Switching from Nopox / GFO to Zeovit

[Polly]

Hi, I am running the Zeovit system on a 1 year old mixed reef system - 1400 Lts. I have switched from Nopox and GFO to control no3 and po4.
1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter = 1400 Lts
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter =as above
3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique = balling
4. Are you using a PO4 reactor (how long, how long ago, etc.) = up to 2 weeks ago - GFO
5. Are you using Ozone = no
6. Are you using UV = up to 2 weeks ago
7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume) = Deltec 1000i
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels: PO4=0.16 and NO3=25 - before switching, PO4=0.12, NO3=10
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels: 450, 7.6, 1280
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.) Fleece filter Xfilter automatic / now Zeovit reactor
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.) = ATI T5 hybrid
12. What corals do you keep = SPS, LPS, and some zoanthids
13. Tissue color (light or dark) both light and dark
14. How long has the tank been running = Approx 2 weeks
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system = low nutrients, simplicity, growth and colour
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.) have coral snow available, using sponge power
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.) = live rock in system since start
18. Any present problems. Cyano
19. Problem description - cyano growing on rocks, seems to be improving / dying off since switching to Zeovit
20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.) Hanna for Alkinity, Calcium, Red Sea for PO4 and NO3
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.) 2 L Zeovit In Reactor, ZEObak 14 drops two x’s a week, , ZEOstart 1.4 mls x 2 daily, Sponge Power 14 drops every other day
22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.) 1.025, 24.5 deg C
23. Which salt brand do you use: Red Sea Blue

Some queries - running the reactor at circa 100Lt / hr, corals look same as before starting. Nitrates slowly rising - should I increase flow?
Is it appropriate to go cold turkey on Nopox / GFO as I did - a little worried now that numbers are creeping up?
Anything else I should do / do differently
Thanks

[G.Alexander]

Hello Polly and welcome to ZeoVit.com

I have calculated the net water volume of your system to ~ 300 US gallons which is the base for the dosing regimen. For this volume I would recommend to continue dosing as follows:

ZeoBac – 9 drops 2 – 3 x weekly
ZeoStart – 0.9 ml 2 x daily
SpongePower – 9 drops every other day

The reason for the increase of nutrients since the switch is that you have stopped to dose nopox and GFO all at once when you have started to use ZeoVit. ZeoVit is a bacterial driven system which needs time to build up the biological processes to establish a solid environment to process nutrients effective.

I am sure over the time the levels will start to drop again, keep a close eye on them at the moment, they should not increase furthermore. Otherwise at the moment I would just give the system some additional time.

2.3 liters ZeoVit with a water flow of ~ 300 US gallons would be the right amount for your system size. Replace the material every 6 weeks at the moment. After each exchange dose ZeoBac daily for 10 days. If your corals are doing fine run the reactor with continuous flow.

Additional run 0.9 liters activated carbon from korallenzucht passively flown in the sump and replace it every 4 weeks on a alternate day to the ZeoVit exchange. “Knead the carbon in the mash bag 2 – 3 x weekly to prevent building up channels.

G.Alexander

[Polly]

thank you very much for the advice. I will raise my flow to 300 galls and follow your guidelines