Zeovit

[fullmonti]

Nutrient levels have been the same for months. I have been dosing 2 drops AA & 2-3 drops coral vitalizer, 1 1/2 ml extra, 3-4 drops sponges power, 4 drops start2, 3-4 drops zeobak all daily, all along, 200-250 gal system. I will try more AA & CV see if that helps. I have been hesitant to dose any more of any thing since the red & bright green slime persists.

I have a bluestar leopard wrasse that patrols constantly, & have looked for parasites. I have never had any so not exactly sure what all of them may look like, a friend of mine just had to treat his tank for redbugs & he came over last week & while he was here he looked too, couldn't find any thing so think I'm good.

I was starting to feel pretty good about my tank last week, till the STN started on some new corals. And now that it has started on a frag (beautiful tricolor acro I got from Tyree) that I got after all this I don't know what to think. Very depressing!

 

[Zedar]

Another update

The snails have made a big dent in the gray brown fuzz, don't know if they can wipe it out or not yet, if not I'll get some more.

I was getting this same brown stuff on my sand. It was suggested by someone on RC (dont remember whom) to dose some KN03. In a few days all the brown slime was gone and hasnt returned.

Heres the logic behind this idea.

If you dose carbon and nitrogen becomes limited, Cyano bacteria (the brown stuff you're seeing) takes control of your tank. That's because Cyano bacteria can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. Once you add some Nitrate they are replaced by higher forms of life. Mostly algae

I also had some STN that disappeared with the added nitrogen. I had blastos that were all shriveled up but became plump and healthy within a week of dosing KN03. SPS have exploded with growth since the addition.

As crazy as it sounds it will take care of a hair algae problem also. Think about it. If Nitrate becomes limited, you cant lower P04 no matter how much Carbon you add. Once you increase nitrate levels the carbon can go back to work and Lower your P04 and get rid of the HA.

 

[Henry Bowman]

Zedar,

What exactly did you dose ? KNO3 in what form?

 

[Zedar]

Zedar,

What exactly did you dose ? KNO3 in what form?

http://cgi.ebay.com/KNO3-Potassium-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27a84c4ed0

I used this calculator to dose.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_dosage_calc.htm

120 gallons total water volume. It was a little too much. It sent my Nitrate up to 20ppm. That didn't harm anything, it just added some unwanted algae. I could have went with less and achieved the same results.

I havent added any since.

Fresh water enthusiasts use KN03 for the same reasons a reef user would. To balance the ratios of N03 to P04 and get rid of unwanted algae. it was a freshwater enthusiast that suggested this to me, but i cant recall his name.

 

[fullmonti]

Zedar

That sounds completely logical & frustrating. You see for months I've been struggling with algae or cyano, even though my test always came out zero or near zero every one kept saying if you have algae/cyano you must have excess nutrients (also logical). I have stripped nutrients so much two times my corals either lost color or started dying from bottom up, & now I find out that the accepted targets may in some cases be to low. The target window just keeps getting narrower. Hard to know what's best isn't it?

 

[Zedar]

Zedar

That sounds completely logical & frustrating. You see for months I've been struggling with algae or cyano, even though my test always came out zero or near zero every one kept saying if you have algae/cyano you must have excess nutrients (also logical). I have stripped nutrients so much two times my corals either lost color or started dying from bottom up, & now I find out that the accepted targets may in some cases be to low. The target window just keeps getting narrower. Hard to know what's best isn't it?

If you increase your N03 your corals wont loose their color or STN. Then the carbon dosing can lower the P04 down so the HA will die.

Each time you dose carbon you run out of nitrate, hence the cyano outbreak which thrive in an ultra low Nitrate environment. And without the Nitrate your corals turn pale and STN. Its exactly what my tank went through.

Once you increase the ratio of N03 to P04 it will be the P04 that becomes limited. The exact scenario you want. In other words, corals dont like high P04 and limited or no nitrogen, but seem happy the other way around.

 

[fullmonti]

That makes perfect sense, I just hope I can get a grip on all these interactions & relationships between all the dif processes before I run out of corals, money, & patients.

I appreciate the info, guess I have to order some potassium nitrate to put back some of the nitrate I have been working to keep low. Seriously I don't mean to be a smart *** just hoping to get this merry-go-round figured out. It seems every time I think I've got it another set of variables come into play. I do think I'm close now. Thanks again

 

[austin93]

I have been dosing amino acids for the past couple weeks with positive results. I feel much safer doing that than adding kno3. Coloration has improved and the fuzz on the glass has also been reduced dramatically over the past month. Just need lots of patience.

 

[Zedar]

That makes perfect sense, I just hope I can get a grip on all these interactions & relationships between all the dif processes before I run out of corals, money, & patients.

