Zeovit
- Thread starter sailfintang
- Start date
sailfintang
Member
Interesting post Zedar, I will have to monitor my K levels soon and watch my Iodine levels then. I was only adding a drop to two drops of lugols a week and adding K once a week since i added the new corals including some montis. I am still waiting for those fauna test kits too? Not sure if a K overdose would hinder polyp extension? Are you dosing any AA's? Or using any Zeo supps? I recently removed my matrix for cleaning and to clean the reactor but have been so busy its all soaking in some ro water and things are looking really nice now debating whether to add it back. i probably will once i clean it, maybe if i get out of work on time i can do that. hmmm. As for your issues zedar maybe someone with a bit more knowledge can help you and prevent us from a similiar issue.
sailfintang
Member
Interesting, that iodine will kill the bacteria we need, I guess thats why we are constantly adding it to the tank. Though we need proper iodine for molting and uv protection of our inhabitants.
I usually replenish my iodine through a water change but I found a great video where a guy with a 300 gallon was saying to do less water changes to create a more stable system. Constant water changes can unbalance the tank once it starts to settle out we change the water again and the cylce repeats. I am testing this theory out now myself to see. I will probably start with a month lapse and see what happens.
Canarygirl
New member
for what it's worth, on the Zeo forum they say that a K+ overdose results in some nuisance brown algae on the rocks, but I haven't heard mention of an effect on blue coloration when dosed in excess.
einsteins
Premium Member
Hi All
I have somewhat followed the path that all of you are now doing.
I started with Prodibio then went to Vinegar/Sugar and got my tank to a very low nutrient state. I then started adding select KZ additives CV,AAHC trying to color up the light sps corals. I then got on the K kick when that was a huge issue. I started using the Potassium Chloride that people were ordering from the Healthfood stores.
This is when the trouble started....I overdosed my tank with K big time! First it burned all the tips of my SPS followed by continuous tissue recession. This resulted in a 75% or so loss of all my sps.
As the tissue loss took place my tank became engulfed in a nasty brown slimey coating and my fish developed Fin Rot.
With large water changes the brown algae started receding and then a green matt like algae took over.
I stopped dosing everything...got Alk , cal and Mag in ionic balance and let the tank recover for 6 months.
I have now replaced the corals and I am on the full zeovit method. My tank looks fantastic, corals are looking great with incredible polyp extension.
My main point on this is that your tank will tolerate a certain high level of K but.....when you hit a certain point of overdosing, things will go South very quickly, BELEIVE me I lived it! I dont want any of you to have to experience what I went through.
Also be careful dosing mixed brands of additives as the dosage of say Amino acids from one brand may not account for the fact that you are using an additive of something else from another brand and there could be overlap that could cause issues.
I admire your experimental attitude and I believe many good things can come from experimenting.... but there will be crashes on that path also. I hope my story can keep you from repeating my mistakes only to learn the same lessons I did.
Good luck everyone...I will be following along as I have been following this thread for some time now.
eins
I have somewhat followed the path that all of you are now doing.
I started with Prodibio then went to Vinegar/Sugar and got my tank to a very low nutrient state. I then started adding select KZ additives CV,AAHC trying to color up the light sps corals. I then got on the K kick when that was a huge issue. I started using the Potassium Chloride that people were ordering from the Healthfood stores.
This is when the trouble started....I overdosed my tank with K big time! First it burned all the tips of my SPS followed by continuous tissue recession. This resulted in a 75% or so loss of all my sps.
As the tissue loss took place my tank became engulfed in a nasty brown slimey coating and my fish developed Fin Rot.
With large water changes the brown algae started receding and then a green matt like algae took over.
I stopped dosing everything...got Alk , cal and Mag in ionic balance and let the tank recover for 6 months.
I have now replaced the corals and I am on the full zeovit method. My tank looks fantastic, corals are looking great with incredible polyp extension.
My main point on this is that your tank will tolerate a certain high level of K but.....when you hit a certain point of overdosing, things will go South very quickly, BELEIVE me I lived it! I dont want any of you to have to experience what I went through.
Also be careful dosing mixed brands of additives as the dosage of say Amino acids from one brand may not account for the fact that you are using an additive of something else from another brand and there could be overlap that could cause issues.
I admire your experimental attitude and I believe many good things can come from experimenting.... but there will be crashes on that path also. I hope my story can keep you from repeating my mistakes only to learn the same lessons I did.
