Zeovit conversion...

[pdiehm]

Ok, took the leap. Converting my tank, existing, up and running into a zeovit system. Got a reactor and other stuff for relatively inexpensive.

Few things had to happen before I can do this. First was to remove the refugium which I did. This created room for the zeo reactor, and hopefully will keep the ATO from draining in 5 days.

Next, I wanted to redo my return. I used braided vinyl tubing and eliminated 3 90 degree elbows, and eliminated the T to feed the refugium. With the old return design my gate valve on the main siphon was 1/2 turn from being completely closed. With the change, it's almost a full turn open.

I created 3 months of calendars to guide me through this.

Plan is to start it on 4/3 when I get back from Florida. Can't wait to be honest.

 

[Tshazad]

Keep us posted would be nice to see the results. Good luck.

 

[reefwiser]

Hope you have posted in the Zeovit forum.

 

[pdiehm]

Updating. Started Zeovit dosing on 4/1, and as of the latest test results, things are looking great.

Salinity was 1.025 (slowly bringing this down to 1.024 to get my alkalinity down)
Alk was 8.3 (trying to get into the 7.5 range)
Ca was 490
Mg was 1400
pH 8.1-8.3
NO3 & PO4 were both 0

Using the red sea blue bucket salt, mixing at 1.0235 (33.5ppt) gives me 7.7 alk, 410 ca, 1300 mg. Will get back to doing 10% water changes til I get down into the ranges.

Dosing:
ZeoStart: Daily at 0.9ml
ZeoBak: Daily at 5 drops, after the 10 day zeolite exchange period, twice a week at 5 drops.
ZeoFood: Every other day during zeolite exchange period, once a week thereafter at 5 drops.
Coral Vitalizer: Just ordered, Daily in the mornings at 3 drops. No dosing on days of ZeoFood
Amino Acids HC: Nightly at 3 drops
Pohl's Extra: Just ordered, will be every other day at 2ml.

So far, everything is doing well. I have about 13 coral frags, and my pink birdsnest was added 2 weeks ago today is growing, and polyps wide open. Most everything in my tank that I added 2 weeks ago is doing great with polyps wide open. There is, as usual 1 or 2 that are not doing great, but the last time I added the 4 pack beginner sps pack from LA, they were pretty much all dead within a week. My tank wasn't ready.

Livestock is:

Pair of Clowns
Blue Gudgeon Goby
Green BTA
Pink Birdsnest
Another birdsnest
Green Birdsnest
Cotton Candy something or other
2 green stylophora's
Pink Stylophora
Purple Polyp Yellow Stylophora
Bird of Paradise
Sunburst Pavona
Sunburst Pavona (this actually lived from the LA order)
Butternut Stylophora (the main frag had STN, I snapped a piece off and it's doing great)
Canary Porites.
Red Finger Montipora
Montipora of some sorts
Another montipora (flat red piece)

All corals, save the green stylophora's, the montipora of some sorts, and the butternut stylophora are on the sand bed until my seneye gets here, with the par meter.

Lighting, I'm running photon 48's at 80% blue, 10% white from 9-9. I have the moonlights on from 10:30-2, and they kick on at 6am slowly ramp up until the whites come on at 9:30 (the whites go off at 8:30 i think). The light sit on top of my canopy about 12" over the water surface, and about 34" over the sand bed.

For flow, I have 2 Gyre XF150's with 2 icecaps, controlled by my apex. From 8am-1pm, each gyre ramps up from 25%-50% (and vice versa) for 1minute each. From 1pm-2pm, they are in pulse mode at 50%, and from 2pm to 10pm back into that alternating (1, then the other) pattern. from 10pm-8am each gyre runs in 3 minute increments from 25%-40%. The corals seem to love this! My GBTA --- not so much.

 

[pdiehm]