Help!

[[email protected]]

Hi reefers! 👋🏻

I have a 160 Gallon reef tank and I’m quite new to the zeovit system.

I have been using zeovit system for almost 4 months. Zeovit stones change every 1.5-2months, zeostart 3 dosing 1ml everyday, zeobak 6 drops every 3 days.

My tank doesn’t have any corals yet except for 2 Christmas rocks and Duncan. My current livestock is 1 purple tang, 1 yellow tang, 2 leopard wrasse, 1 blue throat wrasse, 2 other wrasse, 4 clownfish, 1 Midas blenny. I have been feeding them 5 times small amount pellet in a day and 3-4 times frozen mysis.

My system is run on filter sock, zeovit stone, rowaphos and carbon.
I waterchange 1 times a month with 160L.


Questions: My po4 is 0.052ppm and no3 is 50ppm after waterchange. Why it’s still so high even without any corals? I thought zeovit suppose to reduce to ULNS?

[[email protected]]

Feeding them 3-4 times mysis a week.

[jacky]

First of all, rowaphos does not recommend long-term use with ZeoVit system. Fortunately, there are only fish in the tank. In general, if this process of reducing nutrients is too extreme, the coral may be TN.

Let's reduce the frequency of feeding. 5 times a day is really too much. Change to 1-2 times to avoid the feed sinking. At the same time, reduce the frozen products by 1/2, 2 times a week.

Not sure if Zeo Foundation’s reduction of product plans and the quantity and flow of zeolite materials are correct with your system

Let's use the complete Zeo foundation to reduce nutrition and get Zeo Sponge Power (1 drop/25 US gallons) every other day

Check the flow rate of the zeolite reactor to get the actual flow rate (use a small container, collect the reactor outlet for 30 seconds, volume x120), if the flow rate is low, please increase it gradually and slowly, about 2 weeks to the standard flow rate

Follow the plan above and pay close attention to the actual level of phosphate. It should not rise. If you start to slowly reduce the nutrition, remove rowaphos slowly. Please remember that all the processes are slow and the nutrition should not rise.

Clean the skimmer collection cup clean, adjust it to moist, make it more outlet.

Change water 10% every week

[[email protected]]

First of all, rowaphos does not recommend long-term use with ZeoVit system. Fortunately, there are only fish in the tank. In general, if this process of reducing nutrients is too extreme, the coral may be TN.

Let's reduce the frequency of feeding. 5 times a day is really too much. Change to 1-2 times to avoid the feed sinking. At the same time, reduce the frozen products by 1/2, 2 times a week.

Not sure if Zeo Foundation’s reduction of product plans and the quantity and flow of zeolite materials are correct with your system

Let's use the complete Zeo foundation to reduce nutrition and get Zeo Sponge Power (1 drop/25 US gallons) every other day

Check the flow rate of the zeolite reactor to get the actual flow rate (use a small container, collect the reactor outlet for 30 seconds, volume x120), if the flow rate is low, please increase it gradually and slowly, about 2 weeks to the standard flow rate

Follow the plan above and pay close attention to the actual level of phosphate. It should not rise. If you start to slowly reduce the nutrition, remove rowaphos slowly. Please remember that all the processes are slow and the nutrition should not rise.

Clean the skimmer collection cup clean, adjust it to moist, make it more outlet.

Change water 10% every week

Thanks Jacky for the reply!

I’m using Skimz ZAR127 Zeolite Auto Reactor with 1 packet of Zeovit Stone (1000ml) for my 160 GAL tank. Water flow is set at number 4 which is for 1.2L media with mode 2 (auto hourly flashing). Correct me if I’m using it wrongly.

I thought sponge power is mainly food for clams or sponges? How will it helps to reduce nutrients?

My phosphate is under control mainly due to the rowaphos. I’ll try to reduce the quantity to see whether my po4 will remain low.

skimmer I have already tune it to wet skim ever since I start using zeovit.

[jacky]

Each pack of zeolite (1 liter) / 100 US gallons / maximum flow rate of 400 liters per hour

160gal/about 1.6 liters of zeolite/maximum flow rate of 640 liters per hour

The above are all calculated by Net water volume

I have not used your automatic zeolite reactor before, otherwise it will let us get the actual outlet flow, which is very important

Check the flow rate of the zeolite reactor to get the actual flow rate (use a small container, collect the reactor outlet for 30 seconds, volume x120)

Zeo Sponge Power has a positive effect on the biological side. It seems that the phosphate reduction is mainly caused by rowaphos, but it is recommended to use the complete Zeo system, and the additional Zeo CoralSnow Plus is another good choice.

[G.Alexander]

Those high nutrient concentrations are unusual, something is going wrong and we need to find out what it is. Jacky has already mention some possibilities, additional how old is your system and which kind of rocks do you use ? Might the rocks or sand leach the nutrients ? Please also post a picture of your sump and a picture of your display tank to give us a idea about the filtration process etc.

G.Alexander

[[email protected]]

I started my tank in May 2021 and I used all dry rocks (went thru bleach, vinegar and sun-dry). Sand is brand new Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand.

My sump is filter sock -> Skimmer -> Coil -> Zeovit stone reactor -> return pump -> Rowaphos and carbon.

[jacky]

In your tank, have all corals experienced TN, and corals cannot grow and cannot expand by polyps?

I saw some things that can be improved, which might help

1.Clean the collection cup clean, adjust to wet, more mud outlets every day

2.In the zeolite reactor, the outlet flow should be collected to get the actual flow, which is really important for reducing nutrition

3.Obtaining CoralSnow, it can neutralize some unnecessary acids, it can clean algae bacteria, etc. to achieve clearer water

4.In the sump, many hoses do leached some softeners, which has a serious impact on coral biology. It is recommended to replace all hoses with silicone materials.

