Just about ready to throw in the towel grrr

[Delphinus]

I'm nodding my head fervently at Brad's advice and wishing I had said those things too.

Hmmm, I would sincerely hope that T5's last longer than 3 months.. I doubt that lights is the root cause here.

The red slime treatment I did was just one of the standard red slime treatments you can get. I forget which one I used this time but it was one of Chemiclean or just "Red Slime Remover" (if you ask at the store they'll know which one it is). It's a yellow powder that smells like banana and your water will go yellow at first and you'll freak right out and wonder what you did to your tank, and your skimmer will go nuts so you have to take it offline or just have it drain back into your tank, but in 2-3 days the cyano will be gone and you can start skimming again (at a low setting as it will skim out like nuts). You do also need to run carbon and do something like a 25% water change afterwards.

I suspect running red slime treatments is a "dirty little secret" a lot of reefers won't admit to, but do occasionally do. I've run them about a half-dozen times over the years when I've gotten desperate. I don't like to do it because it affects O2 levels in the tank but it really does work.

Another thing you can try is erythomycin but I haven't used it myself.

I should mention that one thing I did do at the same time as my red slime treatment was I bleached out my SW mixing bucket (30g rubbermaid), rinsed the HECK out of it, also rinsed the heck out of my RO/DI reservoir.

But yeah, stay the course. Brad hit the nail on the head. The downs makes us appreciate the ups, and frankly, if this stuff was super easy then everyone would be doing it.

[Edmonton Eskimo]

I find the statement "my tank never looked better and then I started zeo" very interesting. Why use zeo if your tank was looking good? I was going to give zeo a try but I just can't justify the cost nor the commitment required to do it. If any mistakes are made with zeo..... lights out so to speak. I'm not in for that.

[albert_dao]

I'm going to be in Calgary over the weekend.

If anyone wants to meet up over lunch for a ZEO instructional, I'd be happy to share.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

I'm going to be in Calgary over the weekend.

If anyone wants to meet up over lunch for a ZEO instructional, I'd be happy to share.

Not a bad idea.

[Delphinus]

I would try to get in on that (depending on where/when I guess!!)

[digital-audiophile]

Zeo is what really kicked my tank into high gear, when I started zeo I saw a lot of good changes, better water quality and colour/growth.

I have been very strict about my dosing regiment and change 5% water weekly with RBS (zeo guide recommends 10% with other salts)

I am running a euro reef rs135, it is a decent skimmer allthough I wish I had a bubble king, but for the price this skimmer works well.

Originally Posted by Edmonton Eskimo

I find the statement "my tank never looked better and then I started zeo" very interesting. Why use zeo if your tank was looking good? I was going to give zeo a try but I just can't justify the cost nor the commitment required to do it. If any mistakes are made with zeo..... lights out so to speak. I'm not in for that.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by digital-audiophile

I have been very strict about my dosing regiment and change 5% water weekly with RBS (zeo guide recommends 10% with other salts)

I am running a euro reef rs135, it is a decent skimmer allthough I wish I had a bubble king, but for the price this skimmer works well.

Personally I think your skimmer is your problem, I really don't think a ER 135 is big enough for a 90 gallon + sump system when using Zeovit. Although it may be a good skimmer for the price it just simply will not do what you're expecting it to. Basically you're flooding your tank with bacteria and bacteria food to eliminate nutrients but there are harmful byproducts that need to be skimmed out. It seems fairly obvious to me that skimming has not been effective and these byproducts along with excess bacteria and b-food has resulting in a cyano outbreak.

Although the guide does state that 5% weekly is fine when using RBS it also states this would be for the purpose of only replacing elements. In your case you should change more water to help remove byproducts and excess bacteria and nutrients not removed by your skimmer.

[digital-audiophile]

Originally Posted by sphelps

Personally I think your skimmer is your problem, I really don't think a ER 135 is big enough for a 90 gallon + sump system when using Zeovit. Although it may be a good skimmer for the price it just simply will not do what you're expecting it to. Basically you're flooding your tank with bacteria and bacteria food to eliminate nutrients but there are harmful byproducts that need to be skimmed out. It seems fairly obvious to me that skimming has not been effective and these byproducts along with excess bacteria and b-food has resulting in a cyano outbreak.

Although the guide does state that 5% weekly is fine when using RBS it also states this would be for the purpose of only replacing elements. In your case you should change more water to help remove byproducts and excess bacteria and nutrients not removed by your skimmer.

With sump minus displacement of rock my system is only about 100G total water and I am only lightly stocked so the ER should be sufficient, I would love to upgrade to a BK but the $1000 price tag is holding me back. With the ER and weekly changes I should be removing enough of the bad nutrients to compensate for not spending my mortgage on a new skimmer.

As I noted earlier in exchange for my regular 5% water change this weekend I am planning on doing a larger removal and replacement upwards of 25% volume.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by digital-audiophile

With sump minus displacement of rock my system is only about 100G total water and I am only lightly stocked so the ER should be sufficient

That's exactly what Euro Reef was counting on when they came up with that rating, plus they didn't make that rating for a zeo tank. I'm not trying to cut you down, nor am I telling you to break your bank, I'm just being straight forward. If it was sufficient you probably wouldn't have the cyano outbreak. Your best bet would be to cut back on the zeo until you get things cleaned up.

[Delphinus]

So how much of a ratings-upping should you look for, maybe about twice? Ie., look for 200g if you have 100g? I realize skimmer ratings have gotten better in recent years but I still take a skeptical view towards manufacturer ratings.. something of a black art methinks..