Zeovit - System

[mhucasey]

Hi mhucasey,

Just seen this!:wave: Your very welcome! I'm glad that I was able to help. With a lesser amount of stones, slower flow, and Oyster Feast, you'll notice a deeper healthier coloration. If you want your corals to be lighter in color you can increase the flow, increase the amount of stones, or just feed less. Of course when you pursue the lighter colors, there is an increase chance of tissue recession. Keep up the good work!

Warmest Regards,
James

I have read a ton of established reef changeover threads and frankly the recommended amounts of stones and flow are way too much for an established tank IMO. When someone gets TN, the suggestions are based around changing the amount of flow in small increments or lowering the amount of Start.

Based on what I have worked out your approach, which starts out with less stones and moves up is a much safer way to go.

I'd suggest the guide recommend to start at 40% of recommended stones and flow and then test phosphate levels for 4-7 days. If they rise, adjust up the amounts in increments of 50ML stones or 5gph flow. After each addition, wait at least 4 days and test before making a change.

As far as the ZeoStart3, its just Carbon and Nitrate in a mixture. The amount added should be based on a recommendation I found from Bob on Zeovit that has worked well for me:
> Doser:
> Phase 1--0.2ml every 2hrs./100g/400l net
> Phase 2--0.1ml every 2hrs/100g/400l net
> Phase 3--0.1ml every 4hrs/100g/400l net

> Manual:
> Phase 1--0.6ml 2x's/day/100g/400l net
> Phase 2--0.3ml 2x's/day/100g/400l net
> Phase 3--0.2ml 2x's/day/100g/400l net

I'm currently slowly transitioning from the dosing in Phase2 to the dosing in phase 3.

Once again, many thanks!

 

[KritikaL]

zeo start has nitrate in it ? that explains something! my nitrates have risen quite dramatically since changing to zeo... i'm guessing thats cause im over dosing zeo start? whilst the bacteria gets to a suitable level.

 

[mhucasey]

Yep, Zeostart is nitrate and carbon. I tested it myself. I saw from one online source the estimate is 500ppm nitrate. I think that that is why they are conservative on start dosing when they give recommendations. I think that that the zeofood is essentially the same thing without the nitrate.

1-2ppm nitrate is actually a good thing so a little nitrate isn't a problem. Corals get very pale in a zero nitrate system. If you have a nitrate problem to begin with but low phosphate they recommend the zeofood for that.

 

[KritikaL]

wow, i didn't know that i will ask on the zeo forums to confirm, nice one though!

 

[KritikaL]

hmm yeah my phos is constant at 0.03 with zeo started last saturday so 9 days in today.. but my nitrates have gone from around 5 to 25 ish, zeo forum thinks this is correct due to m e stopping bio pearls, but still recommend dosing start / bak - no food.

I'm getting a brown film on the back glass and front glass quite a lot, but i've always had this in my tank its like brown algae... i've never been able to get rid of this not sure why, but gfo used to reduce it.

Reading their guide it says when you receive the diatom / brown film you should stop the start dosing, bit unsure of what to do tbh!

 

[mhucasey]

I saw your post there, you have very low phosphate(pretty much perfect actually), and the tank looks good. I wouldn't worry too much about the nitrate or the brown film on the glass. How much live rock do you have? The live rock itself will reduce nitrate to nitrogen gas slowly. Also, just to be sure, you aren't using any phosphate remover along with zeovit are you?

To reduce nitrates you will need phosphates if you are relying on carbon dosing. I have seen some people add phosphate but to me that is a bit sketchy. A lot of phosphate comes from foods, do you feed your fish regularly? Another suggestion would be to start feeding Oyster feast for the corals after lights out. The oyster feast will add some phosphate and will do wonders for your coral health.

Ive had my current tank up for over a year and a half with a heavy fish load and never seen nitrates over 5ppm - phosphates have always been my issue. I do feed my fish twice a day with frozen food, live blackworms, and pellets. I actually used to dose nitrate with my vinegar before Zeovit.

 

[KritikaL]

there is approx 45kg live rock in there, nah i was using gfo / bio pearls prior, and then totally removed both of them, most people saw a bit of a spike in nutrient, i just thought it was weird that my phos wasn't increasing but my nitrates were.

I feed my fish quite a lot 3-4 pinches of flake a day, then 1 maybe 2 cubes a day.

Yeah I was wondering to feed reef roids or something along them lines, but my nitrates are rather high so I didn't really want to do that!.

 

[KritikaL]

I wonder if my phos is a bit lower than what i am testing, and need to increase my phos?

 

[KritikaL]

i also wonder if its worth me buying some more live rock and putting it in the sump

 

[mhucasey]

I think you have plenty of live rock for denitrification, I wouldn't stress too much about it. Just give the bacteria time to eat the nitrates up and you should be fine. I've seen SPS tanks with nitrates north of 100ppm, and while not ideal, the corals were fine.

You at least know that adding start in higher quantities isn't the route to dropping the nitrates quickly. When I tried that(before I knew that the nitrate was a part of Start) i was baffled why the nitrates were rising all of a sudden.

 

[KritikaL]

nitrates up to around 50 today and phos with elos says 0.03 and did it 3 times and 0.03 every time!

So dunno what to do whether to stop dosing zeo start or to lower the dosage

 

[Jstn]

Start has some nitrates in it, so either do a large water change or try some vinegar as a carbon source instead for a bit.

 

[ridetheducati]

nitrates up to around 50 today and phos with elos says 0.03 and did it 3 times and 0.03 every time!

So dunno what to do whether to stop dosing zeo start or to lower the dosage

Lower the dose by 10%.

 

[rldcpa]

I have been using Coral Vitalizer and Pohls xtra over the past year with decent results. Before buying more, what would be the best for my 245 gallon mixed reef tank with various corals and reef friendly fish. In other words, is there a better combination of products to use to optimize growth and color?

 

[Scoobysnack77]

I think you can have zeo colors without zeovit

Zeovit looks great but doesn't it starve your corals? and your corals look pretty bright in color. how did you achieve that ? extremely low nutrients?

 

[Scoobysnack77]

Zeovit looks great but doesn't it starve your corals? and your corals look pretty bright in color. how did you achieve that ? extremely low nutrients?

im assuming that your using t5 lighting?

 

[Ryecoon]

Whats the best berlin method to use before i get into the zeovit? lol

 

[ridetheducati]

Whats the best berlin method to use before i get into the zeovit? lol

Quality live rock, good lighting and strong skimming.

 

[Ryecoon]

Check, check and Check

 

[rovster]

I have been using Coral Vitalizer and Pohls xtra over the past year with decent results. Before buying more, what would be the best for my 245 gallon mixed reef tank with various corals and reef friendly fish. In other words, is there a better combination of products to use to optimize growth and color?

Bump this question. I was thinking the same thing. I was using the nano pack (CV, pohls, sp, lps aa) and finished it. I wanted to continue with just CV and Pohls. Running ULNS with vodka/vinegar and corals have rich color, and a few are on the pale-ish side.