5. It is not clear about the carbon brand you use, some carbon leaches nutrients and strips some elements, making the coral TN.

[G.Alexander]

Can you tell us something more about the dry rocks you have used, are those natural rocks or are they manmade ?

Live Sand can cause issues in combination with ZeoVit, if you have constant some kind of a brown film or cyanos in your system I would replace the sand with a shallow sand bed of dry Aragonite, just something to keep in mind, I do not expect the sand is the reason for the issue.

In the sump there is some kind of a blue roll behind the ZeoVit reactor, can you tell what exactly it is ? Which kind of filtration material do you use additional as there is some kind in two filter bags in front of the ZeoVit reactor.

The heavy negative impact to the corals since the start of the tank for such a relative long time is typical for any kind of material leaching harmful substances like soft plastic, hoses, metal etc. especially as you have said that the TN starts from the coral tips.

G.Alexander

[jacky]

In addition, the quantity and flow of zeolite materials are indeed very important, as it is an important core of Zeo components. If your zeolite reactor cannot really control the outlet flow, I would suggest that you consider other brands, and the zeolite material needs to be stirred and turned to release the mud, so that it can really get its value.

[[email protected]]

Each pack of zeolite (1 liter) / 100 US gallons / maximum flow rate of 400 liters per hour

160gal/about 1.6 liters of zeolite/maximum flow rate of 640 liters per hour

The above are all calculated by Net water volume

I have not used your automatic zeolite reactor before, otherwise it will let us get the actual outlet flow, which is very important

Check the flow rate of the zeolite reactor to get the actual flow rate (use a small container, collect the reactor outlet for 30 seconds, volume x120)

Zeo Sponge Power has a positive effect on the biological side. It seems that the phosphate reduction is mainly caused by rowaphos, but it is recommended to use the complete Zeo system, and the additional Zeo CoralSnow Plus is another good choice.

I think I need to add another 0.6L of zeolite into the reactor. The reactor have adjustable flow and with the highest flow it will cater for 1.2l of zeovit stone.

I have been using sponge power every alternate day and also coralsnow plus. I’ll slowly remove my rowaphos every time I waterchange to observe if my po4 really reduce without rowaphos.

[[email protected]]

Can you tell us something more about the dry rocks you have used, are those natural rocks or are they manmade ?

Live Sand can cause issues in combination with ZeoVit, if you have constant some kind of a brown film or cyanos in your system I would replace the sand with a shallow sand bed of dry Aragonite, just something to keep in mind, I do not expect the sand is the reason for the issue.

In the sump there is some kind of a blue roll behind the ZeoVit reactor, can you tell what exactly it is ? Which kind of filtration material do you use additional as there is some kind in two filter bags in front of the ZeoVit reactor.

The heavy negative impact to the corals since the start of the tank for such a relative long time is typical for any kind of material leaching harmful substances like soft plastic, hoses, metal etc. especially as you have said that the TN starts from the coral tips.

G.Alexander

I’m using natural rocks. I got it as live rocks but I went to bleach and sundry it before using.

The blue roll behind the reactor is my compressor coil. The front two filter bags are my medias (bacterial king)

[[email protected]]

I have really reduced my feeding and after a week I’ll observe my po4 and no3 to see any significant differences. I have also been dosing zeostart, coralsnow, ZEOBak and sponge power.

[jacky]

The refrigerated copper pipe seems unusual. Is it blue at first? Or after some coating? Under normal circumstances, the copper tube should look like a metal color.

Those green hoses are not suitable for seawater. On ZeoVit, someone also used a green hose. He deleted the green hose and told that it smelled bad and it seemed to have leached some substance.

Maybe the leached material is illuminated by light (on the rock) and produces many tiny bubbles that accumulate on the rock, or as G. asked, what kind of rock material it is. The main display system includes rocks, their colors seem to be blue and green (I'm not sure, it's just a feeling)

Also, the strap of the filter looks like a metal strap. Although it is not directly immersed in sea water, moisture will affect it. It is recommended to replace it.

In addition, some of my thoughts are my top priority. You should fix these problems as soon as possible

The direction of administration is good, but it may accelerate the deterioration of the situation

If you have the opportunity, you can also do the ICP test

[NZ-Nick]

Hi there Da-ren.

been watching,
it good to see ur po4 and no3 have changed,

I was going to mention feeding and to cut back as this as you have done

I have found that AF liquid rotifers is a good food that my wrasse like- just 2-3 drops
love to get a lepard wrasse soon

can you post ur
no3
po4
alk
ca
mg

water changes will not have a significant impact on ur no3. With 50ppm you would have to do a 50% water change and that will only reduce ur no3 down to 25ppm.

It is better to do small water changes regularly to replace element used.

just one part of stability- stable.

looking at ur sump set up, I didn’t think you had enough zeo stones in ur reactor, but I see above you have increased it .

media bacteria king should be change out slowly to old zeo stones at some point.
sometime these product can create a high no3 pool. The do require regular cleaning and best in a high flow area.
Next water change give them a wash in old tank water form water change.

in ur last chamber you have a sponge filter ??
if so- remove it
this too will store no3


ur compressor coil, very unusual.
what Jacky is saying is if it is copper or brass in any form. It is detrimental to corals health. Will kill coral and also the bacteria dosing.

copper only used in a quarantine tank for fish for parasites etc.

just a few ideas to think about.

regards
Jickb