New Zeo user

[reefpoint]

Hello!
I have just ordered KZ zeo reactor L, zeobak, zeofood, zeostart, AC and zeovit for 2400 l aquarium.
I plan to follow directions from pdf document (zeo guide) for alreday established tanks.
Initially I will put 60% of the required zeo stones for the first interval, its around 3,5 l.
I'm not clear about the flow and which pump to take.
Manual says 200-400 lph per 1 l of media. So should pump be 2400 lph for 6 l of media?
How much flow should I get on the outlet of the reactor?

Thanks

[Reefdom]

FLow should be measured on the outlet of the reactor, so use what ever pump allows you to get the required flow on the outlet.

Is the tank established? How old and with what corals?

If it has been running a while already and had corals already in and growing I would use 60% media and follow the 3hrs on and 3 off cycle for the first 6 or so weeks.

That's just my view.

[reefpoint]

Thanks!
And flow on the outlet should be 200-400 lph or 200-400 lph/l of media which is (200-400)x3,5=700-1400 lph?
Tank is 27 months old mostly acroporas and montiporas.

[G.Alexander]

Hello reefpoint and welcome to ZeoVit.com !

Please share some more information about your system:

https://forum.zeovit.com/forum/gener...r-tank#post138

If you like to we can give you a dosing recommendation for the start.

For each 1 liter ZeoVit material the reactor flow should be ~ 400 liters per hour. As your reef is already stocked with corals it would be better to run the reactor with a 3 hour on / off mode for the first couple of weeks.

G.Alexander

[reefpoint]

Hi and thank you!

Does that mean if I put 5 l of media in the reactor I should measure flow on the outlet ~ 2000 liters per hour?


1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) - 2800 l
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) - 2200 l
3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique - Dastaco xtreme
4. Are you using a PO4 reactor (how long, how long ago, etc.) - 1,5 l rowaphos, 18 months, montly change media
5. Are you using Ozone - No
6. Are you using UV - Yes
7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume) - Deltec TC 3071, 4000-4800
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels - 0,1 and 30
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels - 430, 7,8, 1400
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.) - refugium
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.) , 6x ecotech radion x30 G4 pro as the central line, and 4x ati sunpower 4x80 1 line on each ecotech side
12. What corals do you keep - mostly acroporas and montiporas
13. Tissue color (light or dark) - darker but pretty good colors
14. How long has the tank been running - 27 months
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system - to lower nitrates and remove rowaphos - I would like to keep them around 0,07 and 5-10
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.) - elements - Mn, Co, I, Sr, Zn, Cr, Fe, V daily, others after monthly ati ICP test, different coral foods, acropower and reef energy, Prodibio biodigest, tunze bacteria
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.) - around 150 kg dry rock and 30 kg live rock
18. Any present problems - problems with some LPS after I introduced NoPox
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.) - Hanna checkers and ICP
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.) - just ordered ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart and AC
22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.) - 35, 25,3
23. Which salt brand do you use - Tropic Marin

[reefpoint]

some of my acros and montis

[G.Alexander]

Thank you for the additional information.

First start with the basics products to decrease nutrients:

1. Place 5.5 liter zeovit in a Zeo Reactor. Water flow around 2200 liters per hour. Connect the reactor pump to a clock 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 activated 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 22 drops ZeoBac daily for the first 2 weeks, flowed by a 2 – 3 x weekly dosage of 22 drops. Dose 2.2 ml ZeoStart 2 x daily (morning & evening). Dose those in front of the Zeo reactor pump while it is switched on. ZeoFood can be used later 2 x weekly 22 drops if all works well.

4. If you start with ZeoVit stop dosing the additional elements you use at the moment also the coral food.

Later on you could use the additional products for coral coloration. 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.

With the system it is not recommended to use a PO4 absorber. I would recommend to remove 1/3 of the absorber if you start with zeovit, than reduce the rest over the next 6 – 8 weeks step by step to zero. If this is done keep a eye on the PO4 level which should not increase. Same with NoPox if yous still use it.

UV is not compatible to the system so switch it off when you start with ZeoVit.

Basic water parameters looking good, try to keep them as stabile as possible close the NSW in the following ranges:

KH 6.5 – 7.5
Ca 400 – 420 mg
Mg 1250 – 1300 mg
K+ ~ 380 mg

For a nutrient poor environment K+ (potassium) seems to be a important element. I would recommend you to get a test kit for this element also, posting your results.

This is a start-up dosage which might have to be adjusted later.

G.Alexander

[reefpoint]

Thanks Alexander!
Few more questions
1. Zeobac - dosing in tank or in sump also near reactor?
2. Zeostart - 2,2 ml x 2times = 4,4 ml daily?
3. Zeostart - can I dose it with dosing pump, can it be diluted with RO, can the hose of the dosing pump be submerged in the water and placed near the reactor pump?
4. Why stop with coral food? What about aminos?
5. Can I use carbon in reactor with very low flow?
6. To measure correct flow on the outlet of the Zeo reactor with 5,5 l of media I should fill bucket with 9 l of water in 15 seconds right?

[G.Alexander]

I try to answer your questions as follows:

1. You can dose ZeoBac in the sump near the reactor pump while the reactor is running but it is important to dose all products including Zeobac behind the skimmer to prevent getting skimmed out immediately.
2. Splitting ZeoStart to two doses each 2.2 ml so total 4.4 ml works better than one dosage. You can do one dosage in the morning and the other one in the evening.
3. ZeoStart can be dosed with a automatic dosing system it also can be diluted. You can use RO water which was boiled before mixing or sterile water from the pharmacy.
4. To much “food” can cause issues with different kind of films on sand / rocks etc. so it would be better to stop dosing it at the moment. You can use it later once the system runs nutrient poor stabile in a lower quantity if you like to. Personally I have never feed the SPS corals additional.
5. You can use a reactor for carbon but in this case just use 50% of the recommended quantity and replace it every 3 weeks. For the first couple of week I would recommend to run the carbon passively flown like described above until the system is “transferred” to ZeoVit.
6. To measure the flow use a container and collect the water from the reactor outlet for 30 seconds. Multiply the volume by 120 and you will get the exact output per hour.

G.Alexander

[reefpoint]

Thank you for your help!
I forgot to mention that I'm using zeozym once a week and coral snow plus twice a weak. Should I stop with them also?

[G.Alexander]

You can continue to use both as usual furthermore.

G.Alexander

[reefpoint]

I got my korallenzucht Zeo reactor L originally with aquabee pump 2000 l/h. I measured output with media already in reactor and its giving 1500 l/h. Will it be enough?
Also when I turn of the pump water flows out of reactor and 3 cm layer of Zeo stones are exposed to air. Reactor is in sump and its sucking air from the top where handle is coming into reactor. That's not OK I suppose?
Also do I need to keep zeobac and Zeo start in fridge after opening?
Thanks

[G.Alexander]

2200 liters per hour would be the right flow however the 1500 liters you are getting at the moment might work well also. It is just something to keep in mind, if you are not able to keep PO4 and NO3 constant low a stronger pump might be helpful.

It is not ideal when the material is exposed to air while the pump is stopped so in your case I would recommend to keep the reactor running with continuous flow if you do not have the option to increase the sumps water level.

If you have the issue that the reactor does suck air at the outlet you can use some kind of a valve at the end of the outlet pipe to increase the water level in the reactor a little bit.

G.Alexander

[reefpoint]

Thanks for your help!
I'll update with the results. Last week nitrates skyrocketed to 50 so I hope reactor will start working by the end of the week.