Help with Zeostart 3

[joaovieira]

Hi everyone :thumbsup:

I have a 200 G (136 G water) reef tank (mainly sps) and have been dosing 2 cc vodka for the last 3 months. Since i was facing some cyano and once destilled vinegar is not available where i live i will give Zeostart 3 a try. However i do not pretend to use zeolites. They advise to dose it twice and since low levels are expected to be needed. So i will possibly need to dilute it and dose it with an automatic pump.

1 question - is it really vital to dose zeostart twice a day (anyone dosing once a day with good results?).

2 question - Any major problem of not using zeolites?

3 question - what should be my starting dose (yesterday night i started dosing with 0.1cc)

4 question - Can i dilute zeostart with reverse osmosis water ? any special consideration ?

Thanks for your help

 

[Allmost]

Hello,
to answer your questions :

1 question - is it really vital to dose zeostart twice a day (anyone dosing once a day with good results?).
it is same as feeding fis multiple times a day small amount VS feeding them ALOT once a week. all bacteria and living creatures need a stable source of food, dosing once a day would increase bacteria population ALOT and then drop till you dose again the day after, by dosing multiple times, you keep the bacteria population more stable, and removal of N and P more stable as well. also, it lowers the chance of overdosing it and depleting the reef from oxygen.


2 question - Any major problem of not using zeolites?
well you wont get the full Effect of Zeovit system as KZ intended, but the bacteria would grow on your live rock, sand and glass and all equipment, so if you have enough surface area, you are fine. [in my opinion, po4 is not removed as efficiently, dont ask me why though ]

3 question - what should be my starting dose (yesterday night i started dosing with 0.1cc)
for each 150G of NET water [subtract all rock and ...] 1 ml per day is a good start IMHO. try dosing 0.5 CC twice a day. monitor health of all creatures, and skim well [not too wet] and watch for bacteria [mulm] on rocks and sand. as you feed the nutritions are depleting, you lower the Zeostart3 dosage, as bacteria can actually replace the po4 take up by taking up more carbon ! so need to reach that balance, I dose 0.4x2 per day in 200G net water.


4 question - Can i dilute zeostart with reverse osmosis water ? any special consideration ?
this is a bit tricky, any bacteria in RO/DI water, and it will multiply over night, fouling up the diluted mix ! best option is to goto hospital or pharmacy, and ask for water from them, in hospitals they have it lying around allthe time, ultra clear water. if you want to make at home, get RO/DI water, and boil it for some time, then let is cool down with a cover, and then mix with Zeostart3. dont mix too much at once, cause you dont want it to go bad and waste it all., it would smell REALLY bad if gone bad so you can tell that way

Hope that helped, any questions, let us know.

 

[joaovieira]

Hello,
to answer your questions :

1 question - is it really vital to dose zeostart twice a day (anyone dosing once a day with good results?).
it is same as feeding fis multiple times a day small amount VS feeding them ALOT once a week. all bacteria and living creatures need a stable source of food, dosing once a day would increase bacteria population ALOT and then drop till you dose again the day after, by dosing multiple times, you keep the bacteria population more stable, and removal of N and P more stable as well. also, it lowers the chance of overdosing it and depleting the reef from oxygen.


2 question - Any major problem of not using zeolites?
well you wont get the full Effect of Zeovit system as KZ intended, but the bacteria would grow on your live rock, sand and glass and all equipment, so if you have enough surface area, you are fine. [in my opinion, po4 is not removed as efficiently, dont ask me why though ]

3 question - what should be my starting dose (yesterday night i started dosing with 0.1cc)
for each 150G of NET water [subtract all rock and ...] 1 ml per day is a good start IMHO. try dosing 0.5 CC twice a day. monitor health of all creatures, and skim well [not too wet] and watch for bacteria [mulm] on rocks and sand. as you feed the nutritions are depleting, you lower the Zeostart3 dosage, as bacteria can actually replace the po4 take up by taking up more carbon ! so need to reach that balance, I dose 0.4x2 per day in 200G net water.


4 question - Can i dilute zeostart with reverse osmosis water ? any special consideration ?
this is a bit tricky, any bacteria in RO/DI water, and it will multiply over night, fouling up the diluted mix ! best option is to goto hospital or pharmacy, and ask for water from them, in hospitals they have it lying around allthe time, ultra clear water. if you want to make at home, get RO/DI water, and boil it for some time, then let is cool down with a cover, and then mix with Zeostart3. dont mix too much at once, cause you dont want it to go bad and waste it all., it would smell REALLY bad if gone bad so you can tell that way

Hope that helped, any questions, let us know.

Allmost thank you for the very informative answer.
Best regards.