Zeovit for FOWLR?
- Thread starter blureef
- Start date
Stuart60611
New member
I somewhat disagree with the above. Zeovit and/or carbon dosing can, indeed, be of great benefit in FOWLRs. Controlling nutrients in a FOWLR can sometimes be more difficult than in a reef tank. You have to remember that most of us who run FOWLRs have little to no clean up crew, feed extremely heavily (and often much more food than is fed in a reef system with often very messy eaters), and can often have resulting algae and/or low water quality issues (beyond just high nitrates). Moreover, many of the fish kept in FOWLRs require high quality water, such as some of the large angels. Frequent water changes help but are often difficult in FOWLRs because they tend to be of much larger water volume than many reef set ups because of the often large and aggressive fish they house. As such, methodologies to reduce nutrients and/or organics is of great utlity in FOWLRs, particularly in light of the above.
Achieving a low nutrient state in a typcially heavily stocked FOWLR with large fish is pretty much impossible. However, with zeovit, carbon dosing, and other methods, one can often reduce the nutrient level to an acceptable state which will maintain heathy fish and importantly a display not covered with algae.
In light of what you are trying to achieve, I would recommend going with a refugium. In the refugium, I would have no sandbed, but a lot of rock (no need for it to be live rock and base rock would work fine). I would then float some chaeto on top of the rock and light it 12 or 24 hours a day. See how things go from there. You then can add reactors for running carbon and/or GFO to remove more organics and/or phosphate if needed. You can also dose carbon (vodka, sugar, vinegar) to further reduce nutrients when it becomes necessary. You could also add zeovit or other bacterial driven media to further deal with excess nutrients if it becomes necessary.
The single most important item of equipment you get for your FOWLR is your skimmer. Get a powerful skimmer which rated for a much higher water volume than your system. This will go a very long way in helping you deal with the excessive waste created from feeding heavy and the poop from your fish. You do not need to spend much on lighting because fish do not care much about the light. I would also recommend that you invest in some additional powerheads for the display because many fish kept in FOWLRs, such as angels, tangs, and triggers, thrive better with strong flow. Plus, the strong flow really helps keep the debris suspended so that your skimmer can pull it out before it breaks down in the water and releases nutrients. Finally, many people who run FOWLRs elect to go bare bottom because without a clean up crew, uneaten food and poop tends to collect on the substrate and create a nutrient problem. I never liked the look of a bare bottom. As such, I run a very thin layer of substrate in the display. Whatever you decide, I strongly recommend that you do not run any sandbed which is deep and try to stay with at most 1/4 to 1/2 inch in depth or bare bottom.
Achieving a low nutrient state in a typcially heavily stocked FOWLR with large fish is pretty much impossible. However, with zeovit, carbon dosing, and other methods, one can often reduce the nutrient level to an acceptable state which will maintain heathy fish and importantly a display not covered with algae.
In light of what you are trying to achieve, I would recommend going with a refugium. In the refugium, I would have no sandbed, but a lot of rock (no need for it to be live rock and base rock would work fine). I would then float some chaeto on top of the rock and light it 12 or 24 hours a day. See how things go from there. You then can add reactors for running carbon and/or GFO to remove more organics and/or phosphate if needed. You can also dose carbon (vodka, sugar, vinegar) to further reduce nutrients when it becomes necessary. You could also add zeovit or other bacterial driven media to further deal with excess nutrients if it becomes necessary.
The single most important item of equipment you get for your FOWLR is your skimmer. Get a powerful skimmer which rated for a much higher water volume than your system. This will go a very long way in helping you deal with the excessive waste created from feeding heavy and the poop from your fish. You do not need to spend much on lighting because fish do not care much about the light. I would also recommend that you invest in some additional powerheads for the display because many fish kept in FOWLRs, such as angels, tangs, and triggers, thrive better with strong flow. Plus, the strong flow really helps keep the debris suspended so that your skimmer can pull it out before it breaks down in the water and releases nutrients. Finally, many people who run FOWLRs elect to go bare bottom because without a clean up crew, uneaten food and poop tends to collect on the substrate and create a nutrient problem. I never liked the look of a bare bottom. As such, I run a very thin layer of substrate in the display. Whatever you decide, I strongly recommend that you do not run any sandbed which is deep and try to stay with at most 1/4 to 1/2 inch in depth or bare bottom.
