Preparing for zeovit

[Jrod92]

Hello everyone,

I am going to be receiving my new tank shortly. It’s 48x24x24 120 gallon from Planet Aquarium. I have decided to go with zeovit as I would like to successfully have SPS corals along with some LPS corals as well and enjoy the idea of really being in tune with the chemistry of it as well. I will be transferring from a 55 gallon tank that relied on HOB items and currently have livestock both good and bad (aiptasia). I understand that this system works best with live rock and dry aragonite sand but my dilemma is my current live rock is covered with aiptasia and would hate to transfer them from one tank to another. I have dry rock currently and I am wondering if I were to purchase some live rock from my LFS, how much would I need to be able to follow the 14 day cycle? Otherwise can I seed the tank in another way as well? Completely new to this system and any tips or recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[jacky]

Welcome to ZeoVit.Com


https://forum.zeovit.com/forum/gener...nformation-faq

Using fresh, high quality live rock really speeds up the process. I would recommend that you do the Zeo 14 day cycle plan. #7 in the link, there is a detailed introduction, in which point 4 mentions how much live rock to use

[G.Alexander]

Welcome to ZeoVit.com from me also !

The more live rock you use the better it is and the shorter the cycle will be until you have a system with a strong biology.

Do you have a chance to run both systems (new and old) side by side for 6 – 8 weeks ?

G.Alexander

[Jrod92]

Thank you and happy to be here and learn from everyone, hope to gain more experience and be able to help others down the road. Unfortunately I can’t run both tanks side by side as the current tank isn’t at my home currently as I have been in between homes as I sold my current home last fall and just got my new home about 2 months ago and figured I would start with a new system. Would it be at all possible to helps seed the tank with bio block from my LFS? It would be coming from a trustful and well established reef tank. Figuring I could put 2-3 bio blocks into my sump, would that help with doing the 14 day cycle?

[jacky]

Diverting some old bioblocks from a good old system to help with seeding can help the process, but also indirectly affects the old stable system, which of course is that the old system nutrition should not go up. I personally feel that the new Tank uses a high quality fresh live rock loop, which is absolutely the best in terms of biology and time.

If you don't have live rock, it seems good to temporarily get some old bioblocks (but I personally wouldn't use materials like this), if you get a chance, get some old ZeoVit materials and sand from friends who use the Zeo system this seems like a good idea choose.

[Jrod92]

From what I heard from my LFS they prepare bio blocks for new tanks to establish a bacteria colony, granted I know it’s not the same as live rock. If I were to pull some sand from my existing tank along with the bio blocks would that be better? I suppose you don’t know of anyone that is located in Minnesota that currently runs zeovit and could spare some of the stones? Otherwise I can do a separate post on that as well. Appreciate the help so far as well.

[jacky]

For sand, use sand from the old ZeoVit system, or new dry sand, not wet sand from other systems. Can't give you a definite answer, but how much affects the stability of biology

[G.Alexander]

Sorry for the confusion, I would like to ask if you can keep running your old system for another 4 – 6 weeks while starting the cycle at the new system now so you can transfer the animals if the new system is cycled ?

G.Alexander

[Jrod92]

I’ll see if I can find some reefers in Minnesota that use zeovit and if they could spare some sand or at least some of the stones. Do I use the stones they provide and put them in the reactor or put them in a mesh bag in the sump? I can keep the tank running while allowing the tank to cycle if that would be best. Do I start dosing the supplements as if I’m doing the 14 day cycle but give it some more time to cycle? If that’s case should I still purchase media blocks from my LFS to help with the cycling as well than?

[G.Alexander]

It would be ideal if you can cycle the new system first while keeping the old one running. Start cycling the new system as described over here:

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

I would recommend you to run the recommended fresh quantity of the ZeoVit material in the reactor with continuous flow. The additional used ZeoVit material from a friend can be put in the sump in a mash bag additional as biological filtration material.

I would not recommend to add additional media blocks, try to get some old sand from a running system and mix it with the fresh material and if possible get as much live rock additional you can get, both should just be from a nutrient poor system, otherwise you might get nutrient issues at the beginning.

Do not use live sand, a shallow sand bed of 3 – 5 cm aragonite in a grain size of 2 -5 mm is ideal.

G.Alexander

[Jrod92]

I’ll keep on the hunt for used zeovit material locally. At worst case scenario, what should I do if I can’t locate zeovit material from another tank? I have considered ordering live rock from real reef solutions where the rock is cured and is wrapped in moist paper towels. I know I could run into the chance of possible die off due to shipping but for initially cycling with the rest of the rock it should be okay as the zeovit material will begin to absorb the ammonia if any should show up?

[jacky]

If there is no way to get some old zeolite material (from a malnourished system) then use the new zeolite material so there is no problem getting as much extra live rock as possible. Do not use live sand, a shallow sand bed of 3 - 5 cm aragonite with 2 - 5 mm grit is ideal