Zeo heads please I need your advice.

I

IOWNYOU

In Memoriam
Picked up a reactor along with Zeobak and stones last night. Just installed a few minute ago in the refugium for my 5 months old 90 G RR rimless. As you can tell I'm very new with Zeovit system thus have some questions and can use some help.

Can I get away with just the reactor and Zeobak or do I have to go with the basic 4 at the very minimum to ensure success? Read somewhere that the reactor has to be turn on/off every 3 hrs. Can someone confirm this? Does carbon have to be used 24/7?

Already been over to zeovit.com but it's more dizzying over there than a Bruce Lee's front kicks :fun2:
 
Hello,
what is the NET water volume ?

you should run 1 bag of stones, for every 100G, with MAX flow of 100 GPH per bag of stones used [so if total is 90, use 90% of the bag.] FLOW is REALLY important. make sure to not exceed the recommendations. at first, run it 3 hours on 3 hours off. make sure the stones are not left dry in 3 hours off period.

Dosing bak without Zeostart3 makes no sense. as Zeostart3 is what makes the BAK grow and take up nutrients, so use both. 1 drop of Bak for every 25 G NET water, daily at first 10 days, then reduce to 3 times a week.

for start, follow the instructions on the label, and then cut down over the next 3-4 months as the system nutrients lower.

yu need to run GAC in the sump, I advice Either Seachem Matrix, or KZ GAC. other brands like ROX are too harsh and will bleach corals. change monthly.

please download and review the guide, with Zeovit system is important to follow the guide, and to observe health of system daily.

I advice using Sponge power as well, its a great additive, helps growth of sponges, which in turn "eat" bacteria, and shed their tissue which becomes coral food, a great recycling system.

HTH, let us know if any more questions.
 
Net volume of water is about 90G.
I already put the whole bag in the reactor before I posted. Hope that's not gonna cause any problems.
Bak bottle said 1 drop every 2 G of water 1-2X a week. Guess that's after you start the initial 14 days regimen?
I have Seachem Phosguard and Seachem Matrix High Capacity Biofiltration (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Seachem-Mat...quarium-Biofiltration-Media-NEW-/130964351632) in separate mesh bags.

So I need to run Matrix Carbon too?
Thanks!
 
I do not think zeovit is very hard at all. Only takes a couple of secs to drop in the additives each day. Everything Almost said is right on the money. I personally do not use zeo food. My daily dosing is about 1/2 of the zeovit recommended dosing. Possibly because my tank is bare bottom, zeovit recommends gravel. You have to use zeo start 3, it is the carbon and nitrogen source to reduce phosphate. If you do not it is like buying a car and not getting gas.

I dose as follows: Zeo bac 2x week, zeostart daily, Amino acids daily, Sponge power daily. Shake my reactor 2x a day. Using those additives will get you off to a great start to a lower phosphate system. You can play with the others later. I do use others but just to add color to corals. If you have the extra cash the other additives are great. I do use Rox carbon one cup changed weekly but my system is 500 gals. It is very powerful carbon.

Sponge power is really amazing it really does more than feed sponges. It heals new coral and increaces pe.

If you are using gfo, taper down and eliminate it.

Using zeovit I personally can keep corals that I was unable with other methods. Colors are great, pe is great.
 
Last edited:
Since there's no other carbon available at my LFS I picked up some Kent carbon. Hope that'll work. Will get Zeostart and spongepower tomorrow when I go to another LFS across town.

Will eliminate Seachem Phosguard slowly and discontinue all together sometime next week.
 
Carbon brand does not matter that much. Some are just stronger than others. Gfo and phosguard are very good at eliminating phosphate, acros really do not like either of these products. Phosguard is really strong it works much quicker than gfo, it will drop phosphate significantly in the first day, and deplete it self with in 3 days generally.

If you want to keep acros like I do I would recommend a lot of water testing. Think of keeping acros as: you are the keeper of the water and the acros will have no choice to do well. You are not trying to keep acros you are trying to keep clean water.

