Starting a new Waterbox 100.3 tank on ZEOvit

[MN_Reefer]

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of setting up a new tank. It will be an SPS dominant bare bottom ZEOvit system. I will be ready to add water this week and am looking for some startup suggestions.

Like I said before the tank will be a bare bottom and will also have an NSA aquascape. I realize the going with the bare bottom and NSA aquascape will significantly extend the cycle and delay the time before the first livestock. I am ok with that, this is not my first tank and I am willing to wait to get it right.

Below is my tank info:

1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter: 100 USg
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter
3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique: Bulk Reef Supply Pharma two-part
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: No
7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume): NYOS 160
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels: not started yet
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels: not started yet
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.): Addition of Brightwell XPORT-NO3 and XPORT-Bio Bricks to sump
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.): Aquatic Life T5 Hybird. with 2x Kessil A360x
12. What corals do you keep: Primarily SPS
13. Tissue color (light or dark)
14. How long has the tank been running: Hasn't been started yet
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system: I have seen the proven results with the ZEOvit system
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.)
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.): Marco rock
18. Any present problems
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.): Primarily Hanna
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.)
22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.): 1.025, 78.5F
23. Which salt brand do you use: Tropic Marin Reef Pro

[G.Alexander]

Welcome to ZeoVit.com !

As it is a fresh system I would recommend you to start cycling as described over here:

https://forum.zeovit.com/forum/gener...803#post290803

If you use dry rock the procedure is the same, just the cycle will take much more time.

G.Alexander

[MN_Reefer]

Thanks G.Alexander, nice to meet you! Will keep this thread updated on the progress.

One quick question... Should I still plan on using the Brightwell XPORT bricks? I figured I should add them since I don't have a sand bed and less rock. However, I have seen you recommend taking them out when using ZEOvit.

[G.Alexander]

Looking forward to your updates and good luck with your project !

Personally I would not use such kind of filtration material, if you like to improve the surface to host bacterial you can leave some of the old ZeoVit material as biological filtration material in the sump.

G.Alexander

[MN_Reefer]

Great idea, I think I will go that route! Thanks for the recommendation. Do you have any idea as to how much I should/can leave in the sump?

[G.Alexander]

Just leave the while material which you have in the reactor now in the sump when you change the material, with the next exchange the same procedure so you will have ~ 2 liters in the sump passively flown.

G.Alexander

[MN_Reefer]

Just an update and a question... I am 10 days into the cycle now. As expected, the tank is way behind a normal ZEOvit cycle using liverock and sand bed. My ammonia is still high, my Seneye is reading .499 mg/l which is as high as it goes. Haven't tested anything else yet. My question is should I keep dosing ZEObac and ZEOstart at the day 4-14 dose as explained in the pinned cycling article till the cycle has completed or change to the "starting from day 14" dose as explained in the article? My guess is I should keep with the elevated dosing as prescribed for days 4-14 but wanted to check first.

[G.Alexander]

Lets continue dosing as follows until day 14:

ZeoBac 1 drop / 100 liters/25 US gallons
Sponge Power 1 drop / 100 liters/25 US gallons
ZeoStart 0.1 ml / 100 liters/25 US gallons 2 x daily

At day 15 change dosing as follows:

ZeoBac 1 drop / 100 liters/25 US gallons 2-3 x weekly
Sponge Power 1 drop / 100 liters/25 US gallons daily
ZeoStart 0.1 ml / 100 liters/25 US gallons 2 x daily

If the first 4 weeks have passed replace 50% of the ZeoVit material, after replacing it dose ZeoBac daily for 10 days. Next exchange will be 4 weeks later, than replace 90% of the material. All other exchanges should be done after 6 – 8 weeks, always 90%.

G.Alexander

[MN_Reefer]

Sounds good! I have not been dosing Sponge Power since it is a cycle with dry rock and has no sponges. Should I be dosing it anyway?

[G.Alexander]

SpongePower has side effect to improve the biology so I would recommend you to add it to your dosing regimen especially while the cycle.

G.Alexander

[MN_Reefer]

Ok, will do. Thanks.

[ReefDuke]

Any update on your system?

[MN_Reefer]

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while and figured it was time for an update.

Currently dosing:

ZeoBac 1 drop / 100 liters/25 US gallons 2-3 x weekly
Sponge Power 1 drop / 100 liters/25 US gallons daily
ZeoStart 0.1 ml / 100 liters/25 US gallons 2 x daily

Everything seems to be going well. I tested my PO4 today, it was .09 with my Hanna Checker. My NO3 was <1 with NYOS test kit.

I had some white stringy algae that has gone away now and just have very light film algae in the display. I do however have some brownish snot-like algae/bacteria growing in the sump, haven't been too worried about it and it seems to be almost gone now. I have been going very slow with this tank since it is a bare bottom NSA style. Therefore, I just put my 1/2 size CUC in last week. I started my passive carbon at that time. I do have my first two corals coming on Wednesday a Jason Fox Bug Out Stylophora and a Jason Fox Enchanted Forest Birds Nest. I also have my first 3 fish in quarantine and they will hopefully go in the tank in about 2 weeks or so. They are a One Spot Foxface, Lawnmower Blenny, and an Aiptasia Eating Filefish.

Should I be doing anything to correct the slightly high PO4? Thought It may be due to the dry Marco Rock releasing PO4 and will probably correct itself over time.

[jacky]

Continue to maintain #8 method, what is the net water volume?

[G.Alexander]

Your dosing regimen is basically fine, please check (measure) the flow through your ZeoVit reactor to make sure it is not to low. Be careful to add to many fish at once to prevent a quick increase of nutrients in this stage, if possible split the fish addition over several weeks depending to the nutrient concentrations of the system.

G.Alexander