How to Correctly Start a ZEOvit system

[Berny S]

Hi all,

I am new to ZEOvit, I have a 1000L Display Tank.

I follow the instruction in below link with one time special start quantity on ZEOvit, Active Carbon, ZEOback, ZEOstart3, and Sponge Power.

Then pause 2 days and start common and long term dosage.

My question is that I read somewhere initially when starting ZEOvit System, should dose ZEObak and ZEOstart everyday.

So which one should I follow?

I am in my 9 days into ZEOvit, I have seen some brown algae on rocks

is this normal?

Thank you all!

[Berny S]

Tell us about your tank.
Please give us answers to the following questions in order to get more accurate dosing recommendations.

1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.) - 1100L
2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.) - 1000L
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 - YES
7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume) - Aquamaxx CO-6 rated for 3500L
8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels - NOT TESTED YET
9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels - NOT TESTED YET
10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.) - Filter socks, ZEOvit, Skimmer, Active Carbon
11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.) - 3 x Kessil AP9X, 185W. NEW
12. What corals do you keep - NOT YET
13. Tissue color (light or dark) - NA
14. How long has the tank been running - Around 9 days into ZEOvit
15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system - Seem some great result, less live rocks means more space in Display.
16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.) - Planing to go full KZ products, but now just the basic 4.
17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.) - Dry Marco rocks
18. Any present problems - Brown algae on rocks
19. Problem description (tissue loss tips, tissue loss base, diatom bloom, algae, etc.) - NA
20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.) - APEX, Hanna check, Red sea
21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.) - Follow common and long term dosing instruction on bottle.
22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.) - 35ppt / PH8.0 / Temp 26C
23. Which salt brand do you use - Tropic marine pro reef salt

[jacky]

Hello Welcome to ZeoVit.Com

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

The seventh point in this link, it has a detailed Zeo 14-day plan, suitable for first-time build Zeo system cycle

Not sure if you have the correct amount and dosage of Zeo base product, basically a cycle of brown algae is a good direction.

Dry rock prolongs the biological time, if possible, add some fresh high quality live rock in the new cycle without any animals, it is good to speed up the cycle process

I wish you all the best and happy with your new tank reef

[Bugger]

Yeah the brown on the rocks is the ugly stage. It will go away just be patient.
Start 3 twice a day half dose each time
Bak at least twice a week

[G.Alexander]

Hello Benny and welcome to ZeoVit.com !

Can you please give us some more information about the dosage you have used for the cycle ? Have you started the cycle as described over here what Jacky has already said:

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

UV and Ozone are both not compatible to the system, so I would recommend you to switch off the UV immediately.

Please also keep in mind that the 14 day cycle method will take much more time if the system does not use 100% live rock so you will need some additional patience.

G.Alexander

[Berny S]

Hello All! First wanted to thank you guys for the warm welcome and great input/valuable experience sharing

1st day:
2 bags of ZEOvit
50ml of ZEObak
100ml of ZEOstart
30ml of sponge power

2/3 days
Nothing

4th and till now
common and long term dosing, direct or near the ZEOvit reactor.
10 drops of ZEObak 2 days a week (Wednesday & Sunday)
2ml of ZEOstart everyday (if I could I will dose 1ml in the morning and 1ml afternoon)

I stop sponge power after the first day, since I read somewhere if I don’t use live rock then it’s unnecessary to dose because there are no filter feeder.

Please let me know if I am doing anything wrong or could do better

I haven’t start using UV, just planning to use it for few hours of the day in future to control algae or parasite if needed.

Thanks again

[jacky]

Your dose is correct, zeolite material is 1 liter (1 pack)/400 liters, so it should be 2.5 liters, not 2 packs (800 liters)，Let's add another 0.5 liters of zeolite material

KZ activated carbon is 1 liter (passive flight with mesh bag, change every 30 days)

It is recommended to maintain a complete dosing plan (SpongePower)

Looks good, UV light is not recommended, it's not required

Day 4 to Day 14:
Zeo Bac - 10 drops per day
Zeo SpongePower - 10 drops per day
Zeo Start - 1ml x 2 per day (morning and evening) a total of 2ml a day

Day 14 begins:
Zeo Bac - 10 drops 3 times a week
Zeo SpongePower - 10 drops every other day
Zeo Start - 1ml x 2 per day (morning and evening) a total of 2ml a day

[G.Alexander]

As Jacky said continue to dose SpongePower, it does have a positive side effect to the biology which is the reason why it is used for the cycle or later regular.

UV is not compatible with the system but if really necessary it can be used temporary. It is just necessary to switch off the UV for about 2 hours while dosing.

G.Alexander

[Berny S]

Hello Alexander and Jacky,

Thank you guys for the input, I am very excited to finish my cycle now.

I have started dosing everyday since 4/1

Today I have tested my parameters as follow

Red sea test kit for Ammonia: 0-0.2ppm
Hanna check for nitrite: 10ppb or 0.01ppm
Hanna Checker for nitrate: 1.18ppm
Hanna checker for PO4: 0.04ppm

Everything seems very low except nitrate, am I on the right track?

maybe it’s time for WC?

thank you

[jacky]

We recommend regular water changes of 5-10% starting in weeks 4-6

Through the zeolite material reactor, the hourly flow is up to 1000 liters/hour.

Check salinity carefully, Kh/Ca/Mg is kept as NSW level as possible
Get potassium test pack, K+~380g

[Berny S]

Hello Jacky,

I tested other parameters as follow using Trident (calibrated)
I have reconfirm the numbers with Red Sea test kit, and they are pretty close with tridents result.
KH: 5.8
CA: 500
MG: 1417

Notice that my KH is really low and CA little high, is this something that would happen to new tank cycling when bacteria are growing?
I use TM Pro Reef, freshly made KH is around 7.2

Should I add some KH buffer to raise it now? Or just leave it along

thank you

[jacky]

First - the base water parameters are incorrect, also double check that your salinometer is working, what kind of salinometer are you using?

[Berny S]

Hello Jacky,

I use APEX to monitor salinity, it has been calibrated and reconfirm with a refractometer calibrated with calibration solution.

What do you mean by base water parameters are incorrect?

salinity: 35 ppm
PH: 8

measure by Apex

thank you👍

[jacky]

In general, KH and CA will not be at the levels you test in the recommended salinity range. Therefore, the salinity may not be correct. Therefore, it is recommended that you check the salinity correction and precise accuracy.

Another possibility is that the test package is incorrect (abnormal) or your discrimination/measurement method is wrong

It is also possible to add additional boost elements (did you add elements?

[Berny S]

Hello Jacky,

I have two different brand of refractometer, both calibrated and shows at 35ppm or 1.026 approximately.

My Apex is also calibrated with factory solution.

If there are still chances of my refractometer being wrong, I am thinking of buying a Hanna checker if it is suggested.

I just purchased KH concentrated plus from KZ and began to dose this morning.

I follow the instruction and dose 1ml to 100L so I have added 10 ml in total split in 2 times of 5ml each one in morning one in afternoon.

But my trident just finished testing now with no very little changes to KH.

I am struggling here