Need: Hanna 736 hi phosphate test kit. $50, reagent 8$. a must. Test a little different
than instructions. Fill both vials with water add reagent to one and wait a hour
to test. If it is anything lower than 20 remove any gfo and phosguard.

Salifert Potassium test kit. A must ( add brightwell powdered potassium to
raise, zeovit k is expensive)

Test kh and ca wit Api test kits, cheap and effective.

Feed coral with oyster feast brand, every other day as directed on bottle.
Salt really does matter the two brands that are like liquid pe are: aquavitro, royal nature. Change 5% 2 x week if possible with good ro/di water. If you are away for a week do not worry about adding zeovit products or water change.

Your tank could look like this in 12 months.<a href="http://s382.photobucket.com/user/eralff/media/DSC_0473.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo268/eralff/DSC_0473.jpg" border="0" alt="ORA Birdnest photo DSC_0473.jpg"/></a>
 
Last edited:
toothman said:
Need: Hanna 736 hi phosphate test kit. $50, reagent 8$. a must. Test a little different
than instructions. Fill both vials with water add reagent to one and wait a hour
to test. If it is anything lower than 20 remove any gfo and phosguard.
Click to expand...

Why are you recommending to do the test this way?
 
My LFS said I can run my reactor 24/7. No need to turn it on/off every 3-4hrs so I'm a little confused. I also picked up Zeostart, Zeofood + SpongePower today.

I don't have Hanna test kit but do have Salifert kit for cal, alk, and Po4.
 
AugustWest said:
Why are you recommending to do the test this way?
Click to expand...


doing the test this way with the 736 seems to give me the most consistant reading. With this test kit reading can be all over the board. You can test the same vial 3 times and you will get 3 different reading. Testing with this kit values change by turbidity, smudges on glass etc. The reading after a hour and after 2 hours seems to stay consistant. Since I am looing to keep my reef tank at a consistant level this method works best for me. I also have a hanna 713 and it generally reads 0.0 phosphate, even though I do not think it is zero.
 
The on off thing is for transitioning established tanks to zeo. The idea is to not shock the system by bringing nutrient levels down too quickly. No a zeo user, but will be some day, LOL!
 
Every reefer seems to do their husbandry a bit differently it is interesting to see results of different methods. Salifert phosphate is not really useful to test for reading between .01 and .03 where phosphate should be. Possibly you will have better luck with this test kit than I did. I have found zeofood tends to darken acros, let me know your findings.
 
I'll leave it on 24/7 since my tank is 6 mnths old with only a couple of small frags. Will definitely report back in a few days.
 
Leaving it on 24/7 is going to strip the water to fast. I think you should make an account on the Zeo forum and read as much as possible over there for a few months before starting to use zeovit. G Alexander answers questions every single day and you will learn a lot
 
Zeovit, is a system where you need to follow the guidelines. it is too potent for experiments.

Zeofood, should only be dosed in systems with low nutrients. 6 months from now after you start Zeovit.

agree with everything else, Toothman's Po4 testing method is for LOW po4 readings. very good way to get accurate readings when po4 is very low.
 
Sort of tagging along here and I did post my questions over on the Zeovit forum under my same name here on RC.


Unlike IOWNYOU...If I'm starting a new system would I still do the 3 on/ 3 off for the reactor or just let it stay on since its a new cycle with nothing but rock and sand?
 
Last edited:
MisterP said:
Sort of tagging along here and I did post my questions over on the Zeovit forum under my same name here on RC.


Unlike IOWNYOU...If I'm starting a new system would I still do the 3 on/ 3 off for the reactor or just let it stay on since its a new cycle with nothing but rock and sand?
Click to expand...

Follow the 14 day cycle process.
 
MisterP said:
Sort of tagging along here and I did post my questions over on the Zeovit forum under my same name here on RC.


Unlike IOWNYOU...If I'm starting a new system would I still do the 3 on/ 3 off for the reactor or just let it stay on since its a new cycle with nothing but rock and sand?
Click to expand...

you can run continuously. as pointed above, check the 14 day cycle.
 
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