To zeo or not to zeo

[christyf5]

Ok so my tank has been on the zeovit program for almost 6 months now, some days I'm happy with it, other days I'm not. Mostly those days are when I see a gorgeous tank that isn't on zeo, or a gorgeous tank that is. Nitrates have always been an issue, they weren't before I started zeo and they're hovering around 20-30. This really ticks me off. But its not really the problem.

One of my clams has had some issues for the past two weeks. I thought it was pinched mantle but I posted over on the old clamsdirect forum (now reefaquariumforum.com) and they say it doesn't look like pinched mantle but they can't nail it down to anything else. They think it ay possibly be a nutrient issue (ie. nutrients too low) but I have 6 other clams and they're all fine. however with my nitrates at 40 seems odd. Theres nutrients in there somewhere, I can see the caulerpa grinning at me evilly from places I can't reach

Anyhoo, I'm thinking about stopping zeo for awhile. At the same time my clam started up I treated my tank with erythromycin to kill both the red slime algae which was plagueing my tank (not to the same extent that GreenSpottedPuffer was experiencing, mind you I don't have a sandbed) and help out the clam (bacterial issues were suggested). The erythromycin ended up doing in the cyano but didnt' do much for the clam. After the treatment I did a 10% waterchange (which I do weekly) and then a few days after that I did a 20% waterchange. I also ran carbon changing it out every 5 days. IMO I think the waterchange has done more for the clam than the treatment. Anyhoo, some stuff browned out (oddly enough only the corals that had yellow or green in them, other stuff is well, the same as it was before.

So, I dunno, is it possible to keep doing the zeo while dosing things for the clam? Or dosing things for the nitrates? Is it even worth it, sounds like I'm sort of working them against each other (ie. trying to keep nutrients up for the clam while using zeo to keep them down?).

Thoughts?

And no flames on the erythromycin, I was told its a main ingredient in many of the slime removers, I don't have a sandbed and the only repercussions so far are a couple of browny yellow corals and some diatoms which I believe I can control with waterchanges.

THX C

[mark]

there's some pretty nice tanks out there (and some with clams) not running Zeo

[christyf5]

Oh I totally agree, there are several threads I was just looking at on canreef that are truly spectacular and they aren't using zeo or any sort of ULNS system. I just thought I'd try something new. I guess when I see it every day I just don't see the ooh ahh in my tank that I see in others.

[BlueAbyss]

Just a thought... isn't the Zeo system supposed to remove 'bad' nutrients and then replace them with other 'good' nutrients?

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I had struggled with this question myself. Mostly because if the cyano. After two weeks or increased Bak and dosing coral snow daily, no cyano. You literally can't find a spot. It kept coming and going for a week and then now its been gone for days. Doesn't seem to be coming back.

Other than the cyano, I have been thrilled with ZEO. I did for a while think I may start VSV dosing instead of ZEO but don't like the fact that its less controlled than ZEO.

I guess the only other problem I have with ZEO is that they will not tell you WHAT your dosing. But I have just listened to what I was told on the ZEO forum and its worked nicely. Nitrates are still around 10-15 but slowly dropping. I don't think nitrates harm much anyways...its phosphates you have to worry about with sps.

Good luck figuring it out. IMO you should stick with it but maybe rethink the dosing schedule. I would post on the zeo forum and see what they say.

[Jack]

What does the zeovit forum say about your nitrate level?

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by mark

there's some pretty nice tanks out there (and some with clams) not running Zeo

Absolutely. ZEO is just another way to get the same results you can with more "traditional" methods. IMO, ZEO tanks really are nothing that can't be achieved through other methods. Having said that, I think for the average hobbyist ZEO makes that beautiful, colorful sps tank more attainable. Especially for someone like me who hasn't had the best of luck with sps tanks in the past.

I had mentioned on RC that I had a green slimer that was brown for the three months I had it prior to starting ZEO and after two weeks on ZEO, it was bright green. I got a few responses along the lines of "well you shouldn't need ZEO to make a green slimer, green" or "then your not taking good care of your tank if you need ZEO to make your corals nice"...I found some of the comments really funny. There are a lot of reefers who seem to really dislike ZEO or see it as some kind of cheating

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Jack

What does the zeovit forum say about your nitrate level?

Mine?

Just that it will take up to 6 months to reach 0 but will get there. They did say to be careful how low I go though.

I started with a high bioload, so it takes a while to get it down.

Actually today after transferring the tank to the new one, I tested my nitrates at 5. But that is like a 50% water change since the tank is almost double the size.

[christyf5]

Originally Posted by Jack

What does the zeovit forum say about your nitrate level?

They readjusted my regimen and told me to post back in 2 weeks. The numbers were pretty much the same and they didn't have much else to say it seemed so I just forged on.

GSP, that dosing coralsnow with the bak did nothing for me. Didn't even make a dent in the cyano, I was pretty disappointed.

Originally Posted by Green Spotted Puffer

There are a lot of reefers who seem to really dislike ZEO or see it as some kind of cheating

I agree, I guess like everything tho there are the lovers and the haters. I think maybe if they explained what each product was based on or something, maybe they'd like it more? Who knows? I suppose to a certain extent when you think about it, starving something to the brink of death and then feeding it only a little at a time to make it look better is kind of uncool.

[lobsterboy]

come over to the dark side. i mean bright side.