Last edited:
blureef
New member
Thank you all for your replies. It has been several years since I had my last tank & there is a lot more information & options to maneuvre through & its great to have this forum.
I'll probably take the advice of the refugium and skimmer for now & look at zeovit in the future. Will keep you updated!
Thanks!
I'll probably take the advice of the refugium and skimmer for now & look at zeovit in the future. Will keep you updated!
Thanks!
Reef_Matrix29
Water Lover
+1
I would agree that just b/c you are doing fish only doesn't mean that you can't benefit from a nutrient low system. I would like to see what some people say about a ZeoVit system on a FOWLR for comparison purposes to all of the literature that is targeted mainly at reef tanks.
I understand that a deep sand bed in a FOWLR display tank could lead to problems, but it seems to me that a dsb in the refugium could be another way to help control nutrients. A refugium sand bed might also be a good place for some clean-up-crew organisms, like Nassarius snails, that might become after-dinner snacks if they were in the display tank.
In a FOWLR, I wouldn't want to drop nutrients so low that coralline algae failed to thrive. That could be fairly unattractive, IMO.
Stuart60611
New member
Well, most FOWLRs tend to be stocked on the heavy side with large fish, such as triggers, lions, groupers, tangs, angels, large wrasses, etc. As such, although I agree that the look of a FOWLR which is so nutrient poor that it cannot effectively maintain coraline algae is undersireable as Randy suggests, I really highly doubt that that is ever really likely. Even an aggressive attempt at maintaining a very low nutrient system with zeovit, carbon dosing etc. will not result in a true low nutrient system for a FOWLR based on what I described above. In reality, the use of techniques used in reef tanks to maintain low nutrient systems in a typical FOWLR context will usually just keep nutrients at bay but no where near the low level that can be achieved in a reef setup.
I agree that a fair option would be to run a deep sandbed in the refugium instead of filling it with rock and that doing so would allow one to maintain some additional fauna which could feed the display. Two reasons I do not recommend it in a FOWLR. First, much of the fauna that you can maintain in the refugium sandbed can also be maintained with just rock, such as snails, crabs, worms, pods, micro stars, etc. Also, I have found that in a FOWLR with all the feeding that goes on the refugium seems to get a lot more crud buildup with the use of sandbed instead of just rock.
I agree that a fair option would be to run a deep sandbed in the refugium instead of filling it with rock and that doing so would allow one to maintain some additional fauna which could feed the display. Two reasons I do not recommend it in a FOWLR. First, much of the fauna that you can maintain in the refugium sandbed can also be maintained with just rock, such as snails, crabs, worms, pods, micro stars, etc. Also, I have found that in a FOWLR with all the feeding that goes on the refugium seems to get a lot more crud buildup with the use of sandbed instead of just rock.
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camaroracer214
New member
i personally wouldn't use the zeovit method, as it can be quite expensive. instead, i might use prodibio or just straight up vodka or sugar.
if you do want to go zeovit, you could get away with the basic 4 setup. it wouldn't be terribly expensive and would keep nutrients low.
if you do want to go zeovit, you could get away with the basic 4 setup. it wouldn't be terribly expensive and would keep nutrients low.
Stuart60611
New member
+1
After you have the tank running with the refugium, if you find a need to further control nutrients, I would start out with just plain carbon dosing. If still insufficient, I would add the introduction of live bacterial dosing, such as prodibio, along with the carbon dosing. If still insufficient, you could then explore adding zeovit media. However, you would never need to run a true zeovit system with all the other additives geared toward maintaining corals. The only portion of the zeovit system which you would need to use would be the portion for reducting nutrients which would be much less expensive than running a full blown zeovit tank.
After you have the tank running with the refugium, if you find a need to further control nutrients, I would start out with just plain carbon dosing. If still insufficient, I would add the introduction of live bacterial dosing, such as prodibio, along with the carbon dosing. If still insufficient, you could then explore adding zeovit media. However, you would never need to run a true zeovit system with all the other additives geared toward maintaining corals. The only portion of the zeovit system which you would need to use would be the portion for reducting nutrients which would be much less expensive than running a full blown zeovit tank.
