Ready To Begin ... Please help me get started ...

[RickF]

I am brand new to Zeovit. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

I started my tank in 2016 and have had a difficult time keeping corals the entire time but I am determined to make it happen. Currently I have a few leathers, mushrooms, Xenia, and zoanthids that are doing ok but there is minimal growth. I have never had any success with any stony corals … which is the goal. They do fine for a little while … but then ultimately die out.

I just received an Avast Marine 4L Vibe Automatic Reactor but have not started it up … I want to get a plan together for using it before turning the switch on. I have ZeoStart, ZeoFood, and Zeobak … and of course the ZeoMedia … but have not used any of it yet.

1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter

My tank is 10 feet long x 2 feet x 2 feet. Which would be about 290 gallons minus rock. My sump is a re-purposed 120 gallon aquarium. No sand (bare bottom)


2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter - I estimate that there is approximately 275 total gallons of water in the system (200 in display and 75 in the sump.)


3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique - I am not using a Calcium Reactor … I am dosing 2 Part (Calcium, Alk, and Magnesium)


4. Are you using a PO4 reactor (how long, how long ago, etc.) - I am not using a Phosphate Reactor


5. Are you using Ozone - I am not using an Ozone Reactor


6. Are you using UV - I am not using a UV Sterilizer

7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume) - I am using an external Reef Octopus 5000 skimmer. It has a Bubble Blaster 5000 Pinwheel Pump 480 GPH


8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels - Just tested using Hanna Colorimeters Phosphate is .03 Nitrate is 4.4


9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels - Calcium 480 (Red Sea Test); Alk 8.5 (Hanna Colorimeter); Magnesium 1480 (Red Sea Test)

10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.) - I have a refugium in my sump with Chaeto. I am using a BRS Carbon/GFO Reactor


11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.) - 8 - 48” ATI T5 Fluorescents ; 4 - RADION 15’S


12. What corals do you keep - Currently there are a few soft corals in the tank … leathers, Xenia, zoanthids, and mushrooms. They are doing ok but the growth is minimal.


13. Tissue color (light or dark) - Dark

14. How long has the tank been running - Since 2016

15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system - I have had success in making the tank look great fish wise but I can’s seem to get corals to thrive. There is minimal soft coral growth and many attempts with stony corals have ultimately been failures.

16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.) - No

17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.) - The rock in the system was added at startup in 2016. Good Coraline growth on it now … a nice purple color. No sand - bare bottom

18. Any present problems - I had a diatom / hair algae issue for the first time last summer. Significant water changes got it under control.

19. Problem description (tissue loss tips, tissue loss base, diatom bloom, algae, etc.) - I just can't keep stony corals ... soft coral growth is minimal

20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.) - All reagents are brand new

Hanna

• Alkalinity
• Marine pH
• Nitrate
• Phosphate

Red Sea

• Magnesium
• Calcium
• Nitrate Pro

21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.) - none. Just getting started


22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.) - Salinity 1.026; Temperature 79.8. Very Stable in these areas

23. Which salt brand do you use - Red Sea Coral Pro

[G.Alexander]

Hello Rick and welcome to ZeoVit.com !

I can not guaranty you that starting ZeoVit on your system will fix all the issues but it might be worth a try. What I try to say is that the corals you keep should be dosing well in some kind o a “standard” system but yours do not which could be related to some further problems which I can not see at the moment. Anyways I would recommend you to start as follows:

1. Place 2.5 liter zeovit in a Zeo Reactor. Water flow around 275 US gallons 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 0.5 liters activated carbon in your reactor Most people get perfect results with korallenzucht carbon. The carbon need to be replaced every 4 weeks.

3. Dose 10 drops ZeoBac daily for the first 2 weeks, flowed by a 2 – 3 x weekly dosage of 4 drops each. Dose 1 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 once the system is running nutrient poor solid.

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.

UV is not compatible to the system so switch it off when you start using 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

[RickF]

Thank you for your help.

Equipment setup will take place this weekend.

Fingers crossed and I am looking forward to updating you with progress and questions in a few weeks.

[RickF]

All set up ... A quick question. I have a Carbon / GFO Reactor already set up on my system. I have put the KZ Carbon in a mesh bag in the sump as instructed.

Should I continue to run the GFO in the reactor? I have a few containers of GFO that I have not used, so there is no additional expense.

[G.Alexander]

Hello Rick, basically it is the goal to remove the PO4 absorber however if you do this all at once you will experience a quick increase of PO4 in your system which is not ideal. It is better to remove 1/3 of the PO4 absorber at the beginning and than reduce the rest of the quantity step by step to zero over the next 6 – 8 weeks.

G.Alexander

[RickF]

Thank you for the prompt reply.

[RickF]

I've been following your directions above to the letter and things seem to be moving pretty smoothly.

Looking down the road to when I begin to add ZeoFood Plus to the routine. Could you please let me know when I should begin to add the ZeofFood Plus and if I am interpreting what I've read regarding the amount correctly.

Based on 275 Gallons:

Week 1 - 66 Drops Per Day
Weeks 2-4 - 22 Drops Per Day
Repeat

Also ... Do you know how many ml there are in 66 drops ... it sure seems like it would be a lot easier to draw it up in a syringe instead of counting to 66.

Thanks

[G.Alexander]

If you do not have algae issues I would dose ZeoFood Plus as follows:

20 drops 2 – 3 x weekly

The drop size of the different products does differ so there is not a general rule to convert drops to ml. If you like to be sure it is the best to measure it individual per product.

G.Alexander

[RickF]

Was re-reading your instructions this afternoon and wanted to clarify a point of confusion.

When you say “Dose those in front of the Zeo reactor pump while it is switched on” ... do you mean to put the additives in my sump so that they are drawn immediately into the zeovit reactor or in my sump so that they are returned into the display tank without immediately going into the zeovit reactor?

Thanks again for your help.

[jacky]

Open the zeovit reactor, Zeo basic product (Zeo Bac, start) can be administered before the reactor or before the return motor. Pay special attention to avoid in front of the skimmer entrance

[G.Alexander]

The idea behind the recommendation is to get ZeoBac and Zeostart directly through the reactor while dosing.

G.Alexander

[RickF]

One more point of clarification as I finish my second week ... do I keep the reactor schedule on the 3 hours on / 3 hours off indefinitely?

thanks

[jacky]

No, this is a system conversion. Let the system gradually convert and let the coral gradually adapt to the Zeo system to complete the colonization of more bacteria on the ZeoVit material. Usually the first zeolite material is retained for the first 4 weeks, and then the first zeolite material (50%) is replaced. After about 2 weeks, if the corals are all healthy, then you can switch to continuous flow. Zeo Bac x 10 days after each change of zeolite material.