HI need some help....

[CharlesL]

Hello , my name is Charles and pleased to be part of the community and happy to meet you all.


After mush research and deliberation my attempt back into the hobbi, I have decided to go zeovit ... Long term

I have purchased the BRS Starter Pack.... arriving tomorrow.

1) Zeobak
2) Zeostart
3) zeo stones- Have reactor ready.
4) Zeo food.

This is were I am,

I started the tank with Fritz turbo start 1.5 weeks ago , and I am stocked with 2x gold nuggets , one by Gemtang a goby and pistol shrim. That's it fish done , I added cleanup crew yesterday not mush 5-6 snails emerald crab. 4 hermit crabs. In ugly stage right now no ammonia no nitrates

I have a 300XL Red Sea. 80 gallon net 65 gallon display. Run skimmer and Carbon in bag about 100ML.

Please can someone help me out with a dosing schedule.


1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter
65
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) - US gallons / UK gallons / liter
80 gallons
3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique
No
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)
deltec
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels
P04 0.3 N03 0-1
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels
Unknown
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.)
NONE- have some chemo in refurgium Now but will remove when zeovit arrive or NOT ?
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.)
red sea LEDS
12. What corals do you keep
Will be SPS //// Nothing now
13. Tissue color (light or dark)
NONE
14. How long has the tank been running
1.5 weeks
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system
success
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.)
none
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.)
50 Lb. dry. Also 1" of Carib Sea Aragonite Sand
18. Any present problems
ugly stage but not a problem
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 and Salfert
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.)
NONE
22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.)
Salinity 34 Temp 79 Ph 7.9-8
23. Which salt brand do you use
Red Sea

[G.Alexander]

Hello Charles and welcome to ZeoVit.com !

I have a couple of additional questions before giving you a startup recommendation.

• The net water volume is higher than the gross volume. To do a dosing calculation the net water volume is necessary which usually can be calculated as follows: gross water volume of main tank + sump ./. ~ 20% for rocks / sand
• I do not have experience with the product you have used for the cycle, usually the cycle of a fresh system is done with a elevated dosage of the ZeoVit components but in your case this is not necessary as you seem to have animals in the system already. Might you have a chance to remove the animals temporary for one week ?
• Is the sand you have used dry sand or was it live sand ?
• You mention you have chemo running in your sump, can you please explain what kind of product it is ?

G.Alexander

[CharlesL]

Morning ,

And thank you for the response : —- English is not my first language so please excuse the spelling mistakes.

Gross is 80 galllon
net is 65 gallons.

Fritz turbo start is a product the effectively cycles your tank in 2-3 days with an ammonia source after 24 hours ,…. Very popular in the usa well documented and I can attest it works. Issue is the tank is now seaded with bacteria. As info i also added a large bag of marine pure balls from an established tank.

Yes i am unfortunately now fully circled … And been stable for a week with ammonia and nitrates … 10% water change couple days ago. But seems Chaeto keeping nitrate level low.

The sand was tropic Eden wet but shallow sand bed like 3/4 inch.
It would be very challenging for me to remove the animals for a week …. But possible if the means I don’t harm them .


Sorry it’s chaeto Macro algae not Chemo —-

again thank you for the help.

[Bugger]

Hello Charles nice to see you here. Do you plan on going full on sticks in this tank? 80 gallons is a good size.

Like Alexander said Zeovit users are generally told to use a large quantity of bak from the beginning.

I know you used another manufacturer and Im fine with that.

Don't over dose the start3 or you will eventually see cyano algae and cloudy water.
Zeovit pushes bacteria populations to the extreme and can also grow cyano like crazy and that is why Thomas Phol has created so many products to prevent cyano. A balance, cyano clean, coral snow, are all used to discourage it. Cyano can show up without using zeovit also.


Generally zeovit people dos twice a day start3 at 65 gallons I think 0.2 ml morning and night is more then enough that's my recommendation you can add a little bit more but I wouldn't push it.
A good syringe from an old salifert test kit can be used.

[CharlesL]

Thanks Bugger ,

yes all sticks ….

Thanks for the input and will do as suggested ….. can you guilde me on the rest of the items or do i just follow the bottles ,…?

[CharlesL]

Also should i order cyano clear and snow , just to prepare ?

[Bugger]

The more bottles you buy the more complete the system will be.

Is this what you bought

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/zeovi...ht-bundle.html

Generally most zeovit people dos multiple korallen products

Some have approved over the years like coral snow plus that also reduces phosphate which is a coral killer at higher levels

I would certainly pick up sponge power

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/koral...ncentrate.html

It contains elements that have a beneficial effect on the tank. Some think its composed of silicates.

I don't know which red sea bucket you are using but bulkreefsupply found that they had issues keeping up with Iodine if your not feeding a lot of Nori

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/koral...ate-50-ml.html

Must have include LPS amino(much better the concentrate), coral booster, and extra.

