Anybody ever quit zeo?

[jkopp36]

Its your choice to keep it up or not. But to be clear you are not following the suggestions for a zeo system. It is recommended to maintain levels of natural seawater potassium being one of them, also to keep a sand bed and to change stones closer to 4-6 weeks in the earlier phases. I have also heard some horror stories with get tanked salt and zeo so I would not count that out. I honestly get tired of people complaining about zeo when they don't use it as intended. A fair complaint would be thats its complicated not that it doesn't work.

You are correct as far as the manual goes prodman but there are many successful zeo users with BB tanks. This has never been brought up as a possible cause for my issues until now. I also belive the potassium level in my tank to be close to that of NSW but as earlier stated admit to having difficulty with the test kit.

If I can also be clear (along with you) I would like to point out that I am NOT complaining about zeo. You must know as well as I that not everyone having success with zeo or zeo products are doing things "by the book". I totally agree with your statement about it being complicated and that is why it may not be for me. I do not have an abundance of free time and it is the time of year where I get back to one of my other hobbies which takes me away from home for many weekends throughout the summer and fall. Since I have struggled with zeo I am going to try to simplify things to see what comes of it and to make life easier on my wife when I am gone on weekends. One last thing, I would do anything to have the nautral "knack" to look at my tank and "feel" what was going on by the way the corals look however my ability seems to be limited to what testing and other hobbiests give me for input. Accordingly, your input is much appreciated along with everyone elses. We'll see how things go.

 

[prodman]

I personally have had good luck with the method and I don't like the starved coral look either. I have started a couple new tanks in the last few years and the last one I decided to take a simpler approach. So I decided to try some of the methods. By the time I set up my refugium had my gfo reactor set up i started to realize that for me zeo was the simpler set up. I know of several tanks that are great without it and would not see them needing it. So to each his own.

 

[Shadowramy]

For me I think zeo is easier once you have everything dialed in and you can look at your tank and know what it needs. I cant always do weekly water changes, I just dont have the time but I can spend 5 minutes pumping my reactor and adding in a couple additives daily.

There is a different system for everyone and many different ways to "skin a cat".

 

[austin93]

I am in the process of slowly weaning my system off of zeo. I have some cyano that has shown up on the sandbed, but other than that I have seen a noticeable color darkening. Before I stopped I was having a lot of problems with starving corals. Just poor balance with the input/output of the system probably. I am starting up a new tank and this time I am going to go with the extra water changes and see how it does. I did like the system, just never got the results I wanted. I may try to do it again when I stop hemorrhaging money from the new upgrade.

 

[jkopp36]

Just a follow up since I quit zeo back in April:

Things have made a noticeable turn around. All of the corals I have added in the last two months (not more than a few) are doing very well. Some of the corals I thought were goners are making a decent comeback. I have MUCH better growth and polyp extension. I spend a lot less time maintaining things - mostly just weekly water changes, occasional testing, 2-part fill ups, and feeding. Nitrates and phosphates have not gone up at all yet although I will not be surprised if they do.

Apparently zeo just wasn't for me. I envy those that are able to make it work and reap the benefits. I'm going to let things ride for a month or two more and then start adding some more corals. Hopefully the turnaround is not short term for me.

 

[reef_doug]

I'm considering switching from ZEO to the new Warner Marine EcoBAK N & P pellets but continue with ZEObak. I like the idea of solid carbon dosing (contained inside the polymer) where the bacteria grow vs. dosing in the water column.

 

[dan223]

that is somewhat the point of running a zeotype system. Totally strip you water, then selectively add back nutrients. The addition can be as simple (feed heavy) or as complex (lots of blue bottles) as you want to make it.

Adding fish food adds nutients, including potassium, iron, iodide,aminos etc. in perfectly natural proportions. Trying to dose using bottles of stuff that cannot even be tested for accurately by guessing and trial and error seems like the hard way to me.

