Leathers, zoas and sps, oh my... (who does it?)

[Whatigot]

my coloration is excellent.
I am very satisfied with all aspects of my tank other than pe.

I'm not going to start zeo, not my style....

So you think that between my non zeo tank and your zeo tank that we can realistically compare results of our methods?

I'm not educated enough in zeo to know.
just want to make sure any advice I consider is of course applicable to me.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Whatigot

my coloration is excellent.
I am very satisfied with all aspects of my tank other than pe.

I'm not going to start zeo, not my style....

So you think that between my non zeo tank and your zeo tank that we can realistically compare results of our methods?

I'm not educated enough in zeo to know.
just want to make sure any advice I consider is of course applicable to me.

Fair enough...I am not pushing anyone at all to try ZEO Its for me because I like to have many large fish. I could not possibly keep my corals happy with the amount I feed if it were not for something like ZEO. I have just started using it but already see a difference.

What is your style? Do you mean you want to keep things more "traditional"...if that makes sense?

[Whatigot]

yeah man.
I have a pretty moderate fish population as you can see in my sig..
My style is simple, easy reefing.
I've seen some great zeo tanks (Tom R) but I have also seen some great non zeo "traditional"tanks so I am constantly forced to ask myself "why" when I get tempted to spend the money burning in my pocket.

I don't want to have to worry about more than I already do with regards to additives, levels and reactors, especially when I have seen no definitive proof there is any real advantage for a moderate reefer.

Can def see the advantage if you want to push your bioload though, but I am just such a nano fish fan and having as peacefull a reef as possible, I just don't see me having to go beyond a better skimmer.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Whatigot

yeah man.
I have a pretty moderate fish population as you can see in my sig..
My style is simple, easy reefing.
I've seen some great zeo tanks (Tom R) but I have also seen some great non zeo "traditional"tanks so I am constantly forced to ask myself "why" when I get tempted to spend the money burning in my pocket.

I don't want to have to worry about more than I already do with regards to additives, levels and reactors, especially when I have seen no definitive proof there is any real advantage for a moderate reefer.

Can def see the advantage if you want to push your bioload though, but I am just such a nano fish fan and having as peacefull a reef as possible, I just don't see me having to go beyond a better skimmer.

I would agree that its not for you then!

Its not even necessary if you do have a big fish load...Brad (untamed)'s tank is a great example of a tank not adding anything and looks incredible with lots of fish.

Its just the way I have chosen...so many options! Gotta do what works for your tank.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Eventually we are going to have to trade some frags and then compare how they do in both tanks

[fkshiu]

I have a very large tongan leather along with almost everything under the sun including a bunch of SPS. I run a calcium reactor, carbon (24/7) and GFO. For the SPS, my polyp extension is pretty good and my colours are not spectacular but "OK". I don't dose a single thing aside from adding CaCl and Mg to my water change water since I use IO salt.

[Whatigot]

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

Eventually we are going to have to trade some frags and then compare how they do in both tanks

Thats a great idea.
I am just about to transfer my 72 bow into a 95 rounded corner.
This will be my last upgrade, only new systems will be brought online by me and this one will be allowed to mature in situ.

I am sure I have a couple I could frag as soon as I'm all set up and ready to go...
additionally, I have just ordered 25 frags from fragalot and have a couple doubles we could maybe compare as they grow if you're into that.

Brads tank was exactly what i was thinking of when I said I had seen some great ones without zeo...
I really love Toms system,obscenely well planned and executed but man, I did not want to leave brads "bar" as it's really like BEING in the ocean...

gotta agree that reefing is like any art, to each their own a path to success.

[FlamesFan]

I have no leathers, but do have a mix of everything else including many SPS. The SPS have great extention.

I currently dose:

Twopart cal/alk/map
ZEObak
ZEOfood
ZEOstart2
Phol's Xtra
ZEO K-Balance
ZEOspur2
ZEOvit Amino Acid Concentrate

I do not run the Zeovit reactor atm. Other than the twopart which i've dosed from the start of my reef, I've dosed Phol's Xtra for a few months and the rest is a recent addition which i've noticed good results. Phol's Xtra and ZEOspur2 are pretty much "must dose" IMHO even if you aren't dosing the whole package.

[BlueAbyss]

Originally Posted by Whatigot

So you think that between my non zeo tank and your zeo tank that we can realistically compare results of our methods?

I'm not educated enough in zeo to know.
just want to make sure any advice I consider is of course applicable to me.

Zeo is, in many ways, similar to other denitrifiers. They all do the same thing ie: remove nitrogen-based nutrients from the water, though Zeo is a system of removing nutrients and then adding different ones back in. So, you could potentially use a different method of removing nitrates (deep sand bed, algae filter, etc.) with the additives from the Zeo line and get some of the benefit of Zeo...

Sorry this isn't the discussion here I don't think there would be any difference between the two if you tried to compare keeping leathers, SPS, and zoas in tanks with or without Zeo. Either way, you have a low nutrient environment which is good for all saltwater creatures... and I would just run some carbon to be safe, and go ahead and put them together! I'm sure they live together in the wild.

And I'll probably be trying this at some point also, if I can find some nice leathers that are colorful and don't get too big for a 20 gallon. I saw something called a green finger leather somewhere that didn't look too big in the pic