Zeovit

[Zedar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12266440#post12266440 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Husky_1
Ok,
Sorry for the quesiton but I have few more:

1. So the one thing I see in a Zeo system that is not accounted for is the Zeofood, any suggestion?
2. What are the suggested levels of FE and Iodine?
3. Zedar, any reason on going with the Iherb KCl over the warner marine, seems like for $4 more its worth using something that is balanced.
4. For Iron, I was thinking of using the Two little fishes, any comments?

1. the zeofood for us is V/S/V

2. NSW levels. iodide .06 iron .1
I'm currently using the Salifert kit for iodide. But i'll switch to this kit in the future.
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/MTIodide.html

And this kit for Iron
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/MTIron.html

3. Most tanks are really low in K. the KCI is more potent. It would probably take a few bottles of the warner K to raise it to NSW levels. Warner is good for keeping the levels up.
4 thats fine.

 

[Zedar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12269138#post12269138 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sailfintang
I believe you do not need the GFO becasue the v/s/v mix will lower and eventually eliminate the PO4 in your tank so instead of wasting your money on the GFO you can just use the cheaper alternative that glass bx designed substituting the pribidio with seachem Stability.

akthoug hif you have really high po4 I think runnign a GFO form the initial start of the v/s/v could not hurt but i am not sure on that. I know that when I started the v/s/v dosign I removed my po4 media and liverock from the sump and anything else that could be removed and eliminate nutrients form the entire system. So currently I am only using v/s/v and carbon source plus supplements when levels are not adequete.

Sailfins correct, if you have really high P04 say .2 then you can start off using the gfo. If you have just slightly elevated levels .05 to .08 Then stop using the GFO.

The popular notion for this is, the bacteria we want to feed carbon will become P04 limited before the nitrate is lowered to desired levels.

In other words, whichever nutrient the bacteria run out of first will be the limiting nutrient. And the other nutrients wont be utilized.
Hence you will still have nitrate in the tank. but very little po4.

Some may argue that the nitrate may be a good thing. But the jury is still out on that.

 

[sailfintang]

well thanks for the info abou the warenr potassium being a long term supplement and the powder potassium being more like the zeo super k supplement used to rise the k lelvel and the warenr is like the phols k steady zeo additive. i gues I will get some of the poweder stuff to raise the k level and the warner to maintain it. How many bottles should I get for a total system volume of 85-90 gallons?

 

[Zedar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12269430#post12269430 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sailfintang
well thanks for the info abou the warenr potassium being a long term supplement and the powder potassium being more like the zeo super k supplement used to rise the k lelvel and the warenr is like the phols k steady zeo additive. i gues I will get some of the poweder stuff to raise the k level and the warner to maintain it. How many bottles should I get for a total system volume of 85-90 gallons?

i would say to be on the safe side get 2

I have 120 gallons water volume.

It took 1 1/2 bottles to bring mine up. I don't measure this its just observation of the corals.

 

[tcollins]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12269410#post12269410 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zedar
Sailfins correct, if you have really high P04 say .2 then you can start off using the gfo. If you have just slightly elevated levels .05 to .08 Then stop using the GFO.

The popular notion for this is, the bacteria we want to feed carbon will become P04 limited before the nitrate is lowered to desired levels.

In other words, whichever nutrient the bacteria run out of first will be the limiting nutrient. And the other nutrients wont be utilized.
Hence you will still have nitrate in the tank. but very little po4.

Some may argue that the nitrate may be a good thing. But the jury is still out on that.

So the bacteria use the phos and nitrate equally up to the point of depleting one of them? Wouldn't you expect to have differing levels of phos vs nitrate simply by feeding?

 

[Zedar]

Yes you will. But once both are at low levels the importance of the ratio may not be that important.

On page 1 a gentlemen name j.prostrata has elevated nitrates. This is probably due to his use of GFO. Of course with results like his maybe
elevated nitrate is a good thing.

I posted in this thread about dosing potassium nitrate to add some nitrate to my tank. I cant say it helped.

 

[Zedar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12269349#post12269349 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zedar
1. the zeofood for us is V/S/V

2. NSW levels. iodide .06 iron .1
I'm currently using the Salifert kit for iodide. But i'll switch to this kit in the future.
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/MTIodide.html

And this kit for Iron
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/MTIron.html

3. Most tanks are really low in K. the KCI is more potent. It would probably take a few bottles of the warner K to raise it to NSW levels. Warner is good for keeping the levels up.
4 thats fine.

I just read julian sprungs & charles delbeeks "the reef aquarium" volume 3

They recommend dosing Iron and Iodide but not testing for it. They question the accuracy of the tests, due the the very low levels of Iron and Iodide in seawater.

Heres a quote.
"Given the large number of Iodine species in seawater, measuring iodine is fraught with problems."

"Theres are several commercial test kits available to measure iron, but given the low levels of iron present in sea water, the utility of these kits is questionable. "

So save yourselves the money on these kits and just dose at the recommended amounts.

heres seachems directions for Iodide.

DIRECTIONS: Please note that each cap thread is approximately 1 mL, full cap is 5 mL. BEGINNER: Add 5 mL (1 capful) for each 200 L (50 gallons*) every other day.

I dont believe any zeovit users test for this. they just dose small amounts daily.

 

[sailfintang]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12269455#post12269455 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zedar
i would say to be on the safe side get 2

I have 120 gallons water volume.

