Austin goes Rimless - Dudester's 203g mixed reef
- Thread starter Dudester
- Start date
- Status
Pleeeeease?
TriggerHappyDude
New member
Yay! Can't wait...
stunreefer
Reef Hugger
Hey guys, thanks for all your info on the stand! I'm in the process of getting some quotes now for material (I have a welder at work whos willing to do it for me
). One thing I was stuck on when asked is "what thickness of the wall" would I need? Again its going to be 1.5" O.D. square tubing carbon steel. Thanks in advance!On another note dudester, I just watched "The Big Lebowski" last night and thought of your signature...LOL! Love that movie!
Thanks Again, Austin
TriggerHappyDude
New member
Hey Dudester, I've been wondering and wanting to ask you, looking back at some of your pics, the plumbing setup, I noticed you have a lot going on down there, very complicated, but am I mistaken and I don't see a refuge? You have other skimmers, reactors, etc, I can see, but I don't see a refuge, might be my newness just doesn't know what one looks like?
If not is there a reason? Do you think you are just not needing it with all the other high dollar filtering going on?
If not is there a reason? Do you think you are just not needing it with all the other high dollar filtering going on?
TriggerHappyDude
New member
Ok, thanks tbone, can you tell me what that means, big noobie here...
ZEO tank? Is that a kind of livestock he's housing? Zeos, and they can't have a refuge? (for what reason) and can't have any reactors...? (reason?)
Or is that something else?
ZEO tank? Is that a kind of livestock he's housing? Zeos, and they can't have a refuge? (for what reason) and can't have any reactors...? (reason?)
Or is that something else?
jnarowe
New member
It's a reef keeping method: http://www.zeovit.com/
tbone28
Active member
in a nutshell, ZEO formula involves adding supplementation to a tank to turn it into a bactera-driven system. This results in an Ultra-Low Nutrient System (ULNS). Because nutrients are so low, you have to remove ancillary husbandry techniques (fuge, reactors, etc) that will drive the nutrient level even lower.
There are other factors to this that I'm not even remotely versed on. E.g. the need to run the tank at a lower ALK, etc.
There are other factors to this that I'm not even remotely versed on. E.g. the need to run the tank at a lower ALK, etc.
TriggerHappyDude
New member
So would you say its harder or easier to maintain vs. the other ways?
tbone28
Active member
I've never tried it. You can do your own sampling. I chose not to try it because *I* think it takes more time and more money. I try to keep my husbandry as simple as possible. ZEO requires extra equipment and supplements which need to be added daily.
BTW, I think we should take this discussion offline, so I don't derail yet another thread
BTW, I think we should take this discussion offline, so I don't derail yet another thread
TriggerHappyDude
New member
I think its a good discussion for here, since he's using the method! He can help answer some of my questions, about his decisions, he's asked me to keep the questions here since people learn from them...I don't think he'll mind, if he does, we'll jump over to PM. That cool Dudester?
So I see in this thread back where he got the ZEO eqiupment...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1148228&perpage=25&pagenumber=16
I read, but didn't quite learn a lot about why he chose this method, and what all it takes to run this method.
Here is all the equipment...
This is where I need help identifying the stuff...
(from left to right)
(the Zeo?? Reactor??), Calcium Reactor?, Protein Skimmer??
So he basically has the 3 big pieces of equipment and had to put in a bunch of nutrients everyday, depending on the levels of each one he's testing for?
So I see in this thread back where he got the ZEO eqiupment...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1148228&perpage=25&pagenumber=16
I read, but didn't quite learn a lot about why he chose this method, and what all it takes to run this method.
Here is all the equipment...
This is where I need help identifying the stuff...
(from left to right)
(the Zeo?? Reactor??), Calcium Reactor?, Protein Skimmer??
So he basically has the 3 big pieces of equipment and had to put in a bunch of nutrients everyday, depending on the levels of each one he's testing for?
TriggerHappyDude
New member
Ok I did some reading on the Zeovit stuff...sounds like a lot of extra work and money! hahaha, not for beginners either!
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i3/zeovit/Zeovit_system/zeovit.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i3/zeovit/Zeovit_system/zeovit.htm
Dudester
Premium Member
stunreefer - Sorry it took so long for the reply. You had asked about wall thickness with respect to your steel stand? I'm not sure what you mean, but it sounds like your question has already been answered. As for The Big Lebowski, it's obviously one of my favorite movies. I think it's fantastic, but "that's just, like, my opinion, man."
ChrisMc73 - You are correct, no problem asking questions here. The filtration beneath my tank isn't all that complicated. Don't be intimidated by the size of the reactors and how compact the layout is. Some people have that much equipment in a much larger area, and it appears less confusing that way, but I didn't have the space for that so I crammed it all in my sump. The reactor on the far left is the ZEOvit filter. In the middle is the calcium reactor, and on the far right is the protein skimmer.
I went with ZEOvit due to its ability to reliably achieve a low-nutrient state. My tank has never had any detectable nitrate or phosphate. I am now of the opinion that my corals are actually suffering from this, so I've begun feeding much more (now that I have fish again) and I'm no longer siphoning the sand. Hopefully my nutrients will rise a little and the corals will appreciate it. Terry (Tbone) already answered many of the reasons why there is no refugium and no phosphate binding reactor. BTW Terry, nice brief summation of the ZEOvit method! Anyway, I like it enough that I'm going to use it on my next, bigger tank. The up-front costs are not trivial, but over time, once the tank is well-established and stable, it becomes pretty economical, IMO. Despite having daily chores with ZEOvit, they don't take long at all, and it ensures that I will spend some time every day looking at the system critically, which I like. I also don't need to worry about having a refugium or phosphate reactor, which aren't free and aren't maintenance-free either. I would not recommend this method for beginners, but it can be added to an established tank at a later date if desired.
Thanks for everyone's interest in the new tank build. A thread is forthcoming.
ChrisMc73 - You are correct, no problem asking questions here. The filtration beneath my tank isn't all that complicated. Don't be intimidated by the size of the reactors and how compact the layout is. Some people have that much equipment in a much larger area, and it appears less confusing that way, but I didn't have the space for that so I crammed it all in my sump. The reactor on the far left is the ZEOvit filter. In the middle is the calcium reactor, and on the far right is the protein skimmer.
I went with ZEOvit due to its ability to reliably achieve a low-nutrient state. My tank has never had any detectable nitrate or phosphate. I am now of the opinion that my corals are actually suffering from this, so I've begun feeding much more (now that I have fish again) and I'm no longer siphoning the sand. Hopefully my nutrients will rise a little and the corals will appreciate it. Terry (Tbone) already answered many of the reasons why there is no refugium and no phosphate binding reactor. BTW Terry, nice brief summation of the ZEOvit method! Anyway, I like it enough that I'm going to use it on my next, bigger tank. The up-front costs are not trivial, but over time, once the tank is well-established and stable, it becomes pretty economical, IMO. Despite having daily chores with ZEOvit, they don't take long at all, and it ensures that I will spend some time every day looking at the system critically, which I like. I also don't need to worry about having a refugium or phosphate reactor, which aren't free and aren't maintenance-free either. I would not recommend this method for beginners, but it can be added to an established tank at a later date if desired.
Thanks for everyone's interest in the new tank build. A thread is forthcoming.
TriggerHappyDude
New member
Thanks Dudester! I'll steer clear and learn the other ways first before I step into this advanced method.
- Status
Similar threads