Good luck everyone...I will be following along as I have been following this thread for some time now.
eins
stony_corals
New member
Please do NOT dose any form of K without a test kit! This is not good. K is not a trace element like iodine, it's a minor element. There are activities at the cellular level that depend upon K, and to overdose, the effects could be deadly (just as running deficient levels).
As for Iodine killing bacteria, it get quite diluted fast and it doesn't kill off any bacteria in your system. Ok, may be if there are bacteria in a low flow area in which you dose your Potassium Iodide.
Thanks for sharing your experience einsteins, however painful it must be.
As for Iodine killing bacteria, it get quite diluted fast and it doesn't kill off any bacteria in your system. Ok, may be if there are bacteria in a low flow area in which you dose your Potassium Iodide.
Thanks for sharing your experience einsteins, however painful it must be.
Eins,
Thanks for the headsup
I guess my K+ never got that high because my corals are fine, just not very colorful.
Now that i have a K+ kit I wont make that mistake again.
I'm doing larger water changes more often with seachem reef salt to bring things back in to balance.
Eins,
What is your salt preference? Would you share your experience with salts.
Thanks for the headsup
I guess my K+ never got that high because my corals are fine, just not very colorful.
Now that i have a K+ kit I wont make that mistake again.
I'm doing larger water changes more often with seachem reef salt to bring things back in to balance.
Eins,
What is your salt preference? Would you share your experience with salts.
Stony,
This is great advice to anyone dosing K+ without a kit. Your gambling.
My mistake was wanting the fauna marin kit. the kit is impossible to get in the US. I seen great results from dosing K+. I just went a little too far.
I finally purchased the KZ kit, because after months of waiting I still cant get the FM kit.
This is great advice to anyone dosing K+ without a kit. Your gambling.
My mistake was wanting the fauna marin kit. the kit is impossible to get in the US. I seen great results from dosing K+. I just went a little too far.
I finally purchased the KZ kit, because after months of waiting I still cant get the FM kit.
einsteins
Premium Member
Hi again
Salts...
I used Reef Crystals for long time until I got into the ULNS style of reefkeeping. Once I got my tank to a low nutrient state the alk levels were higher than I wanted at around 10 to 11dkh.
I wanted to get alk to something closer to NSW levels of around 6.5 to 7 dkh. I then went with Red Sea Coral Pro Salt which mixed to 6.5 dkh.
Not long after I started Red Sea Coral Pro, I started the full Zeo system. I then found my K levels falling very low as RSCP salt has low K levels to start with. K additives are quite expensive and I was having to add K weekly to keep it around NSW levels. Also the Zeo System was taking my alk even lower so I was now trying to bring that back up also.
I then decided to go to Seachem Reef Salt for 2 reasons. 1) Good K levels that seem to keep my tank at ~380ppm with my weekly 10% water changes thus eliminating the continued use of K additives. 2) It seems to keep my alk at a much more manageable level. (Keep in mind that Seachem Salt has Borate Alk in it so you have to adjust your alk readings accordingly. ie: instead of 6.5 to 7.5 dkh for Zeo system you want to have 7.5 to 8.5 dkh using Seachem Salts.)
I am extremely pleased with the Seachem Reef Salt so far and would highly recommend it.
I have been on full Zeo now for about 6 weeks and here are a few pics I took just the other day. Hope you enjoy.
Salts...
I used Reef Crystals for long time until I got into the ULNS style of reefkeeping. Once I got my tank to a low nutrient state the alk levels were higher than I wanted at around 10 to 11dkh.
I wanted to get alk to something closer to NSW levels of around 6.5 to 7 dkh. I then went with Red Sea Coral Pro Salt which mixed to 6.5 dkh.
Not long after I started Red Sea Coral Pro, I started the full Zeo system. I then found my K levels falling very low as RSCP salt has low K levels to start with. K additives are quite expensive and I was having to add K weekly to keep it around NSW levels. Also the Zeo System was taking my alk even lower so I was now trying to bring that back up also.
I then decided to go to Seachem Reef Salt for 2 reasons. 1) Good K levels that seem to keep my tank at ~380ppm with my weekly 10% water changes thus eliminating the continued use of K additives. 2) It seems to keep my alk at a much more manageable level. (Keep in mind that Seachem Salt has Borate Alk in it so you have to adjust your alk readings accordingly. ie: instead of 6.5 to 7.5 dkh for Zeo system you want to have 7.5 to 8.5 dkh using Seachem Salts.)
