Looking for Advice on current Zeovit Program

[Tom7434]

Hi,
I am 4 months into starting a Zeovit tank using the 14 day method recommended on this forum. I am looking to see if I am on the right path. I have coral in the system (mostly frags and small starter colonies). Here is my tanks information.

Zeovit Tank Survey
1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter - 225 US gallons
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter - est. 200 US gallons
3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique - CaCO2 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 - Only when needed for fish parasites, turned off for 3 hours after dosing.
7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume) - Bashsea Twisted Skimmer 8-24 rated for 250 US gallons. This is beckman (air injected) type skimmer
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels - 0.00 to 0.03 ppm
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels Ca 490, Alk 7.6, Mg 1500. I originally had TLF Magnesium reactor media in the CcCO2 reactor, but have since removed and did a 50 gallon water change to lower Ca and Mg.
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.) - 3 Filter Socks, 2 Brightwell XPORT-BIO Biological Dimpled Bricks in sump
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.) - Aquatic Life T5 / LED hybrid with 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 Actinic, ATI Coral Plus, 5 - Ecotech XR 15 G4 Pros using modified AB+ schedule.
12. What corals do you keep - This is an SPS dominant tank.
13. Tissue color (light or dark) - Light
14. How long has the tank been running - 4 months
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system - I saw a tank here in SoCal that inspired me. He uses Zeovit and the colors are very vibrant.
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.)
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.) - 80 pounds Marco Rock Dry Rock, 50 pounds Live Rock bought from a local reefer. Live rock from ocean is not available here.
18. Any present problems - Just light color tissue but fluorescence under blues are good.
19. Problem description (tissue loss tips, tissue loss base, diatom bloom, algae, etc.) - So far so good, none of these issues
20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.) - Hana for Ca, PO4, KH, Red Sea Pro for NO3. I also have an Alkatronic which automatically measures KH every 4 hours. ICP Analysis ever 30 days.
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.
Every Day: ZeoStart 3 using doser diluted to 19 ml of RO to 1 ml ZeoStart 3 - 14 ml - this is well below the recommended but it is keeping NO3 and PO4 at near 0 as tested.
Every Odd Day: CV 8 drops, Extra Special 8 ml, Sponge Power 8 drops, Acroglow 8 drops
Every Even Day: Flatworm Stop 8 ml, Coral booster 8 ml, B-balance 4 ml
Every 3 days: Zeobak 8 drops, AAHC 8 drops
Zeovit Stones 1.5 liters in an Avast Marine Vibe Zeovit 2L Reactor, Seachem Matrix Carbon (in bag) in Zeovit Reactor
22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.) Keep Salinity at 1.026, temperature at 78 - 80
23. Which salt brand do you use - Tropic Marin Pro Reef.

Thank you for your opinions.

Tom

[Tom7434]

Here is a list of the fish / inverts in the tank. I feed pretty heavily, but there is no impact to nutrient level in tank.

• Powder Brown Tang
• Yellow Eye Kole Tang
• Yellow Tang (2)
• Squareback Anthias (male and female)
• Blue and Yellow Damsels (5)
• Purple Tang
• 2 Cleaner Shrimp
• Coral Banded Shrimp

[jacky]

Checking potassium levels is very interesting. Get the potassium test kit, K+~380, please remember to increase slowly

To measure the flow rate of the zeolite reactor, use a small container to collect the reactor outlet for 30 seconds and the volume x120 to obtain a continuous flow rate. For your system, 800 liters per hour.

Seachem Matrix Carbon (bagged) 1.5 liters in Zeovit Reactor
(1. Regarding the carbon brand, I have no experience in using it and cannot say anything. Most people use Zeo carbon very well)
(2. I don’t know much about the reactor method corresponding to the amount of carbon used, maybe it is too aggressive)
You can consider trying Zeo Carbon, using a mesh bag, 0.8 liters, passive flight, 30 days replacement

As you said, the basic water parameters are relatively high, making it slowly reduce to Kh6.5~7.5
Ca420~440
Mg1250~1300
K+~380

When was the last time the water was changed?

It looks like the biology is still young on the dry rock, and the bacteria have not really developed. If there is a chance later, it may be good to use some sand (dry)

Brightwell XPORT-BIO biological mud brick, I have no experience with it, I am not sure if it leads to light coral color. ZeoVit system, this is not a required material

For the lighting part, I don’t have very good experience, I’m sorry

[Tom7434]

Hi Jacky,
Thank you for your analysis. Regarding potassium, I just got an ICP test last week and like Ca and Mg it is high at 500. I think the root cause of these high numbers was the Mg media in the CaCO2 reactor which I removed before I did the large water change.

I previously measured the flow rate through the Zeolite at 240 gallons an hour which is pretty close to your suggestion.

I will remove the carbon from the Zeovit reactor and just place the bag in the sump. I was trying to avoid the daily “massage” suggested by the Zeovit instructions. Although I don’t think the Seachem carbon is very aggressive like ROX, I will start using the KZ carbon so I can eliminate this as any source of problem.

I changed the water yesterday as a matter a fact. It was a 20% water change of 50 US gallons.

I think you confirmed what I think I already knew, but needed to hear again... the system is new and give it time. 😀

Regarding sand, I am running without sand by choice as I prefer a higher flow than the standard Zeovit recommendation. The Brightwell Bio Bricks are supposed to play the roll of sand and they provide a massive amount of surface area for the bacteria. Let me know if you want to learn more about it as there is a lot of material on the web regarding this type of product.

As to the lighting, I don’t think it a problem. I measured PAR 8 inches from the water and it is around 300-350 which based on my research is in line with SPS. The spectrum is a recommendation from the light company Ecotech and it attempts to provide similar spectrum to Metal Halide / T5 combination. My set up also includes T5s for more even coverage of light then LEDs alone provide.

