Greetings!
This is my third zeovit tank to setup, but this time I'm really struggling to get things going properly. I have a few issues all at once:
1) Tank has ich problems. This is obviously not the fault of ZeoVit, but I've had to pull the fish from the DT to treat them in a QT system, so right now the only animals in the DT are cleanup crew and corals.
2) My Nitrates and phosphates are too high. I just tested and am NO3 at 4.5 and PO4 at 0.14 (both tests with hanna checkers).
3) I have brown / red algae slime on the rocks and sometimes the sand. It's diatoms, not cyano.
4) I have thick mulm covering some of the live rock. I can blow it off, and it'll be back the next day. I attribute #3 and #4 to #2.
For background, this tank is "new" but it's actually an upgrade from a smaller system that I was running successfully with Zeo for the past year. I cycled the new tank using the 14 day cycle with pre-cured live rock. I also took some of the LR from the old system and transferred it. When the water parameters had stabilized and matched the old system, I moved all of the corals and livestock. After a week, I added some additional fish. One of those almost certainly brought Ich with him to the tank and then started killing other fish. I fed proportional to the amount of fish I had, but now that the livestock (except coral) is out of the tank, I'm not feeding the system. I do a weekly 5 gallon water change and siphon the sand to remove any detritus in the process.
I have lots of other Zeo additives that I have used before in my other tank, but I stopped dosing them and am focusing on the core elements to try and get things stable. Unfortunately, it's not going well. I have lost a few SPS to RTN, which I assume is the result of the higher nitrates and phosphates.
I have already done the first exchange of ZeoVit media. When I did the exchange, I kept about 20% of the original media.
1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter. 55 gal DT, 10 gal sump = 65 gal total water volume
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter See above
3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique No
4. Are you using a PO4 reactor (how long, how long ago, etc.) Tried adding some GFO to help put a dent into the P04. Have it in a bag in the sump. Seems to have no effect.
5. Are you using Ozone No
6. Are you using UV No
7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume) Royal Exclusive Slim 160. Rated for 60-150 gallons
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels NO3 = 4.53 and PO4 = 0.18 Both tested with Hannah Checker
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels ALK 9.16, CAL 462, MAG 1373 -- tested with Neptune Trident. I realize these levels are higher than what ZeoVit recommends, but I've run them for years at this level to promote growth. Don't think this is part of the problem?
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.) Skimmer + Filter Roller system for mechanical filtration. Also run KZ brand carbon, per instructions in a bag in the sump
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.) Kessil AP9X. Brand New LED.
12. What corals do you keep Mostly SPS, some LPS
13. Tissue color (light or dark) Pissed off. Some RTN and tissue loss
14. How long has the tank been running Previous system (that this one transferred into) was up for a year. This system was started late December 2020 (just shy of 2 months)
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system Stability, ULNS, Coral growth and color
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.) Soda Bicarbonate, Calcium Carbonate
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.) Roughly 40lbs branch and ocean rock. The branch is the Real Reef artificial branch, and the ocean rock is from a prior system. Very mature on the ocean rock. The mulm issue mentioned appears mostly on the artificial rock
18. Any present problems See above
19. Problem description (tissue loss tips, tissue loss base, diatom bloom, algae, etc.) See above
20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.) Hannah checkers & Neptune Trident. New reagents.
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.)
23. Which salt brand do you use Tropic Marin
Appreciate any help y'all can offer.... very frustrated with how it's going this time.
Thanks in advance!
This is my third zeovit tank to setup, but this time I'm really struggling to get things going properly. I have a few issues all at once:
1) Tank has ich problems. This is obviously not the fault of ZeoVit, but I've had to pull the fish from the DT to treat them in a QT system, so right now the only animals in the DT are cleanup crew and corals.
2) My Nitrates and phosphates are too high. I just tested and am NO3 at 4.5 and PO4 at 0.14 (both tests with hanna checkers).
3) I have brown / red algae slime on the rocks and sometimes the sand. It's diatoms, not cyano.
4) I have thick mulm covering some of the live rock. I can blow it off, and it'll be back the next day. I attribute #3 and #4 to #2.
For background, this tank is "new" but it's actually an upgrade from a smaller system that I was running successfully with Zeo for the past year. I cycled the new tank using the 14 day cycle with pre-cured live rock. I also took some of the LR from the old system and transferred it. When the water parameters had stabilized and matched the old system, I moved all of the corals and livestock. After a week, I added some additional fish. One of those almost certainly brought Ich with him to the tank and then started killing other fish. I fed proportional to the amount of fish I had, but now that the livestock (except coral) is out of the tank, I'm not feeding the system. I do a weekly 5 gallon water change and siphon the sand to remove any detritus in the process.
I have lots of other Zeo additives that I have used before in my other tank, but I stopped dosing them and am focusing on the core elements to try and get things stable. Unfortunately, it's not going well. I have lost a few SPS to RTN, which I assume is the result of the higher nitrates and phosphates.
I have already done the first exchange of ZeoVit media. When I did the exchange, I kept about 20% of the original media.
1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter. 55 gal DT, 10 gal sump = 65 gal total water volume
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter See above
3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique No
4. Are you using a PO4 reactor (how long, how long ago, etc.) Tried adding some GFO to help put a dent into the P04. Have it in a bag in the sump. Seems to have no effect.
5. Are you using Ozone No
6. Are you using UV No
7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume) Royal Exclusive Slim 160. Rated for 60-150 gallons
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels NO3 = 4.53 and PO4 = 0.18 Both tested with Hannah Checker
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels ALK 9.16, CAL 462, MAG 1373 -- tested with Neptune Trident. I realize these levels are higher than what ZeoVit recommends, but I've run them for years at this level to promote growth. Don't think this is part of the problem?
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.) Skimmer + Filter Roller system for mechanical filtration. Also run KZ brand carbon, per instructions in a bag in the sump
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.) Kessil AP9X. Brand New LED.
12. What corals do you keep Mostly SPS, some LPS
13. Tissue color (light or dark) Pissed off. Some RTN and tissue loss
14. How long has the tank been running Previous system (that this one transferred into) was up for a year. This system was started late December 2020 (just shy of 2 months)
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system Stability, ULNS, Coral growth and color
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.) Soda Bicarbonate, Calcium Carbonate
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.) Roughly 40lbs branch and ocean rock. The branch is the Real Reef artificial branch, and the ocean rock is from a prior system. Very mature on the ocean rock. The mulm issue mentioned appears mostly on the artificial rock
18. Any present problems See above
19. Problem description (tissue loss tips, tissue loss base, diatom bloom, algae, etc.) See above
20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.) Hannah checkers & Neptune Trident. New reagents.
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.)
ZeoVit: 1/2L in a Vertex reactor. Approx 100gph through reactor in sump. Pumped at least 1x per day. ZeoBak: 2 drops every 4 days. ZeoFood: 4 drops every 3 days. ZeoStart: 0.5ml daily
Not currently dosing, but I have at my disposal: Amino Acid Concentrate, Coral Snow, MacroElements, Pohls Xtra, Iodine, Coral Vitalizer.
22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.) Temp between 79-80, Salinity 35ppm. Not currently dosing, but I have at my disposal: Amino Acid Concentrate, Coral Snow, MacroElements, Pohls Xtra, Iodine, Coral Vitalizer.
23. Which salt brand do you use Tropic Marin
Appreciate any help y'all can offer.... very frustrated with how it's going this time.
Thanks in advance!
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