ZEOvit/200G Build Journal - 34G Solana

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Here are some before photos. I will have to take an actual FTS though later.

This is the worst of it. Down in one dark corner of the tank. Nothing but sand down there and actually a decent amount of flow:



I seem to be getting less in areas under the most light. You can see the coral coloration is getting better and better:



This spot is pretty bad too and you can see the gorgonian in the background is being covered in cyano. It doesn't extend its polyps much anymore since starting ZEO



This guy seems to like the camera



Nice Polyp extension...This coral always was very "bushy" and full of PE but now its really taken off:



The Long tentacle plate is looking better than ever. Very nice polyp extension and it seems to be eating more than it used to. This was taken after lights out the other night:



A shot of some of the guys....

[Delphinus]

I see what you mean about the corals looking great, at least there's that.

If you do it, your water will turn yellow for the first half hour or so, it will be so bad you'll immediately question "WHAT HAVE I DONE" - persevere through that, it's normal and it WILL clear up in an hour or so (you should also take out your carbon for a day or so and then put in new carbon afterwards, and probably replace that carbon after a few days). Your skimmer WILL go completely nucking futs, you'll have to turn it off for at least a day and when you start up it will have to be adjusted right down. The stuff does skim out quickly though, you can ramp your skimmer back up to normal after a day.

It does drop O2 levels in your tank, so if your skimmer is in sump my suggestion is just take the collection cup off and let the bubbles stay on. At least that should mitigate it.

In ten times of using the stuff, about 2 or maybe 3 times I used it, my ritteri spawned the next day. Whether that's a response to the chemical, a response to the diminished O2, or complete coincidence, I can't say. Just a FWIW.

I don't think it's great to run it, but I have no hesitation about running a treatment if cyano gets bad. It's just a pain because of all the extra things you have to do to clean it up afterwards but a week afterward you should be looking at pristinely white sand and the cyano ought to remain gone.

[zazzoo]

i would not hesitate to use red slime remover in your case..... but the pictures look great untill i saw ur goragania ... mine is all closed up now too ... gonna start red slime treatment today

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I see what you mean about the corals looking great, at least there's that.

If you do it, your water will turn yellow for the first half hour or so, it will be so bad you'll immediately question "WHAT HAVE I DONE" - persevere through that, it's normal and it WILL clear up in an hour or so (you should also take out your carbon for a day or so and then put in new carbon afterwards, and probably replace that carbon after a few days). Your skimmer WILL go completely nucking futs, you'll have to turn it off for at least a day and when you start up it will have to be adjusted right down. The stuff does skim out quickly though, you can ramp your skimmer back up to normal after a day.

It does drop O2 levels in your tank, so if your skimmer is in sump my suggestion is just take the collection cup off and let the bubbles stay on. At least that should mitigate it.

In ten times of using the stuff, about 2 or maybe 3 times I used it, my ritteri spawned the next day. Whether that's a response to the chemical, a response to the diminished O2, or complete coincidence, I can't say. Just a FWIW.

I don't think it's great to run it, but I have no hesitation about running a treatment if cyano gets bad. It's just a pain because of all the extra things you have to do to clean it up afterwards but a week afterward you should be looking at pristinely white sand and the cyano ought to remain gone.

Thanks for the advice/comments. I think I will give it a shot but for now maybe try the coral snow thing. Couldn't hurt. And if that doesn't work, then I will resort to Red Slimer Remover. The reason being, my skimmer is so sensitive to changes. Its a GREAT skimmer but just so finicky. I think I would prefer to try something from the actual ZEO line for now to fix this mess.

One of the things I am confused about too though is why its mostly growing in the dimmer area? I thought it liked light?

[BlueAbyss]

All of the things that are going on in your tank ie: great polyp extension, your plate taking more food, the gorgonian etc. are hallmarks of a Zeo tank and the low nutrient environment that it produces. Looks good! I'm sure that the cyano will disappear as the nutrient sink in the tank is used up... It will be interesting to see how something like the gorgonian, which seemingly did very well in the high nutrent environment, will fare with less nutrients available in the water column.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

All of the things that are going on in your tank ie: great polyp extension, your plate taking more food, the gorgonian etc. are hallmarks of a Zeo tank and the low nutrient environment that it produces. Looks good! I'm sure that the cyano will disappear as the nutrient sink in the tank is used up... It will be interesting to see how something like the gorgonian, which seemingly did very well in the high nutrent environment, will fare with less nutrients available in the water column.

Yeah I guess really, I am seeing more good than bad. Its certainly been nice to already have nitrates drop to below 5 even though I have been feeding more than I was. My Naso and Yellow tang were getting skinny because I cut back feeding when nitrates started to rise. Now they look good again and nitrates are down. The reason I started ZEO was to be able to feed my overstocked tank lots but still keep nitrates down and corals looking good. I have to say its been a success then based on that. The only downside is the cyano and it is bothering me but should be temporary. Or at least I will make sure its temporary

[BlueAbyss]

Yup, having lots of large fish in a tank almost requires you to do have a system for reducing nitrates. Specially since most fish seems to be soooo hungry all the time But really, this is the worst it can be really... it can only go up from here over the next few months, and I'm thinking it will blow us away either way... even if it is at the expense of a gorgonian or two.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

Yup, having lots of large fish in a tank almost requires you to do have a system for reducing nitrates. Specially since most fish seems to be soooo hungry all the time But really, this is the worst it can be really... it can only go up from here over the next few months, and I'm thinking it will blow us away either way... even if it is at the expense of a gorgonian or two.

Yeah I have to admit I am pretty impressed already with how the sps are looking and I can only imagine how nice they will be once I actually start using other products...this is with ONLY the basics. Not even coral snow yet which I hear really makes the corals happy. If things keep up this way too, these small colonies will be quite large in a relatively short time because I have certainly noticed more growth over the past few weeks. At least very nice new tips and new branches.

Again I don't know how much of it is ZEO and how much would have happened anyways but I am confident that ZEO has helped a lot. Even that horn coral I posted earlier is now green again! It was so dull and beige until starting ZEO.

Hopefully the gorgonians make it. The yellow seem to be loving the ZEO but that purple one, not so much. Although I noticed PE again this morning.