchange the zeolites every 6wks.
3)dose 2 drops Bak, Food7 daily for the 1st 2wks. then 2 drops each 2x's/wk. Dose these when the reactor is "on" & near the zeo-reactor pump. Turn off your skimmer for 60min after dosing these. ZeoBak is refrigerated.[also C-V]
4)dose .1ml Start2 2x's/day in front the zeo-reactor pump when "on". It is not necessary to turn off your skimmer when just dosing Start2.
5)optional but recommended:dose 3 drops AAHC & 6 drops C-V daily, directly into your display tank. Post up again in 6wks. for dosing adjustments, & ask questions as you go, Bob

[caribbeanguy]

Thank you for your advice I still have to purchase the require additives for this method
that would give me time to get my parameters in order. Thanks Nick I am liking it here already great people and great advice. Thank you bob for your help in this I will be getting my stuff shortly, thanks all
Fabian

[nbd13]

Feel free to post any questions or concerns that you have Fabian. You will find everyone on this site is more than willing to help.

give me a shoot if you want to come and see the results for yourself...

Nick

[caribbeanguy]

Why is Kalk not used? Reason why I am asking is I just bought a boat load of the stuff
is a Calcium reactor fine for this as well?

I also have Phosphate sponge in the sump passsively as well sshould I get rid of that as well? Thanks again

[nbd13]

Yes, the PO4 sponge should go, no need for it. As the zeo system will lower your PO4.

now this is not a "must have", but if you want something really accurate to measure PO4 i suggest the Hanna Colormeter. Madison (OUinLA) is a dealer and can get you one.

they are not necessary, but i find that i can easily figure out how much Start2 to dose based on what the Hanna readings are....

also a CaRx is not a problem to use with the system, just make sure to tune it so you get 400-420 ppm for Ca and about 6-8 dkH for alk. do not go over 8 dkh for alk please or it may lead to RTN i have gone up to 9 by accident while i was out of town, but as soon as i got home i brought it down slowly....

Kalk is not used for the system because i think it has something to do with percipatating out PO4,

Bob can i get some help explaining the Kalk thing. not too sure about that. haha.

So please remove the phosphate sponge, stop using kalk, and tune your calcium reactor so your levels are about 400-420 ppm for Ca and about 7-8 dkh for alk. i run 420ish ppm for Ca and about 8dkh for alk maybe about 7.6 dkh.

Nick

[CAReefer]

Kalk has the nasty habit of sequestering nutrients. It tends to cause P04 to be stored within the Rock and substrate. The phosphate sponge will have to go. Prefferably a week or so prior to starting the Zeo. Calcium reactors are the preffered method of maintaing CA and Alk, You can also add Mg chips to the reactor to maintain that as well. The 2 part liquids tend to add more than just CA and Alk.

Marshal

[caribbeanguy]

thanks all I will have to start selling off some kalk. The phosphate ssponge will be out soon as well. Thanks guys. I appreciate all your help.

[mesocosm]

Greetings All !

... Kalk is not used for the system because i think it has something to do with precipatating out PO4, ...

At the risk of reviewing something that this thread has answered ... I thought this might be of use, especially since the use of kalkwasser (CaOH2) with ZEOvit systems is a topic of regular discussion ...

Kalkwasser precipitates phosphate out of solution, creating what is, in effect, a "phosphate reservoir" within the system. Changes in the pH of microhabitats where these precipitates settle can cause phosphate to be released back into solution. Since the ZEOvit system is designed to export phosphate, adding something which creates a reservoir is considered counter-productive.

Dr. Albert Thiel wrote a description of this process, with specific regard to "unexplained" algae blooms. Some quotes ...


Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">It has been postulated, and proven, that the long term use of Kalkwasser precipitates phosphates out of the water (which Kalkwasser really does by the way) and that these phosphate based compounds settle "on" and "in" the rock (live rock) in the aquarium, as well as "in" and "on" the substrate that may be present in the aquarium.


... Phosphates that are "bound" in an insoluble form and are, therefore, not available to algae "can" and "will" go into solution because of pH fluctuations in certain areas of the aquarium, areas where a much lower pH exists or develops, than the actual pH of the aquarium itself.

... When the pH drops in those areas of the aquarium, these insoluble compounds break up. Because they are in low pH areas the compounds dissociate, resulting in ortho-phosphate that goes back into solution, giving rise to the sudden appearance of micro-algae growth, a growth that was totally "unexpected" and "unpredictable" given the tank's water quality conditions ... .

Extracted from:
Sudden and Unexplained Micro-Algae Outbreaks
Dr. Albert Thiel


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Extracted From:
Why is Kalk a bad thing with Zeo? (Onthefly's 10.31.2005 ZeoThread)

One of the more interesting threads that I've come across regarding kalkwasser with ZEOvit ... and kalkwasser dosing, in "general" ... is this one, started by Marc Daniels (11.13.2005):
Kalk Causes Nutrient Sinks, why?

And yet, it's not like kalkwasser can't be used with ZEOvit ... although I would respectfully suggest that it shouldn't be. For example, Marko Haaga seems to have had some "relative" ... hehe ... success while continuing to seriously dose kalkwasser into his ZEOvit system. JMO, but if you haven't seen it before, this system definitely falls into my category/definition of "ZEOvit system Eye Candy" ...

Marko Haaga's Ultimate ZEOvit System





Oligotrophic systems with significant SPS growth do "atypical things", don't they? ... ...


Apologies for any redundancy.

[caribbeanguy]

ok new question for the group. I will be DIYing a Zeovit reactor, Madison gave me a few tips and I wanted to know what would ne the best way to cycle the reactor on and off every 3 hours what are some of you guys using right now to accomplish this task? Thanks in advance
Fabian