Thank you again for your thoughts and suggestions. They really help.

Tom

[G.Alexander]

Hello Tom, another thing which cam to my mind is the salinity. Do you have a chance to cross check it with a different accurate instrument ? Are the corals growing and are nay kind of other elements elevated which where shown by the ICP test ?

G.Alexander

[Tom7434]

Hi G.Alexander, I checked the salinity with both a manual refractometer and digital pen from ice-cap. Salinity is fine at 34 ppt (1.026). The only other element that was a tad high on the ICP test was Molybdenum at 0.022 ppm which is slightly higher than reference of 0.015. Everything else looked pretty good.

What is your opinion on my dosing regiment? Would you change anything? Is it OK that nitrate is always .25 ppm or lower every time I test?

Nothing good in this hobby happens very fast... I may just need to wait some more. Being at home all the time from Covid 19 has me looking at the tank a lot. LOL Just getting confirmation I am on the right course helps.

Thank you,
Tom

[jacky]

I also suggest that you get the salifert test package (kh, Ca, Mg, K), compare and publish the actual measurement level, which is very interesting

You can also take all the test kits to measure the new sea salt mixture and cross compare

[jacky]

There is no ICP service in my area, so I just keep things simple and fully follow the Zeo guidelines and Zeo products. For example: biological filter material (XPORT-BIO bio mud brick), personally, I can't determine whether it is good, or any leaching, etc., it is not a necessary component of ZeoVit system.

Ultraviolet lamps are not recommended for ZeoVit system, temporary use is possible. If your motivation for using UV lamps is to treat fish, then I don’t think it makes much sense

The additional idea is that Tank is 4 months old, and with the passage of time, the use of ZeoVit materials and the use of basic products, NO3 should not be measurable

[Tom7434]

Hi,
After a 20% water change and completed new tests as you suggested. All improved, but still high. I am planning on doing another 10% in a couple of days.

Calcium 459 (Hanna)
Magnesium 1440 (Salifert)
Potassium 440 (Red Sea)
Alkalinity 7.8 (Hanna) - I am slowly bring this down to 7.5.
Salinity 1.026 (34.1 ppt) - Double checked with a calibrated refractometer
Nitrate 0.25 ppm (Red Sea)
Phosphate .01 ppm (Hanna)

Thank you Jacky for your advice. I have used the Bio Bricks before in previous tanks and they are very common here in the U.S. In my experience they don’t leach anything that I can measure. If they become an issue, I will remove, Regarding the UV, my experience they help with some issues including helping keep fish parasites under control. I guess the jury is still since there is no concensus on the use of UV for that purpose. I am not planning on using the UV all of the time, only when needed. If all else fails, I will not use. The good news, it the tank is stable at nearly zero Nitrate and Phosphate so it has not had much impact on biology (at least nitrifying bacteria).

What do you think of my dosing schedule? I figure since I have no algae at the moment and nutrients are real low, I can afford to add these products. Interested in your opinion as well.

Every Day: ZeoStart 3 using doser diluted to 19 ml of RO to 1 ml ZeoStart 3 - 14 ml - this is well below the recommended but it is keeping NO3 and PO4 at near 0 as tested.
Every Odd Day: CV 8 drops, Extra Special 8 ml, Sponge Power 8 drops, Acroglow 8 drops
Every Even Day: Flatworm Stop 8 ml, Coral booster 8 ml, B-balance 4 ml
Every 3 days: Zeobak 8 drops, AAHC 8 drops

Thank you again for your advice.
Tom

[G.Alexander]

For a net water volume of 200 US gallons I would dose as follows as coral stocking level (consumers) is relative low:

ZeoStart – 0.7 ml 2 x daily
ZeoBac – 7 drops 2 x weekly, daily for 10 days after each ZeoVit exchange
SpongePower – 7 drops 3 x weekly
CV – 14 drops 2 x weekly
XTra Special – 7 ml 1 x weekly
AcroGlow – 7 ml 1 x weekly
CoralBooster – 7 ml 1 x weekly
B-Balance – 7 ml 2 x weekly
AAHC – 3 drops 2 x weekly
FlatwormStop – 7 ml 2 x weekly

The coloration elements can be increased once the quantity of consumers is getting higher to 2 x weekly instead of 1 x weekly for example but this depends to the corals and how they are doing at this time.

A NO3 level of 0.25 mg does have no negative impact to the corals so it is fine but I am sure it will decrease over the time.

G.Alexander

[Tom7434]

Hi G.Alexander, Thank you for your recommendations. I will adjust accordingly. I appreciate both you and Jacky’s thoughts and recommendations.

Best Regards,
Tom

[Tom7434]

G.Alexander, I have a bottle of ZeoFood Plus that I am not using. Should I be?

Thank you for all of your help.
Tom

[G.Alexander]

If you like to you can dose 1 drop / 25 US gallons once weekly additional if you do not have algae issues or a brown film on the glass / rocks / sand.

G.Alexander

[Tom7434]

If you like to you can dose 1 drop / 25 US gallons once weekly additional if you do not have algae issues or a brown film on the glass / rocks / sand.

G.Alexander

Thank you. I will hold off a bit then, I occasionally have brown film on glass.

Tom

[G.Alexander]

If the film does increase you can try to reduce the quantity of the coloration elements temporary to 50%:

XTra Special – 3.5 ml 1 x weekly
AcroGlow – 3.5 ml 1 x weekly
CoralBooster – 3.5 ml 1 x weekly

Anyway some kind of a film is normal and basically not a bad sign.

G.Alexander