 

[cwegescheide]

I don't do full zeo but I do a lot of their supplements. I have a shallow 120 gallon reef that is bare bottom. I do 10% weekly water changes and feed like a madman. I have never had nitrates in this tank and P04 has never been higher than .05 hanna. I figured I really didn't need to do the zeolites. There used to be a guy local to me, Cidroy if any of you guys remember him. He ran full zeo and was a fanatic about it. I visited him several times and I have to tell you in the beginning he nuked his fair share of frags but when he had it nailed I have NEVER seen more vibrant electrified non-starved looking corals. It was quite amazing. Unfortunatley he had some personal issues and had to sell everything he had.

Like I said I use a lot of the Zeo supplements. My personal favorite is Sponge Power. I see a lot more polyp extension and stronger colors in the growth tips than without. I also like AA's and Pohls Extra. These are my main three. I've pretty much got all the zeo supps but I think these are the best. I think it helps give my corals a richer appearance. When I use ZeoZyme and Coral Snow it could be my imagination but I do think I see better skimmer production and my water is absolutley crystal clear.

So can you have a killer tank without zeo? Of course. Might you have problems with Zeo? Sure, I did.. Am I going to continue doing Zeo supps? Yes sir...

I use Reef Crystals salt mix. Not sure i ever even heard of the stuff you mentioned, not that means anything. I try to shoot for .03 P04 and I'm trying to get just a little Nitrates in my tank. To me that is when my corals look the best.


Good luck,
Chris

 

[plyle02]

I took a break for all of about 4 weeks and quickly returned thinking zeo might have been the reason for coral and tank decline. I was actually the problem, not zeo, I failed to keep up on testing and had an alk incline which caused some issues. As a kneejerk reaction, I pulled zeovit offline and almost sold everything for a fraction of the price. When things did not improve after 4 weeks of a more conventional approach, I put back online and regret ever taking the 4 week break, I am back to strong coral health and coloration is improving quickly. The system is not for everyone, it does have some requirements that involve time and maintenance, however, I think everyone who keeps beautifully colored sps corals have mainteance and time involved, zeo is just slightly different. I agree that once locked in with dosing schedule that it does get easier, and missing a dose here or there is not as detrimental as in the beginning. Can you have nice coloration without zeovit? Absolutely... Are there other ways of running ULNS without zeo use? Absolutely... We all wish for the same things to occur when keeping our own slice of ocean and have our various differing ways of acheiving the same end result, so happy reefing to all zeo and non-zeo users

 

[cwegescheide]

I took a break for all of about 4 weeks and quickly returned thinking zeo might have been the reason for coral and tank decline. I was actually the problem, not zeo, I failed to keep up on testing and had an alk incline which caused some issues. As a kneejerk reaction, I pulled zeovit offline and almost sold everything for a fraction of the price. When things did not improve after 4 weeks of a more conventional approach, I put back online and regret ever taking the 4 week break, I am back to strong coral health and coloration is improving quickly. The system is not for everyone, it does have some requirements that involve time and maintenance, however, I think everyone who keeps beautifully colored sps corals have mainteance and time involved, zeo is just slightly different. I agree that once locked in with dosing schedule that it does get easier, and missing a dose here or there is not as detrimental as in the beginning. Can you have nice coloration without zeovit? Absolutely... Are there other ways of running ULNS without zeo use? Absolutely... We all wish for the same things to occur when keeping our own slice of ocean and have our various differing ways of acheiving the same end result, so happy reefing to all zeo and non-zeo users

I'm glad you didn't sell all your zeo stuff Perry. Welcome back to the dark side

 

[joshrules123456]

well guys, I might be a little off topic, but I just drip a gallon of kalk per day (1 drop per second), and do bi weekly 15% water changes, but it works just fine, honestly, it does.

 

[plyle02]

I'm glad you didn't sell all your zeo stuff Perry. Welcome back to the dark side

LOL Chris...the darkside...
Some days better than others, but I have to give zeovit a year before I can comment on whether or not it is right for me... I am happy with the tank setup, in a few weeks I will update my thread with a few pics, but for now, I wish to remain in the dark...:lolspin: