WarDog's Tank Thread : Episodic Trial And Error

[WarDog]

Originally Posted by Ginu

I am very sorry for the fish losses... losing fish/coral is the worst thing ever and its extremely discouraging...

Alright I did about 20 min of skimming through the thread and I could not find the following information:

Net water in the system
Flow through the zeovit reactor
Dosing schedule

Now the bad part which is most likely causing your corals to stn/rtn...

1. I didn't notice a change of salt, however the salt you started with is not recomended in a zeo system... high alk works very well outside of ULNS... Might want to change salts to KZ reef crystals (on sale for another month, but pricy regardless) or going with the Red Sea blue bucket.. tough to get in Vancouver (aquariums west carries it)

2. it is recommended against using a uv reactor with zeovit as it will interfere with the zeovit bacteria... i think you have a constant battle and most likely that's also affecting the sps... think of it this way, you add zeobak which you supposed to do every 3 days, however the uv reactor kills the bacteria and cant properly colonize the rocks; then zeostart floats around the system.. then you add zeobak and there is too much food due to the suspended start in the system and so on...

Basically I think the balance of bak vs start is never achieved and the swings are really high due to the UV doing its job.

This is not documented, just my conclusion from all the readings I've done.

Now you can use a UV, however you need to shut off the UV when dosing bak and turn back on once the cycle is complete, recommended 3 hours if I recall (I don't think anyone can say for sure whats the exact timing of the zeostart vs zeobak is and that's most likely why it is recommended against using a UV reactor with zeovit). Also every tank is different and the timing will be different from tank to tank and that's most likely why they recommend against using UV with zeo.

I know this is tough due to fish losses, however I can tell you will be very pleased once the zeovit balance is met...

Originally Posted by Ginu

Also forgot to add but whats your potassium at?
Potassium tends to be very important with Zeovit as it is easily skimmed by needle-wheel skimmers

It is recommended by the zeoheads to use a venturi skimmer which I believe doesn't remove potassium... I'm trying to get a Life Reef skimmer but they are very rare in Canada and they instantly sell on Reef Central...

Ginu, I will try to answer all your questions from this thread, your PM and the other thread here.

System gross is about 80 gallons/303 litres. Net is unknown, but dosing based on 75 gals.

Start .3ml X2 daily
Bak 3 drops twice a week
SP 3 drops three times a week

All Zeo additives are in date and Start smells like vinegar. Bak is stored in the fridge and can only be described as smelling like 'garbage'.

Reactor flow is just under 300 litres per hour. 750ml of stones.

Just recently learned that Start is a source of NO3, so I'm thinking of dropping my dosage to .2ml X2 daily.

Jesse (wheelman76) provided me with this link :http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30236

Very interesting and thinking of giving it a try.

Accepted the fact that it could take a year to reach ULNS, lucky I'm somewhat patient.

Just realized I didn't put this in my build thread, but I only ran the UV for a couple weeks, it's been offline for ages now. My bad.

Only had one coral hit with RTN. Had to remove ALL the water from the tank to catch some fish. Removed the frag rack to the holding tub as well. Reused the drained water and then proceeded with a regularly scheduled 25% w/c. Pretty sure this was the reason for the RTN event. All corals currently look fabulous now that I've tweaked my lighting schedule and intensity.

I have dipped my frags religiously several times.

Don't have a Potassium test kit yet. J&L is out of stock on Saliferts and apparently Salifert has discontinued it, and is developing a new kit. Don't feel like paying $10 shipping on a $20 kit.

I've run out of time, wife is calling, lol.

[kien]

Just got myself caught up on this thread. Sorry to hear of your losses Warren ! Been there, done that, got the wet t-shirt :-( But we keep on reefin on right?

[WarDog]

Originally Posted by kien

Just got myself caught up on this thread. Sorry to hear of your losses Warren ! Been there, done that, got the wet t-shirt :-( But we keep on reefin on right?

Thanks Kien.. what else would we do with our free time?

[kien]

Originally Posted by WarDog

Thanks Kien.. what else would we do with our free time?

Probably something more sane and rational, but this isn't the place for that kind of crazy talk!

[WarDog]

Originally Posted by kien

Probably something more sane and rational, but this isn't the place for that kind of crazy talk!

Agreed!

[gregzz4]

I have an Elos potassium test kit and I'll be at Rich's tonight after 4:30

Edit: Hmm, just pulled it out. Best before date is 2 years ago

[Bblinks]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

I have an Elos potassium test kit and I'll be at Rich's tonight after 4:30

Edit: Hmm, just pulled it out. Best before date is 2 years ago

Dust it off, see you after 4:30.

[WarDog]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

I have an Elos potassium test kit and I'll be at Rich's tonight after 4:30

Edit: Hmm, just pulled it out. Best before date is 2 years ago

Lol, thanks Greg! I wonder if Rich has a POT kit? We could test it against his. Or is expired, expired?

[Bblinks]

Originally Posted by WarDog

Lol, thanks Greg! I wonder if Rich has a POT kit? We could test it against his. Or is expired, expired?

I might have one, let me dust that one off too.

[gregzz4]

Maybe he does ya. I'd love to test against one.

As far as expired goes - I just opened a jar of Great Value mayo we found in the back of the cupboard. BB Apr 2014. Ate a sandwich for lunch yesterday and I'm still here