Hopefully that Gem tang is big enough to supply your corals with enough fuel. Corals need fish as much as fish need corals

[G.Alexander]

Thank you for the additional information, as Bugger said you have used a different product to do the basic cycling of the system it might not be necessary to start another “cycle” with the ZeoVit components but I have to add that I have never used this kind of cycle for a system so I can not really tell you if it causes issues, we will see but lets assume everything goes as planned.

First start with the basics products to decrease nutrients:

1. Place 0.6 liter zeovit in a Zeo Reactor. Continuous water flow around 65 US gallons per hour for the reactor. 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 0.25 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 3 drops ZeoBac daily for the first 2 weeks, flowed by a 2 – 3 x weekly dosage of 3 drops. Dose 0.25 ml ZeoStart 2 x daily (morning & evening). Dose those in front of the Zeo reactor pump. It might additional make sense to dose 3 drops SpongePower every other day as this product has a positive side effect to the biology.

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.

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.

Many had issues with constant cyanos / algae when using live sand in combination with ZeoVit while some have not had this issue. Just something to keep in mind if you experience constant cyanos / algae in the future. If this happens I would recommend to replace the live sand with dry aragonite.

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

G.Alexander

[CharlesL]

Thank you Both - I really appreciate the help

I ordered the products as suggested. : Snow, Sponge, extra, LPS, booster --- Cynco clear was not in stock.

Question what do I do with the : Zero food ? should I dose or return?

Wish me luck in going to start today.... will do a water charge before I start ....

I have some carbon - High capacity should I just finish this before ordering the suggested carbon?

[CharlesL]

Also think the tank is big enough for a pair of Bloched Anthias ?

[Bugger]

Hi Charles Bloched Anthias come from lower depths and have a high priced tang because of it. I think you would be happier with a lyre tail or thread fin Carberryi. There much more colourful and don't hide as much. The thread fins that come from Africa are my favourite. they are a combination of pinks and orange. A very nice fish.
Generally adding some products twice a week is adequate.
Most people cut back on zeofood to curb algae growth but algae will grow with or without it.
Have you bought your clean up crew yet

[Bugger]

Here is brs tank that went with bloched Anthias

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19h7uyBfQnw

To me there ok looking fish but nothing outstanding.

Im sure you could add a pair

[G.Alexander]

ZeoFood can be used later once the system runs nutrient poor stabile with ZeoVit, at the moment just skip dosing it additional.

Can not help you much with the carbon you are using, just know that some carbon brands are very effective in removing elements from the water which is to “aggressive” for delicate corals especially in a nutrient poor environment. If you have used the carbon before without issues you should be able to use it until you switch. It might be a good idea to just use 50% of the recommended quantity until you are sure your corals are doing fine.

G.Alexander

[CharlesL]

hank you Alexander , I have ordered the correct carbon rather "safe than sorry" .... and will replace when it arrives....

also thanks Bugger , I'm going to wait for a pair of fairy Wrasses ,.... seen a pair of ramrods on NY aquatics .Fun shopping for fish.... maybe ...
Yes I added cleanup , but kept is low key 5 bumblebees, 3 astra's, an emerald , 5 hermits , and two nessacerius, two preferment shrimp.

PS Im already planning to get back into a 400-500 gallon tank, in 12 months. Unbelievable the cost of big tanks now : got a quote of 15000USD... OMG prices have just jumped in last 4 years since I have been out of the hobby.

I also ordered - 15 Frags High end stuff ... For pickup in two weeks .... also got a super Awsome carpet PINK/Rainbow .... My LFS is keeping and healing the frags and carpet for me. To soon ?


1st day progress, - did 10 gallon water change
1) added the reactor and the stones.- ugh did not rinse the stones... Next time...
2) dosed the start ( morning and evening) and Bak as advised , pumped the Reactor.
3) added some drops of ZEOfood ( will not to add again).
4) set Skimmer to wet.
Day 2 :
1) - woke up with slightly cloudy tank Guess bacteria bloom.
2) - Skimmer whent wild last night , collection cup was full with Light brown liquid ( PS amazing how mutch it pulled out in less than 16 hours).
3) emptied skimmer
4) pumped stones
5) did morning dose of start and BAK.
6) Fish and coral look good , and happy ....

No detectable ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is very low range... Did not test PO4

Waiting order of sponge power etc etc ...


Questions :
I used to use a diatom filter any issues or suggestion on using this on zeovit to clean up the bloom ? and help reduce the ugly stage ? Not planning to pull the old vortex XL out was just wanted to get some input on this ? I will for sure use it if I get cyno its work well for me in the past. ( or when/if removing the sand etc etc) ...

[Bugger]

The rhomboid wrasse, Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis, is a species of wrasse endemic to the Marshall Islands, where it is only known from Kwajalein Atoll. It inhabits coral reefs down to 40 m. This species can reach a total length of 8.5 cm.
Man you got some expensive taste in fish. Are these the ones you were talking about?




https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/koral...carbon-1l.html

A bag should last 3 months in your tank.

Is there fish in the tank right now? Its strange that it got cloudy so fast.

I would use the diatom filter or a uv sterilizer because it will take a long time to go away on its own.

I would hold off on high end corals for a bit till you know your tank is ready.

Are there already corals in the tank? What is in that fritz starter stuff?