It took 1 1/2 bottles to bring mine up. I don't measure this its just observation of the corals.

How soon should i dose the K to bring up my levels while dosing the v/s/v mix? Should i start right away, or wait till I reach my maintenance level of the v/s/v or untill my po4 levels and nitrate have fallen to undetectable levels.

 

[Zedar]

i wouldnt wait.

 

[sailfintang]

Well I ordered the potassium chloride and will stary dosing as sonn as I have received the powder. I will either drip it in or just mix with some ro/di and add it to the tank. What is the max dosage you were doing with this stuff ina day? I'm sure it will take a whole bottle or more to increase my K levels to NSW.

 

[Husky_1]

Sailfin, from reading some of the zeo forums, you should have the proper levels before starting the system. I am going to aim for that over the next few weeks before I start the vsv dosing and adding the matrix.

Zedar, Thanks for the answers. As for the Zeofood, I thought it was a mixture of bacteria and coral food, unlike the zeostart was more like our v/s/v. Either way my fish food concoction has stuff in it for the corals as well.

I have used the Seachem tests in the past, I was always happy that the kit matched the reference liquid that they have to you. I think the kits were easy, and never really had a problem. The ammonia kit kinda sucked, but the rest were ok. Anyway, I started using the Salifert kits, but for the price I was thinking about buying the seachem K and FE tests as well.

 

[Zedar]

I mixed two tablespoons with glass of DI. Slowly added it to the sump in a high flow area.

I did this two or three times a night for a week.

 

[Zedar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12273103#post12273103 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Husky_1

I have used the Seachem tests in the past, I was always happy that the kit matched the reference liquid that they have to you. I think the kits were easy, and never really had a problem.

Yep right now i only use the calcium kit but I think its a good kit. Their reference is 420 and every so often i do a check against it.
Ive never came up anything but dead on 420.
And the kits 2 years old.
I also have an API calc kit. API tests high using the seachem reference solution, it reads 450.

 

[sailfintang]

Okay so its been about 2 weeks since I have begun the v/s/v dosing and I have noticed a few things.

1. Skimmate is much darker almost black and requires emptying twice a week rather than once.

2. Less algae growth on the glass so I only really need to run a magnet cleaner accrose once a week rather than once a day.

3. Still have tiny bits of hair algae on the live rock itself hoping soon I will reach my max dose adn then be able to cut that in half for my maintenance dose.

4. Other supplements cause minor cyno or other algea blooms if added coiuld be a poor composed agent like Kent marines Iron supplement. Will discontinue use for now.

5. Water is crystal clear like looking into a mirror.


My current dose is 10 ml daily.

At this t ime I am still awaiting my other supplements from back order at D and T supplies i will email them to day and see what the hold up is with all that.Also awaiting the K powder to drip dose into the tank using ro/di water. Will post any new photos or changes I see over the next few weeks.

 

[Husky_1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12281200#post12281200 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sailfintang

4. Other supplements cause minor cyno or other algea blooms if added coiuld be a poor composed agent like Kent marines Iron supplement. Will discontinue use for now.

Are stopping all dosing of "other" supplements or removing one at a time until you figure it out? I am interested to see if others are having this issue as well.

 

[sailfintang]

Well at this time am only odsiong the following supplements:

1. Kent Marine Iron
2. Lugol iodine
3. Stronium
4. Baking soda for dkh till my 2 part B-Ionic arrives
5. V/s/V

I pan to test my levels this evening to see if everythign is on par. I believe it should be I just preformed a water change on Saturday.

Sunday I added, 2 drops lugol's, 5 ml Iron, 5 ml Stronium no baking soda, and the usual v/s/v. I noticed the bloom whe nI arrived home from work yesterday, scrubbed the rocks free of the algae and noted this in my log. Will probably eliminate the dosing or add significantly less

 

[garymcgrath]

I have a feeling the cyano is from the v/s/v. I have been using my own version for about 6 months (with glucose instead of table sugar). I have several patches of cyano that keep coming back after I siphon them out. The only other suppliments I use are limewater and AA. I don't think its the AA since I went about a month without dosing with no change in the cyano growth. Right now I have the lights out for three days to see if that will help.

 

[Zedar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12281569#post12281569 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sailfintang
Well at this time am only odsiong the following supplements:

1. Kent Marine Iron
2. Lugol iodine
3. Stronium
4. Baking soda for dkh till my 2 part B-Ionic arrives
5. V/s/V

I pan to test my levels this evening to see if everythign is on par. I believe it should be I just preformed a water change on Saturday.

Sunday I added, 2 drops lugol's, 5 ml Iron, 5 ml Stronium no baking soda, and the usual v/s/v. I noticed the bloom whe nI arrived home from work yesterday, scrubbed the rocks free of the algae and noted this in my log. Will probably eliminate the dosing or add significantly less

Iron and AA's will cause algae.

 

[Zedar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12281736#post12281736 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by garymcgrath
I have a feeling the cyano is from the v/s/v. I have been using my own version for about 6 months (with glucose instead of table sugar). I have several patches of cyano that keep coming back after I siphon them out. The only other suppliments I use are limewater and AA. I don't think its the AA since I went about a month without dosing with no change in the cyano growth. Right now I have the lights out for three days to see if that will help.

I have no cyano, never have, since starting the v/s/v.

 

[fishfanatic06]

What if I cant get access to vodka? Can I just mix the sugar and vinegar together?