New to ZEOvit

[AquariumSpecialty]

We just ordered the basic 4 for one of our display tanks. The tank has been set up for almost 4 years. Recently I added a goldflake angle and a maroon angel to the tank (big fat pigs). Since then we have had a bit of hair algae crop up in spots. My hope it that the Zeovit system will rid the tank of hair algae in the display. We haven't used ZEOvit yet so any helpful tips would be welcome. The tank is dominated by SPS and we are using one of our skimmers and Ca reactors and an Aquatronica controller. I understand ozone is not advised so I plan to shut it off on this particular tank. Ozone has done a great job for us and I plan to continue to use it on our other aquariums and systems. Also to note we have a lot of very nice SPS corals in this tank like PM, Superman, tort, booberry stag and other rare monti and acro colonies. I'm only mentioning this because I don't want anything to happen to them! Hopefully they can make the transition to ZEOvit along with the other 75 or so species of SPS & LPS corals we have in the tank. Any expert advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance. Scott

[Aged Salt]

Hi Scott, in order to help with recommendations, please answer the questionnaire sticky near the top of this forum "tell us about your tank" Thnx. Bob

[AquariumSpecialty]

Sticky??

Bob, Sorry but I don't see what you are referring to. Thanks.

[GTR]

Scott, here you go...
http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14

SteveU

[AquariumSpecialty]

Thanks Steve!

EOM

[Aged Salt]

Scott, go to the "Forums"----> "Genral Discussion, English" & I beleive it's the 5th or 6th sticky from the top. Bob

[AquariumSpecialty]

About this tank - ZEOvit

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.) 225 Gal
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.)
3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique Yes Aquarium Specialty Reactor
4. Are you using a PO4 reactor (how long, how long ago, etc.) No
5. Are you using Ozone Yes - currently use Ozotech
6. Are you using UV No
7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume) Aquarium Specialty 225 Gal
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels D/D test kit on the way for PO4 Haven't tested for PO4 in several months, no measurable NO3
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels Ca 400-450, 8-11, Mg unknow at present
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.) BB/heavy skimming, live rock
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.) 400 Watt XM 15K, 250 watt XM 10K, 1 ea VHO 6' 50/50 URI, 1 ea 6' Actinic
12. What corals do you keep In this tank- about 80 species SPS and 5 species LPS and 2 species Soft
13. Tissue color (light or dark) rich and dark very good coloration
14. How long has the tank been running - 4 years
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system-bio load from new fish
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.) Kalk
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.) approx 150 lbs-200 lbs
18. Any present problems - some hair algae as a result of overfeeding Angel fish
19. Problem description (tissue loss tips, tissue loss base, diatom bloom, algae, etc.) See Above - coral is very healthy
20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.)
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.) none-on order as of 2/3/06
22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.) temp 77-80 F. .022-.023

[GTR]

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

SteveU

[AquariumSpecialty]

180 Gal display...

eom.

[G.Alexander]

Scott, welcome to ZeoVit.com

If you start with the system, I would highly recommend to stop the usage of ozone, as it is contra productive to a bacteria driven system and will destroy many of the system elements like bacteria, amino acids etc.

You should also think about stopping the kalkwasser addition while it will pool up especially PO4 over the time which can be released back to the water column under different conditions. It is possible you already build up a PO4 pool from using it in the past, this could lengthen the nutrient depletion process so please be patient.

Your water levels are looking good, only the KH level should be slow decreased a little bit. Please also try to get a Mg test kit to keep this important level inline and stabile.

First of all I would recommend to download the dosing guide from:

http://www.captiveoceans.com/pdfs/ZEOvitGuide1.pdf

It contains a lot of useful information and will be helpful to get a feeling for the dosage.

Please slow balance you water parameter before starting with the system & keep the levels as stabile as possible: Ca 400 – 420 mg – Mg 1250 – 1300 mg – KH 6.5 – 7.5

Just start with the basics products to decrease nutrients:

1. Place 1.7 liters zeovit in a Zeo Reactor. Water flow around 180 gallons per hour. Connect the reactor pump with a timer and run the reactor pump with a 3 hour on / 3 hour off / 3 hour on interval. Please make sure the zeolite is not exposed to air while the pump is switched off. Clean the material daily. Leave the zeolite 4 weeks in the filter until you do the first change out. This is the first changing interval, others could be lengthen to 6 – 8 weeks.

2. Place 0.7 liters carbon in a filter sock and keep it in a passive water flow in your sump, changed every 30 days. Knead the carbon daily to keep the surface clean. Most users get perfect results with korallenzucht carbon.

3. Dose 7 drops ZeoBac & ZeoFood7 daily for the first 2 weeks, flowed by a 2 – 3 x weekly dosage of 7 drops. Dose 0.7 ml ZeoStar2 2 x daily (morning & evening). Dose those in front of the Zeo reactor pump while it is switched on.

4. The additional dosage of some food source for the corals works fine. I would recommend to dose 7 drops Amino Acid High Concentrate & 14 drops Pohls Coral Vitalizer daily directly in the tank.

Later on you could use the additional products for coral colouration. This makes no sense at the moment while your nutrients are high. You will admire them if your system has changed to a nutrient poor environment. Adjust your skimmer to skim wet, keeping it clean to export as much as possible. Do a weekly water change of 5 – 10 % with a good salt.

G.Alexander

[AquariumSpecialty]

thanks for the link...

and advice. I was just speaking with Scott at Captive Oceans last week. I wanted to see if anyone had anything else they could share from personal experiences with ZEOvit on an established SPS aquarium.

[Aged Salt]

Scott, check out the gallery of beautiful SPS corals & TOTQ reefs using ZEOvit. Personally, I've always been able to keep SPS but never had the color "pop" out as the corals do with ZEOvit. In my case, I used to buy tons of resins & chemical removers to keep my water low in nutrients. With the ZEOvit method, the my monthly cost is much lower, with less maintenance plus, much better SPS color & growth Maybe others will chime in with their experiences with this wonderful method. Bob

[AquariumSpecialty]

will do...

I really enjoy checking out what others are doing. By the way, this seems like a very friendly forum/site with more advanced reef keepers. It's good to see!

[AquariumSpecialty]

Bob...

Bob I just sent you a PM...Thanks, Scott