ZEOvit/200G Build Journal - 34G Solana

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Johnny Reefer

Thanks for posting about the on/off cycling of the pump. I was misinformed on that and went with continuous flow after just two weeks. I'm just over 9 weeks in, now, and have gone back to 3/3. I hope I didn't screw things up 7 weeks ago.

Cheers,

I doubt it. It sounds like if you were seeing good results with it on all the time, there isn't really a problem. I think its a good idea to go back to 3/3 but I am not one to give you advice. I have just been reading and reading and reading so far.

The problem with having the reactor going all the time in the beginning was that it can be too much of a shock to the system. Apparently you can strip the water of all nutrients very quickly with ZEO and kill off your sps.

Many of the cases where reefers encountered RTN at start up was because they either used too much Zeolites, too much flow through the Zeolites, too much dosing, ect. Basically a huge shock to the tank.

Now if my darn alk would just go down!


FWIW, I have NO more faith in Salifert test kits! Elos all the way now. Someone over at the ZEO site messaged me saying to try testing alk three times in a row with the Salifert test...I thought it was weird but did it anyways. Hmmm...different every time. Tried the Elos 2 times in a row and exact same each time. Many people over there have been saying the Elos or LaMotte kits are really the way to go. My salifert nitrate kit seems off too.

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

.....
FWIW, I have NO more faith in Salifert test kits! Elos all the way now. Someone over at the ZEO site messaged me saying to try testing alk three times in a row with the Salifert test...I thought it was weird but did it anyways. Hmmm...different every time. Tried the Elos 2 times in a row and exact same each time. Many people over there have been saying the Elos or LaMotte kits are really the way to go. My salifert nitrate kit seems off too.

Interesting. I have an Elos KH kit just sitting doing nothing, waiting for me to "use up" my Salifert kit. I think I'll consider the Salifert "used up" and give the Elos a go.

Thanx and cheers and good luck with that Alk,

[marie]

How are you reading your elos test kit? Is it 1 drop=1dkh or 1 drop=.5dkh .
I followed the directions on the paper 1 drop= 1 dkh and had a reading of 15 dkh (salifert was reading 7.8 ) It took days for my alk to drop to 10 dkh and then someone on here posted that the instructions on the paper are wrong you have to follow the directions on the card which reads 1 drop = .5 dkh my alk was actually at 5dkh and the elos and salifert test kits agree with each other


http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=48135

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by marie

How are you reading your elos test kit? Is it 1 drop=1dkh or 1 drop=.5dkh .
I followed the directions on the paper 1 drop= 1 dkh and had a reading of 15 dkh (salifert was reading 7.8 ) It took days for my alk to drop to 10 dkh and then someone on here posted that the instructions on the paper are wrong you have to follow the directions on the card which reads 1 drop = .5 dkh my alk was actually at 5dkh and the elos and salifert test kits agree with each other


http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=48135

Well...that would explain things! LOL

But I have been reading and checking around and found that the Salifert ones are suppose to be quite unreliable. If what you say about ELOS is right (and I do believe you) then my salifert and elos do not match.

By now my dkh should have dropped. Going by .5 dkh a drop, it has. Going by my salifert, it has stayed the same or gone up. I tested with salifert three times in a row and got different results each time.

I am not really sure what to think of it all but I will test with Elos again tomorrow with this new info and then see if I can start ZEO.

Marie, thanks so much for this info! If not for you mentioning this, I would have been going nuts wondering why my alk wasn't dropping!

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Johnny Reefer

Interesting. I have an Elos KH kit just sitting doing nothing, waiting for me to "use up" my Salifert kit. I think I'll consider the Salifert "used up" and give the Elos a go.

Thanx and cheers and good luck with that Alk,

Thanks! Give the Elos a try and let us know what you find compared to the Salifert. I am interested.

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

Thanks! Give the Elos a try and let us know what you find compared to the Salifert. I am interested.

Tested this AM. Twice with each.

Salifert:
Both tests came out at 7.8dKH. This an interpolated value. My check solution tests at 8.4dKH, not 7.4 as it is supposed to. The aquarium water prior to interpolating came out at 8.8dKH.

Elos:
Both tests came out at 9.0dKH

pH at the time was 8.24 (Pinpoint).

Hmmmm, I don't know what to believe now. I like the Salifert reading better .

One other thing to note about the Elos kit....some of their KH kits currently "out there" have an incorrect 5ml line on the vial. It is lower than it should be. So, when measuring the water amount measure to the syringe 5ml line, not the vial line. I have one of the screwed up vials.

Cheers,

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Johnny Reefer

Tested this AM. Twice with each.

Salifert:
Both tests came out at 7.8dKH. This an interpolated value. My check solution tests at 8.4dKH, not 7.4 as it is supposed to. The aquarium water prior to interpolating came out at 8.8dKH.

Elos:
Both tests came out at 9.0dKH

pH at the time was 8.24 (Pinpoint).

Hmmmm, I don't know what to believe now. I like the Salifert reading better .

One other thing to note about the Elos kit....some of their KH kits currently "out there" have an incorrect 5ml line on the vial. It is lower than it should be. So, when measuring the water amount measure to the syringe 5ml line, not the vial line. I have one of the screwed up vials.

Cheers,

Yeah I don't which to believe either now

With mine though I find it hard to believe the salifert test because for one it was inconsistent but also after many days without kalk and very little alk dosing, the alk had to of dropped. If I go with the Elos, it has dropped to 7. Which is perfect

But I don't want to only go by the Elos kit just because its giving me the number I like. Running ZEO with a high alk (over 10) could kill my tank!

On another note, I found the K+ test from Korallen Zucht to be very easy to use and seems like a very well put together kit. Although I have nothing to compare it to since I have never tested potassium before now.

[fencer]

Sounds stupid but why don't you take the average of the two tests. Or repeat (2x)the tests to ensure consistency of numbers. I use the KZ test too, but i fiind it hard to read.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by fencer

Sounds stupid but why don't you take the average of the two tests. Or repeat (2x)the tests to ensure consistency of numbers. I use the KZ test too, but i fiind it hard to read.

No not stupid

This is what most of the people I asked on ZEOvit.com are doing. They use both Salifert and Elos and either use the average or just make sure both are within range. Many of them said they find Salifert a bit high and Elos a bit low. Actually using both could be the best way to go IMO.

I think my Salifert ALK kit was one of the ones from that bad batch not too long ago So going by my experiences with the Salifert ALK kit is not a good idea and I should probably try another one.

I just hate to think about how much I have spent on test kits now! Well over $300 last year Just the Elos Mg, Calcium and Phosphate alone were like around $120 plus taxes or something. Then the K+ kit was $50 with taxes, ect. ect.