Need help with ZEOvit.

[Fsh]

Hi guys,

So I have decided to go with the ZEOvit system on my 75L (16G) Red Sea Max Nano. Tank has been running for two months, and has had fish in for three weeks (pair of juvenile clowns). I've ordered ZEObak, ZEOfood plus, ZEOstart, the ZEOlite rocks and their activated carbon.

I'm going the way of keeping the rocks in a media bag in my sump, and shaking it daily, as I don't have the space for a media reactor.

I have no corals in there right now but will be for sure in the future.

Is it best to start the system on the tank now, before I even put coral in the tank? What of what I've got do I need before I add coral, how long until I can add coral after I've started and what else do I need in the sort term in terms of ZEO products. I have an understanding of the system and have done a lot of research but my knowledge isn't massively in depth, any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks all.

 

[Fsh]

Any help appreciated.

 

[t5Nitro]

@ycnibrc May be able to help you out a bit or point you in the right direction. I have no experience personally with zeovit. The zeo tanks do tend to look the best though. Good luck on your build!

 

[Hemmdog]

You can start it before you have corals. Keep your dosing regimen as is since you don’t have corals, once you add some then you can add amino acid concentrate, coral vitalizer, flatworm stop, coral booster, sponge power, pohl’s extra, and then any kz trace element stuff you want.

I’ll try to find the guide I used when I converted mine, it had a separate dosing regimen for new tanks without coral, I think you dose less than is listed on the bottle.

 

[Fsh]

Thanks @t5Nitro. Help from @ycnibrc would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you @Hemmdog. Okay great. I’m not currently dosing. But have a set up to. Should I be dosing cal, alk and mg?

What does sponge power do? As I don’t have any sponges in there. I assume they’ll hitchhike in? And what does pohl’s extra do?

Great thanks. I’d like to see that this. Struggling to find info.

Are you still using ZEOvit?

 

[Hemmdog]

Thanks @t5Nitro. Help from @ycnibrc would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you @Hemmdog. Okay great. I’m not currently dosing. But have a set up to. Should I be dosing cal, alk and mg?

What does sponge power do? As I don’t have any sponges in there. I assume they’ll hitchhike in? And what does pohl’s extra do?

Great thanks. I’d like to see that this. Struggling to find info.

Are you still using ZEOvit?

Yeah I’ve been doing zeo for almost four months now. You don’t need to dose alk cal mag if you don’t have corals. Sponge power helps sponges grow and they help keep your water clean, it also feeds sps apparently. They hitchhike in on coral or clean up crew. Pohls extra claims to help growth as do a lot of their products.

 

[ycnibrc]

I wrote a whole thread regarding how to dose zeovit u can read it and if u have any questions post it here so i can help u.

zeovit and how I dose it

Well I have a lot of inquire lately regarding zeovit and there is not much info on the forum on this topic so I decide to do a brief write up explaining my experience with zeo. First and foremost Im not affiliate with zeo therefore anything I say are just base on my experience with the system...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Fsh]

Yeah I’ve been doing zeo for almost four months now. You don’t need to dose alk cal mag if you don’t have corals. Sponge power helps sponges grow and they help keep your water clean, it also feeds sps apparently. They hitchhike in on coral or clean up crew. Pohls extra claims to help growth as do a lot of their products.

Great thanks. I’ll look into them. I’m doing a lot in terms of keeping out hitchhikers in terms of pests, going to dip corals etc. Will this stop be getting sponges and is there a way to get them otherwise? What were your levels before you started? As my nitrate and phosphate have just gone up. A major reason I want ZEO is to keep them down.

 

[Fsh]

I wrote a whole thread regarding how to dose zeovit u can read it and if u have any questions post it here so i can help u.

zeovit and how I dose it

Well I have a lot of inquire lately regarding zeovit and there is not much info on the forum on this topic so I decide to do a brief write up explaining my experience with zeo. First and foremost Im not affiliate with zeo therefore anything I say are just base on my experience with the system...

www.reef2reef.com

Thank you! I’ll look into it.

 

[Hemmdog]

Great thanks. I’ll look into them. I’m doing a lot in terms of keeping out hitchhikers in terms of pests, going to dip corals etc. Will this stop be getting sponges and is there a way to get them otherwise? What were your levels before you started? As my nitrate and phosphate have just gone up. A major reason I want ZEO is to keep them down.

You can occasionally buy sponges, they aren’t common though. Prior I was at 25 nitrate 0.1 phosphate. Now I’m at 10 nitrate and 0.02 phosphate

 

[lilchris_357]

Its recommended not to use ZeoFood instead use ZeoStart . If you have high nutrients now, I would not use ZeoFood as it's highly concentrated and will only add to your nutrient levels. Zeostart is just a food source for the bacteria. I would also recommend not to use any other zeovit supplements until you have reached ULN levels. Zeovit supplements are highly concentrated and they can be overdosed easily. This system works but you have to be patient with it and let it work. When I was into that system and was on the forums, one thing I noticed was people was so quick to start dosing EVERY supplement they offer the first week (exaggeration) after starting the system and was never able achieve the ULN levels. Be patient, dose the zeoback, zeostart or food, sponge power and shake the mum out the rocks along with the recommended weekly water changes and monthly carbon change until you hit ULN. Then you start using the other supplements. Just my .02. Good Luck, go slow and be patient.