I appreciate the info, guess I have to order some potassium nitrate to put back some of the nitrate I have been working to keep low. Seriously I don't mean to be a smart *** just hoping to get this merry-go-round figured out. It seems every time I think I've got it another set of variables come into play. I do think I'm close now. Thanks again

I understand your hesitation. I felt the same way. But then i noticed most of the nicer tanks on RC had higher then my tank nitrate levels.

I have been dosing amino acids for the past couple weeks with positive results. I feel much safer doing that than adding kno3. Coloration has improved and the fuzz on the glass has also been reduced dramatically over the past month. Just need lots of patience.

There are some people that believe that amino acids are mostly just a Nitrogen source for the corals. But if you overdue it, you get that brownish/red funky stuff.

 

[plyle02]

I have KNO3, tried it and actually my corals became very light. I suspect that the addtion of NO3 allowed the Zeo system to drop PO4, perhaps so rapidly that the levels needed for the corals was absent. I did this in effort to break the bubble algae and red turf. I want to see no algae with vibrant colors zeovit has to offer, well, I have the bright awesome coloration, unfortunately my eyes draw me to the nasties, overlooking how zeovit has absolutely done it's work as far as coloration goes. I suspect in time, several months down the road my system will eventually acclomplish both. My LR must have stored PO4, so the process is just going to take time.

 

[fullmonti]

another update

another update

Well I'm happy to say the fuzz/algae/graybrown felt stuff all are gone!!! No snail loss I can see, & they have done there work.

There is only a very little red slime left in main tank, but more in frag tank. There is still some bright green slime in main tank, but none in frag tank. Both are on the decline.

STN unfortunately is still not gone!!! Lost about 15, some that survived have started growing again, but 2 or 3 just started a couple weeks ago, no big changes or events of any kind in months. I DO NOT understand this phenomenon!!!

I have kept to same routine for 3-4 months now (ever since this all started), & my corals have been getting darker & darker. At first I was glad because they were a bit on the light side, but they keep getting darker, some look better but some have just gotten muddy looking & brownish. Perimeters haven't changed NO3 still under 1, PO4 still zero on chemical tester (haven't checked with Hanna again, but chemical test looks same as before). Over the last 3-4 weeks I have cut back & just stopped dosing AA (was only dosing 2 drops a day before), & have slowly increased start2 from 3-4 drops a day to 6 thinking maybe a little to much of a good thing. What do you think about this???

About a month ago I noticed my KH inching up from 8+or- to almost 10 no idea why. So I ask around & best suggestion I got was try a salt mix with lower KH to start with. I have been using reef crystals for almost a year (KH 10 or more) I checked chart here on RC I shaw that red sea coral pro had much lower KH so the last three water changes I have done has been with it, looks like KH back down to 8, hopefully it will come down a bit more with another few water changes.

Just wanted to let you guys know some things are better, but still having some STN issues & see what you might have to say about any of this. Tks

 

[fullmonti]

I was thinking the darker colors might be from feeding fish a bit more & most of my fish were young & have grown some in the last 3-4 months (more poop), thats my thinking behind upping the start2. Wasn't dosing very much to start with. What do you think?

 

[Fuzzy]

My Zeovit starter kit arrived today. I'm going to re-read the info lit tonight and hopefully set it up tomorrow.

Any tips or suggestions as to what to look out for would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Fuzz

 

[fishypets]

Fuzzy,

Take it slow and make sure you have to correct amount of flow through your reactor. I'd exchange the stones after four weeks of use. After the second stone exchange you should start to notice the difference.

 

[fullmonti]

Just in general there recommended dosing amounts are high. The few people I know personally that use zeo products & I use about 25% of what they recommend. You can check out zeo site, but for me I would always start with less & work up, not the other way around. I'm sure some of the others on this thread will chime in too. It has taken me a long time but I think I have finally got my system stable (with a lot of help from a lot of good people)
Good Luck

 

[reefsic]

3-4 months on Zeovit...

 

[Fuzzy]

Thanks for the tips :thumbsup:

I finally got it installed today, fits perfectly in the last section of my sump. We have a 150 mixed reef with pretty high phosphate and nitrate numbers. I started with 1L of Zeovit with the pump running at about 50% flow, 2 hours on, 4 hours off. I'm anxious to see how long it will take to get everything under control.

 

[reefsic]

Thanks for the tips :thumbsup:

I finally got it installed today, fits perfectly in the last section of my sump. We have a 150 mixed reef with pretty high phosphate and nitrate numbers. I started with 1L of Zeovit with the pump running at about 50% flow, 2 hours on, 4 hours off. I'm anxious to see how long it will take to get everything under control.

Hi Fuzzy,

I would have suggested that you reach the recommended (by Zeovit) params, prior to starting your Zeovit Program.

Ca 380-420
Mg 1200-1350
dKH 6.5-8.0
K+ 380-400ppm
salinity 33-35%ppt

 

[E.intheC]

I've read through much of this thread, but still have one question. (Sorry in advance if I missed it). How do you know if your skimmer is 'good enough' for zeovit?

 

[skairik]

Does anyone have any updates?