I am extremely pleased with the Seachem Reef Salt so far and would highly recommend it.
I have been on full Zeo now for about 6 weeks and here are a few pics I took just the other day. Hope you enjoy.
sailfintang
Member
Man I want those colors out of my corals!! Very nice, sorry to hear of the tank crash, I had one as well, but am back on track now.
Ein, if I can ask what other ZEO supps are you using besides the CV and AAHC?
I am using Coral Snow,Sponge Power, Vitalizer and Phols Xtra. These seemd like the main inghredients to a great system with popping color. Is there anything I am missing. I am using some Warner marine AA's and Potassium. I really dose very little K since I am running seachem salt. Seems to keep everything in balance.
Ein, if I can ask what other ZEO supps are you using besides the CV and AAHC?
I am using Coral Snow,Sponge Power, Vitalizer and Phols Xtra. These seemd like the main inghredients to a great system with popping color. Is there anything I am missing. I am using some Warner marine AA's and Potassium. I really dose very little K since I am running seachem salt. Seems to keep everything in balance.
einsteins
Premium Member
Thanks everyone...
Sailfin ...Keep in mind that I am just a short time into the full zeo system and I am still in stage one so I am primarily just using the ZEO basic 4 (Zeolith rock, ZeoBak, Food7, and start2 ) I do use 1 drop each of AAHC and SP and 2 drops of CV each day. My system is 131 gallons net. When I reach stage 3 in the Zeo system I will be able to expand the products I use to really tweak my colors and maximize the Full Zeo benefits....I cant wait!
I wouldn't mix brands of additives as it could lead to either gaps in dosing or overlap of certain items. If you are using that many Zeo additives you should consider making the full commitment to the ZEO system, you wont be disappointed!
All of you using Zeo additives should keep in mind that they are MOST effective when in a low nutrient low PO4/NO3 environment.
Husky_1
Thanks for the compliments...
You will love Zeo as long as you dont get impatient and you understand that patience is the key to success. The ZEO results take time to obtain, that time is different for each tank and its conditions.
Use the Zeo forums they are extremely helpful and will give you dosing and maintenance advice that will help you succeed. Read as much as you can and learn about how it all works so you can start to make your own diagnosis on your tank.
Let me know if you have any further questions.....
Sailfin ...Keep in mind that I am just a short time into the full zeo system and I am still in stage one so I am primarily just using the ZEO basic 4 (Zeolith rock, ZeoBak, Food7, and start2 ) I do use 1 drop each of AAHC and SP and 2 drops of CV each day. My system is 131 gallons net. When I reach stage 3 in the Zeo system I will be able to expand the products I use to really tweak my colors and maximize the Full Zeo benefits....I cant wait!
I wouldn't mix brands of additives as it could lead to either gaps in dosing or overlap of certain items. If you are using that many Zeo additives you should consider making the full commitment to the ZEO system, you wont be disappointed!
All of you using Zeo additives should keep in mind that they are MOST effective when in a low nutrient low PO4/NO3 environment.
Husky_1
Thanks for the compliments...
You will love Zeo as long as you dont get impatient and you understand that patience is the key to success. The ZEO results take time to obtain, that time is different for each tank and its conditions.
Use the Zeo forums they are extremely helpful and will give you dosing and maintenance advice that will help you succeed. Read as much as you can and learn about how it all works so you can start to make your own diagnosis on your tank.
Let me know if you have any further questions.....
Canarygirl
New member
Your corals are looking most excellent, Einstein! I'm glad everything is working out for you now.
One other question...how did you learn to take such great pictures??
One other question...how did you learn to take such great pictures??
einsteins
Premium Member
THanks Canarygirl...
I think the tank is on the upswing now, its fun watching it progress.
As for the pictures....well the digital photography is a spin off from my reef tank.
I use a Nikon D50 with assorted lenses and I am pretty much self taught by a LOT of trial and error.
Glad you enjoyed the photos...I hope to take more soon.
eins
I think the tank is on the upswing now, its fun watching it progress.
As for the pictures....well the digital photography is a spin off from my reef tank.
I use a Nikon D50 with assorted lenses and I am pretty much self taught by a LOT of trial and error.
Glad you enjoyed the photos...I hope to take more soon.
eins
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