 

[Fsh]

Thanks @lilchris_357. Okay, I can do that. Happy to be patient. So I bought ZEOFood and ZEOstart as part of the package. But should just use ZEOstart to begin with? Is the food for corals or bacteria or both?

What bacteria are you growing when using ZEOvit? Do they replace the nitrifying and Denitrifying bacteria that I have? Or add to it? Or are they the same?

Thank you Lilchris

 

[ycnibrc]

Thanks @lilchris_357. Okay, I can do that. Happy to be patient. So I bought ZEOFood and ZEOstart as part of the package. But should just use ZEOstart to begin with? Is the food for corals or bacteria or both?

What bacteria are you growing when using ZEOvit? Do they replace the nitrifying and Denitrifying bacteria that I have? Or add to it? Or are they the same?

Thank you Lilchris

Read the zeovit guide they have a step by step 14 days cycle. U can start dosing zeobak, zeostart3 for 14 days then go to the next phase. However many have problems with excess algae grow thats why I recommend 1/2 dose for first 3 monhs then increase 10% each month after until reaching full dose. Zeovit is reacting differently to each tank therefore followed the guide dosage sometime dont work. U need to observe your tank and increase or decrease accordingly.

 

[Fsh]

Thank you @ycnibrc, I don’t have coral in the system. So was planning on keeping the lights off until I have ZEOvit established, to try to avoid algae. I haven’t had any at all in the 6 weeks it’s been running. Don’t think it’s had a chance to enter in the tank in any way?

 

[ycnibrc]

Are u running bare bottom or substrate? If u do minimalist aquascape u can add a tray of sand in the sump. Bacteria need place to populate. Rock surface area is much less than sand. If u dont have enough area surface for bacteria to grow then your tank will be limited.

 

[Fsh]

Are u running bare bottom or substrate? If u do minimalist aquascape u can add a tray of sand in the sump. Bacteria need place to populate. Rock surface area is much less than sand. If u dont have enough area surface for bacteria to grow then your tank will be limited.

I have sand and dry rock in the display and marine pure balls in the sump.

 

[Fsh]

Thanks @ycnibrc, I’ve been reading your thread.

I have a sort of side question with regards to ZEOvit and the salt to use in my tank. I’ve been looking into salt mixes from Tropic Marin and noticed they have a few interesting varieties. The have the Pro-Reef which has standard elevated calcium and magnesium levels. What interest me is they also have Bio-Actif which supposedly has ‘bio-active substance’ to benefit the fish in the tank. And Syn-Biotic which ‘contains probiotic bacteria for fish and shrimp and special prebiotic bacteria food to promote probiotic bacterial growth and to create low-nutrient conditions in the aquarium for LPS and SPS corals.’. Is this necessary if I’m using the ZEOvit system. Which is the best one for my purposes?

@lilchris_357 and @Hemmdog I’d love your input too if possible. Thanks all, appreciate it

 

[ycnibrc]

Thanks @ycnibrc, I’ve been reading your thread.

I have a sort of side question with regards to ZEOvit and the salt to use in my tank. I’ve been looking into salt mixes from Tropic Marin and noticed they have a few interesting varieties. The have the Pro-Reef which has standard elevated calcium and magnesium levels. What interest me is they also have Bio-Actif which supposedly has ‘bio-active substance’ to benefit the fish in the tank. And Syn-Biotic which ‘contains probiotic bacteria for fish and shrimp and special prebiotic bacteria food to promote probiotic bacterial growth and to create low-nutrient conditions in the aquarium for LPS and SPS corals.’. Is this necessary if I’m using the ZEOvit system. Which is the best one for my purposes?

@lilchris_357 and @Hemmdog I’d love your input too if possible. Thanks all, appreciate it

I use instant ocean but because my volume is large therefore water change dont affect much with alkalinity level. If u have small volume u can use redsea blue bucket or aquaforest salt they are both around 7 to 8 alkalinity.

 

[Silent]

Thanks @ycnibrc, I’ve been reading your thread.

I have a sort of side question with regards to ZEOvit and the salt to use in my tank. I’ve been looking into salt mixes from Tropic Marin and noticed they have a few interesting varieties. The have the Pro-Reef which has standard elevated calcium and magnesium levels. What interest me is they also have Bio-Actif which supposedly has ‘bio-active substance’ to benefit the fish in the tank. And Syn-Biotic which ‘contains probiotic bacteria for fish and shrimp and special prebiotic bacteria food to promote probiotic bacterial growth and to create low-nutrient conditions in the aquarium for LPS and SPS corals.’. Is this necessary if I’m using the ZEOvit system. Which is the best one for my purposes?

@lilchris_357 and @Hemmdog I’d love your input too if possible. Thanks all, appreciate it

Tropic marin pro is closest to natural sea water levels. The bioactif has higher alk. Not sure about the other one but something to keep in mind about salts with biological material is that they dont last long for storing if you like to have saltwater on hand like in a mixing station.

I used vibrant with zeovit when starting my tank to keep algae in check. I had diatoms in the beginning but they went away and I never got anything else.

 

[Fsh]

Thanks both, @Silent, how did you find Vibrant? I’m familiar with it and BRS’ tests of it but, how does it work exactly? Is it worth me dosing it on my new tank now?