New to the forum, new to the system, here is the rundown

[Krux]

I am hoping to get zeo running in the next week or two, and surfed over here. Per the sticky, here are the answers to the questionare, please advise any changes that should be made in preparation for the zeo coming online.

1. Gross water volume of your complete system (incl. sump etc.)

display is 75 gallons, sump is 40 gallons, nano is 7 gallons so just over 120 gallons. if you factor in the water in my reactors, the number jumps to about 135 gallons

2. Net water volume (incl. sump etc.)

see above

3. Are you using a CaCO2 reactor or other technique

running a deltec style fluidized reactor, 8"X24" holding 20 lbs of rowalith

4. Are you using a PO4 reactor (how long, how long ago, etc.)

diy rowaphos reactor, running 500 ml of media

5. Are you using Ozone

no

6. Are you using UV

no

7. What skimmer are you using (type, rated water volume)

large beckett skimmer, mrc style, rated to 350 gallons running on a iwaki 55rlt

8. What are your actual PO4 and NO3 levels

undetectable for both with salifert

9. What are your actual Ca, Alk and Mg levels

475 calcium, 10 dkh, 1300 mg

10. What filtration method do you use (refugium, DSB, Miracle Mud, etc.)

no filtration other than the liverock, system has been running barebottom for 6 months

11. Type of light (Watt, color temp, how old, etc.)

2 X 250 watt phoenix hqi running in ROIII pendants off of icecap ballasts

4 X 36" t5's 2 D&D actinics, 1 ati actinic, 1 blue+

150 watt pendant over 7g nano with 150 watt hqi 6500k bulb and a phoenix bulb coming soon.

12. What corals do you keep

mostly sps, several blastos, rics, and a clav. 35 or so sps colonies/frags

13. Tissue color (light or dark)

varies by species, mostly light, half the corals are blue, but have faded in the last 3 months

14. How long has the tank been running

tank set up in August of '04, upgraded from a 29 running 1 year, downgraded from a 125 running 1 year

15. Why do you want to use the ZEOvit system

i like the low nutrient philosophy, and am interested in seeing how zeo can enhance my system. seeking better coloration, colors to return, and better growth

16. Any supplemental dosing (type, amount, why, etc.)

none aside from kalk drip working its way through my ecotech kalk reactor and my parastilic pump top off system

17. Live rock (how much, how old, etc.)

approximately 150 lbs fiji, been with me about 3 years

18. Any present problems

colors not as vibrant as they used to be, could be captive color shifts, could be unknown nutrient build up

19. Problem description (tissue loss tips, tissue loss base, diatom bloom, algae, etc.)

no rtn or stn in 6 months, can't keep algae alive, never had a diatom bloom

20. What test kit do you use (how old, recently switched, etc.)

salifert suite, ph via pinpoint meter in sump and milwaukee ph controller in reactor, salinity via refractometer

21. Present dosing, amounts and intervals (ZEOvit, ZEObak, ZEOfood, ZEOstart, ZEOspur2, etc.)

nope

22. Other water parameters and water stability (salinity, temp, etc.)

1.024 79-81F

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Aged Salt]

Hi Krux & welcome to ZEOvit.com Before you begin to intensify SPS colors, know thoroughly the ZEOvit guide sticky[intro to ZEOvit]. You will not use RP remover, KW drip, & be sure your parameters are inline for ZEOvit--Ca>400; Mg?1200; KH 6.5-8; slowly bring your KH down over the next wk. For your system, I'd estimate net water volume at 100g. Dose 3/4ltr zeolite at a water flow rate thru the zeo-filter at ~75gph; a little more or less is fine. Clean these daily, & change the stones after 4wks. At that time the zeolite quantity will increase to 1ltr. henceforth . Dose 1Cup carbon, passively in your sump, knead the carbon every other day & change to new every 4wks. Dose bak/food--3drops/3drops daily for the first 2wks, then 3drops/3drops 2x's/wk. Dose near the intake pump of the zeo-filter.Turn off your skimmer for 60min. after dosing bak/food. This is not necessary when dosing Start. Dose Start .2ml 2x's/day, do this daily for the next 4wks. These are conservative, safe doses for your system & will slowly achieve your goal of nutrient-poor waters, color intensification, & acclerated growth. Ask questions as they appear, as there are many experienced zeousers willing to answer Bob

[Heinz]

Krux

[Krux]

Sounds doable, will have to cut back on my reactor, the output is around 60 dkh coming out of it.

I read through the various faq's and guides, but I can't seem to find why a kalk reactor is a bad idea with zeo. I use it to offset the ph swings from the calcium reactor, without which I can swing by as much as 1.8 per day... and this is running the calcium reactor only durring the day. Can you explain, or point out to me where to read, why the reactor is a bad idea? Have to figure out how I am going to mitigate the ph swings if I take it offline, but I am guessing that commercial buffers could play as much havok as the kalk could... hopefully wherever they talk about kalk reactors being bad they suggest alternatives.

Thanks for the responses!

[Aged Salt]

Hi Krux, there is a general discussion on this topic on p.5 of this forum, "Down to the Bottom of Kalkwasser" which will explain why KW is not used in the ZEOvit method Bob

[Heinz]

Hi Krux, there is a general discussion on this topic on p.5 of this forum, "Down to the Bottom of Kalkwasser" which will explain why KW is not used in the ZEOvit method Bob

Down to the Bottom of Kalkwasser