Tank Info!

[lawpoke]

1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) 650g
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) 580g
3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique Yes
4. Are you using a PO4 reactor (how long, how long ago, etc.) Yes 7mos
5. Are you using Ozone Yes
6. Are you using UV Yes
7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume) Deltec1003
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels .02 0
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels 420, 3.8, 1250
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.) None...Barebattom
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.) 3-400w Radium, 4-250w 14Aqua-Connect, 4-80w VHO
12. What corals do you keep sps, lps
13. Tissue color (light or dark) both
14. How long has the tank been running current tank 7mos
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system improved color
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.) kalk reactor, coral-vite and amino acid for 3 wks
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.) 650lbs.....10mos
18. Any present problems no
19. Problem description (tissue loss tips, tissue loss base, diatom bloom, algae, etc.) n/a
20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.) salifert, merk
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.) CV 26drops per day, amino 26 drops every other day
22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.) 1.025, 78 to 79, PH 8.15 to 8.35, ORP 340 to 370

[G.Alexander]

Lawpoke, welcome to ZeoVit.com

If you start with the system, I would highly recommend to stop the usage of ozone, uv and the PO4 absorber. They will only cause problems in a bacteria driven system.

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 4 liters zeovit in a Zeo Reactor. Water flow around 400 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 2 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 20 drops ZeoBac & ZeoFood7 daily for the first 2 weeks, flowed by a 2 – 3 x weekly dosage of 20 drops. Dose 2 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 15 drops Amino Acid High Concentrate & 30 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

[lawpoke]

Is 4L of of Zeovit enough for a 600g system? I have a call into Madison about a custom reactor as I thought I would need to run almost twice that amount? Stable water parameters is not a major issue with such a large water volume. It can be difficult to adjust parameters though as it takes large dosing. The tank has a water turnover of over 5000g/hr through a 250g capacity sump. It also uses a closed loop and a tunze wavebox and extension. which gives a total turnover of approx 10,000g/hr...ie...lots of flow.

[G.Alexander]

For a 600 gallon system the recommended ZeoVit quantity would be 5.5 liters. I have recommended a little bit less for the first cycle to start slower but the quantity which should be used for the future is 5 – 5.5 liters with a water flow around 500 gallons per hour through the reactor.

G.Alexander

[lawpoke]

Thank you. How much time should I allow from when I stop dosing the CV and Amino to the starting of the Zeovit? I have notice increased polyp extension since dosing CV.

[G.Alexander]

Both products did not need any dosing break while you start the system. I would really recommend to dose both daily as it is a excellent nourishment for the corals which supports them while the environment changes.

G.Alexander

[lawpoke]

And you recommend running carbon passively in the sump via a filter bag? Would running carbon in my deltec fluidized reactor....currently being used with Rowa....with a slow flow rate work or is running carbon passively a better idea? Also, with the large zeo reactors, how are most people feeding them? A "T" off a main pump or a mag? I assume you could run an insump reactor as long as a check valve is used to keep the media submerged when the pump is off?

[G.Alexander]

Here you can find some information how to run the carbon:

http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5111

Basically I would recommend for the first 2 or 3 month while a zeovit system is started to run the carbon in a filter sock, placed in the sump, kneaded every other day, passively flown. Active flow carbon will absorb elements stronger so in addition with the nutrient decrease those can cause to much changes of the environment which corals did not like to much.

To keep the zeolites submerged people use different techniques. People with a lower sump water level use a check valve while others run the reactors in sump with a adequate water level. Both works fine until the zeolite is not exposed to air while the pump is switched off.

G.Alexander

[lawpoke]

Thank you for the explanations and directions. I ordered a zeo reactor along with the recommended additives this afternoon. Looking forward to getting started.

Curt

[lawpoke]

Two weeks in as of today! Have been dosing CV and AA for 5 weeks. I am very skeptical of new products and claims and testimonials from people in this hobby...as they often have a bias or an interest in the product which they tout. That said, my tank looks GREAT! My wife, who only notices the fish, actually asked me today why the corals were brighter..now thats a testimonial! I attribute most of the improvement to the CV and AA as I still haven't reached phase 2......but simply amazed thus far. I have a huge 18"x18" stag that has been brown ever since I acquired it from Reefermadness three yrs ago...it was purple when it arrived. Now....its turning purple...bright purple!

Anyway, since I have reached the two week mark, I know I reduce ZeoBac and Zeofood to 2 to 3x per week....but do I continue the same dosage of Zeostar2?

[G.Alexander]

Lawpoke thanks for your report. Reducing Bac and Food to 2 – 3 x weekly after the 2 week continuous dosage is correct. Start2 should be furthermore dosed on a daily basis (morning & evening) and as long as you do not notice a brown film or air bubbles at the rocks there is no need to cut it down. Please watch your water parameters to keep them stabile.

G.Alexander

[lawpoke]

1 month update: Calcium 430 Alk 7.4 Mg 1300 Salinity 1.025

Dosing 5 ml of Start2 per day. Zeobak and Zeofood dosed 20drops 3x per week. CV 30 drops/day and AA 15 drop/day. Still have a brown film on the rocks and on sides of the tank.

So...change Zeo Rocks and continue same dosing regime?

[dustincombs]

Curt,

I am just down the street from you in OKC. Hope to talk to you soon about your ZIO success. My wife and I are going to take the plumge within a month. I have ordered some of he products and we are looking for a reactor. Then off we go.

dustin and debbie

[G.Alexander]

Basically you can stay with the fist dosing recommendation, but I would adjust it a little bit to get rid of the brown film.

ZeoBac: & ZeoFood7: 15 drops daily for 2 weeks after you have replaced the zeolite.
ZeoStart2: 1.5 ml in the morning and 1.5 ml in the evening daily.
AminoAcids: 10 drops daily.

Please also make sure you do not any silicate with the water change. I would recommend to check the RO water for this parameter. The Salifert test kit for example should show 0.

G.Alexander

[lawpoke]

Thanks. I can keep dosing the CV..right? Makeup water is fine. I'm using a lab grade Millipore unit.