Anybody Using Zeovit Systems?

[ssublime1]

I'm slowly edging towards the Zeovit type of system after having some success trying the basics using carbon dosing to create a low nutrient environment. So far the corals are growing at a pretty nice rate and most are holding their colors ok, but I think there is a lot of potential that isn't being fulfilled yet.

Is anybody here using this system? I'm very interested in trying some of their food and other products in very small quantities before forking out the money with no guarantee of improvements.

 

[2t2_crash]

Jeremy is!

 

[Lionel]

zeovit is the most amazing system ive ever used. you cannot deny the results that it produces. It's also a royal pain in the *** to keep up with, unless you want to invest in some serious dosing automation.

 

[ssublime1]

Yeah I think starting off slow is the way to go for me. I'm doing VSV dosing, on the 5th day now, up to .2ml and also added some biodigest per glassbox design's example. I'm really considering ditching my GFO for the zeovit media but I'm leary because the tank seems to be doing well now. Ordered some zeofood, sponge power, coral vitalizer, coral snow and I think one more thing I can't remember right now. Also have 2 kinds of potassium, brightwell AA's and some iron on the way. Been dosing 2 part b-ionic with decent results, levels seem pretty stable with the amounts I've been adding.

Is there anywhere around here that does in depth water testing? I have all the basics for testing but would like to get a complete picture of what's going on. Using RedSea Coral Pro salt with some Get Tanked Aquariums Formula 2. I'm excited to try this stuff.

Tank shots about a week or so apart, my camera is very poor at picking up the colors:

 

[bethnjeremy]

Zeovit is not a hard system just need to be mindful and start slow. I have had a lot of success with zeo so far. John and Luis both has seen the success I have from it. Well if you are looking for better coloring let me ask you what are you using for lighting? That is the foremost issue with getting the proper coloring of coral. you can read up and try what ppl have tried but the main issue is if you don't have the same setup and coral placement it might not give you the same results. Now with the zeo products. Dosing carbon is awesome, I use to use vodka. I don't recommend you use the vinegar unless you have a high ph, vinegar dosing tends to drop your ph. I will stand be the zeo system, but if you are looking for color, do research on lighting. I have 2x250 mh radium 20k's, and 6x54 t-5. My next light change I am going to change my t-5's up. t-5's are an experimental setup til you get the coloring you are looking for. Now if you are looking to tweak your coloring, I would suggest starting with the coral vitalizer, b-balance, zeospur II, potassium iodide, potassium, zeostart, and zeozym. Zeozym works very well! I was amazed by how well that it actually does what the website says! If you decide to go full out, have fun. B-balance works well with the zeospur to bring out blues and purples. Now iron you have to watch your use. I have it and I don't even use because my tanks greens and yellows are doing awesome. Iron will create an algae break if your tank has enough in the water column. Zeovit is expensive to set up but not bad to maintain. I have a 190 gal system and most corals are exploding. My water has gotten alot clearer since I am running the Vertex Alpha 200 Skimmer. The Skimmer rocks! The skimmer I believe is the most important equipment. If you have any questions feel free I will be glad to help you out.

 

[ssublime1]

I wrote a long drawn out post but of course my computer froze and it was lost, haha.

Anyway, I have quite a few of the supplements on the way. I just got in some AA, potassium, and some other things. I'd be really interested to try out the Zeozym to see if there's an effect in my tank.

I'm using a lower ratio of vinegar and sugar than the VSV listed in Glassbox, PH is ok, a little low using my PH monitor but nothing terrible.

 

[bethnjeremy]

try using vodka only. I did get good results from it. Well Zeozym is awesome stuff. I use it to boost the effects from the zeostart, zeofood, and the zeobac. I let it mix and then sit for 8 hrs before I add to the tank and let sit for 2 hrs before the skimmer comes back on. i know it can work by itself, but i have noticed that if you have a cyano issue it won't last too much longer after using it for a couple of doses with what i said above. I like your rock formation. I am contemplating rearranging my tank. Let me know when some of your coral is ready to frag and we can exchange. I have one blue stag that is growing out of the water. I fragged it once already. I did it like 3 months ago. That stag grows the fastest out of all the ones i got. I am just waiting for my tank to stabilize and I hope that my coral will start to color up. Are you planning to run a zeo system or just use some of their products? I ran some of their products for a while and then just decided one day to jump straight in running zeo full blown.

 

[ssublime1]

I'll try vodka only for a week and see if the PH bumps up any.

For lighting I'm running the 6 bulb Nova ExPro with brand new ATI and KZ bulbs, so far it's decent I guess. It put out a little under 250 watts total light but the colors are pretty nice, using a bulb setup recommended in the T5 thread here. Been having crazy visions of a 400w MH blazing like the sun in my living room though.

All of my corals are basically brand new frags, the oldest ones are maybe a month, month and a half old. But I haven't lost anything, get full polyp extension at night and some of them are starting to grow into some nice colors that weren't in them when fragged. Although others are appearing washed out but still growing. This is wehre the zeovit comes in. I was looking around for tanks with great color and an actual system used to produce them. Not just, well you know, I tried a bunch of stuff and then some colors popped up now so I'm kinda sorta doing the same thing now and....

I like the fact that Zeo has put research into their products and can produce results following a scientific basis. I.E. Potassium is useful for purples, feeding is necessary for maintaining colors, etc. I realize the company is promoting it's products which can be pricey. The trick for me is seeing what results can be reproduced using cheaper but quality products.

Anyway, I'm strongly considering using the zeo media coupled with the necessary products and see what I get out of it. Right now I'm running the IN-80 skimmer, GFO in a reactor and a bag of carbon in a medium flow area of the sump. The tank is still pretty new so I'm not expecting 0 algae growth and rock solid parameters quite yet, but it is getting there. I think some of the old rock I used is leaching because some of the algae is hanging on as well as some on the glass. I lost a baby unicorn fish the other day because it got wedged between a breeder container I was using for new frags and the powerhead. Poor guy had his face stuck in the intake slots, I think he was going for some algae in there. So where his body was stuck for a day there's now a nice mat of green grass, haha. I noticed the Poci was nice and red though, maybe from the rotting fish giving off nutrients.

One question I have is, do you know of a place here that will do a thorough water test? Testing for iodine, strontium, iron, potassium, phosphates, etc? I would really like to know what is going on in there before I start trying to tweak anything. I've added small doses of K and potassium iodide and I think they did some good. Colors seem darker for sure, but it could be from feeding AA's as well. There's too many things I don't have measurements for right now to say for sure.

Jeremy, I will for sure let you know when I'm ready to frag some stuff. Most of mine are still attached using superglue and haven't really grown onto their base yet. The older ones are doing pretty well though, noticeable growth so I'm happy with that.