Zeovit in a Nano (detailed update dec 5th)

[Joe Reefer]

haha ok. maybe i should just drink my coffee.

[christyf5]

hehe its a legit question as the phosban reactors don't have that handle pump action thing to stir the zeovit "manually". I just used to turn it upside down and shake the crap out of it until I saw detritus and stuff float down. Then I'd right it and turn the pump back on

[albert_dao]

You really shouldn't be doing large water changes with Zeo. Your best bet is to run SOME kind of skimmer.

Food for thought:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1209702

[Delphinus]

So um ..sorry, I'm a little confused. You're not running a skimmer on this system? Or are you? Funny you should bring this up, borne out of frustration for not getting fst enough progress on my tank build - out of spare parts I had lying around, I slapped together a 20g reef nano system this weekend. It's cute, it uses a Hydro Alkaseltzer or whatever it's called as the sump return, a seio for tank circ and a superskimmer 60 that I was going to meshmod. I was thinking, I wonder how zeo would work on a wee little tank like this. So your thread was rather timely!

Have you thought about running a small skimmer on your setup? I thought one of the reasons Zeo/Ultralith/Prodibio/Reef-resh type systems work so well is that the skimmers are constantly removing the nasties. I mean, sure, on a small system you can just change out the water on a weekly basis or whatever, but I thought the whole point with the dosing and skimming of a bacterial based system is that things are replenished and removed on a more steady-state type situation.

The wee little Euroreefs are the shizzle! A mesh'd Euroreef, that's a winner. I can't wait to see these guys hit the market!

[kwirky]

you have to do weekly water changes anyways according to the zeovit guide. 5-10%

I checked the forums though and it seems doable without the skimmer with the larger water changes. If I have to do a 5% weekly water change anyways, how much more work is a 25% water change, really?

I'm trying to keep this within a budget too, being a full time student. Buying into zeovit will be about $70-100. Getting a skimmer would jump that to about $200-250 (or more). Not dooable for me.

The real appeal is the low-tech approach. About the only "techy" things my tank will have will be the HQI light w/ PC, the auto-top off, the zeovit, and the RO/DI. I just think it would be cool if zeovit could be possible in a low-tech style nano.

I don't know if the HOB filter will be the ideal way to hold the zeovit though. I'll need water flow of about 30gph through the media. the HOB filter does 200-400gph lol. I'm thinking a gravel vac would be a good media holder. I could cut it down to about 6" long, hook a pump to it and voila!

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Please document it for us scaredy-cats

[Pescador]

There are some higher quality substrate reactors like these PM models.
http://www.precisionmarinedirect.com...idProduct=784#

[sphelps]

Hi Sean, I may be able to provide you with a little useful information, however I haven't read this entire thread so hopefully I don't repeat too much others have said, if I do I apologize.

I helped a friend setup a nano with zeovit, his post can be seen here:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=35489

In addition I've been using zeovit for quite some time and have learned a lot about the system over this time. The most important thing I've discouvered is the guide is a guide and is only really useful to get an idea on how to use the system. You have to basically find a balance and find your own dosing and media requirements to best fit your system and needs.

My main question for you is why do you need zeo? Basically if you're planing on doing weekly water changes and keeping an average bio-load nutrients shouldn't be much of a problem. I think it will be more beneficial for you not to use the full system, forget the reactor and media and simply dose a few of the zeovit additives that do not require the reactor. There are many people that do this and get what they want and need from the system.

You have to be careful not to do too much, too many water changes and/or too many additives will create too many elements for the system which will actually darken corals and have other negative effects. I don't believe the system will work without a skimmer, but I could be wrong. As I understand it the system basically provides a type of bacteria that brakes down nutrients into more skimable organics. Water changes will help remove these organics but no more than water changes alone, in fact you with water changes you can only remove a percentage each time which will not have the same effect as a skimmer. A skimmer will be much more effective for the system, so basically if you're just planing doing more water changes what's the point of the zeovit?

Basically you skim heavy, the zeovit helps the skimmer skim more organics, and you make up for the lost elements with consistent water changes and the addition of extra zeovit elements not found in most salt mixes. In addition other additives are available to improve coral health, color, growth, and so on.

The best advice I can give you is try without zeovit first, see what you get by maintaining levels constant. Keep you nutrients low and be consistent with weekly water changes. Then try some of the additives available from zeovit such as the amino acids, potassium, and Macro elements. You can also use zeofood without a system as it provides corals with food, amino acids and vitamins, just dose quite a bit less than recommended for the full system. Zeostart can also be used as it simply provides a food source for nitrifying bacteria, however you may not want to use this very much as too much of this bacteria isn't necessarily good. Finally a really good additive to use with caution is Zeospur2 as you can flush out zooxanthellae from the coral improving color.

Unless you honestly cannot control your nutrient level I can't see why you would want to use the full system. Even if you can't with such a small tank I think you need to find the source of this problem and correct it. Zeovit is by no means a miracle system for saltwater, many people do extremely well without the system and many people who use the system have not had good results.

HTH,
Steve

[kwirky]

I have the zeovit system except for the stones, I'm waiting for those to come in. I'm getting my levels where they should be in the mean time and setting up the last of the components in the tank. Once I have the rocks (few more days probably) I'll post pictures and log the set up.

The K Balance and the test kit where the whollop of the cost. But maintaining potassium has produced good reaction from corals so it's a thing I should be maintaining anyways. I think I'll aim towards sps though, keeping the easier ones because of the 150W lighting. Even if I have to move in 9 months if I move correctly everything should be ok.

I've decided on a Fluval underwater filter, model "1plus", as the reactor. It has a throughput of 50gph. I'm going to restrict the output to bring it to aproximately 20gph. I'll shake up the chamber daily when the media needs cleaning. Great choice for a little tank I think, especially with it only costing $30!

[kwirky]

got my K+ to 410ppm. Took almost 250mL of k-balance to do it.

and I built a zeovit reactor. the DIY thread's here: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=37037



I know this is probably a x-post, sorry