[ThreeFishes]

Well following advice i have started my own thread to let people know my experiance of zeo / low nutrient method. I am be no means an expert so please feel free to point me in the right direction if i wander off track.#
My system is a SPS dominated 24g nano cube (thats a US 24 gallon not a full english!)
It has been running for 14 months and my nitrate have settled at the 50 ppm mark. This does not cause any issues but i like feeding my tank and i have seen great results short term when i have fed more....but within a short period of time my water quality suffers. So this is my motivation behind trying this method FEED MORE
I have been dosing vodka for the last three weeks and i have seen a difference in the water clarity but no change in nitrate.
I had a increase in cyno but htis has totally dissapeared this week with me making no changes to my dosing ...other than ordering some zeo bac !!
I will add more details of my dosing and system when i get time.
TF

[ben]

nice one. be good to see some pics as you go too

[Social D]

Nice one ,pics would be great but not essential

[Dave.I]

Nice one.What skimmer are you using?
On a 24 gallon tank you could probably get away with weekly water changes.Say 10 gallons a week,that should sort your nitrates out or have you tried water changes?

[ThreeFishes]

Dave.I, on Oct 2 2009, 09:30 PM, said:

Nice one.What skimmer are you using?
On a 24 gallon tank you could probably get away with weekly water changes.Say 10 gallons a week,that should sort your nitrates out or have you tried water changes?

I am using a TMC nano skimmer. I get a reasonable amount of wet skimate each day. Compaired to what most of you guys use though the whole thing could fit in your collection cups
I do a weekly water change of 5 gallons. I don't mind water changes (would never not do them) but i just want to try and make the water quality as good and stable as possible.
TF

[Social D]

Not sure if your going to whole hog but once you start Zeo with the reactor the increase in waste is up to 3/4 times the normal amount.
So keep an eyeout if its an hob type

[ThreeFishes]

Social D, on Oct 6 2009, 12:02 AM, said:

Not sure if your going to whole hog but once you start Zeo with the reactor the increase in waste is up to 3/4 times the normal amount.
So keep an eyeout if its an hob type

Thanks for the heads up
I have noticed an increase in skimate since starting with the vodka alone! 3 to 4 times !!!! I am going to have to find a way to drain the cup.
While i had the skimmer out at the weekend for a clean i extended the air intake hose so this is now pulling fresh air from outside the hood. Next i plan to vent the collection cup externally too. This was half inspired by the air reactors posted on here and the fact that i have read that zeo can lower the o2 level in the tank as the bacteria multiply....little worried by this as an enclosed hood and only a tiny skimmer.
TF

[ThreeFishes]

Well my zeo start kit has arrived ie. stones, zeo food, zeo bac and zeo start.
I added my first does on bac and start yesterday ( one drop!)...little worried as a single drop is more than the recomended start dose so i think i am going to use the tiny dropper from my salifert kit going forward. I prefer to start less than the recomended dose and work up in line with the old saying "only bad things happen quickly in a reef tank !"
The stone for now have just been put in a carbon bag and hung in the overflow chamber....as only a few stones in my case they are nice and easy to rinse just by lifting the bag a few times.
Looking forward to seeing if my weekly test look any different
TF

[Social D]

Hi Mate did you soak the stones for two days in ro-water?

[ThreeFishes]

Social D, on Oct 8 2009, 10:55 AM, said:

Hi Mate did you soak the stones for two days in ro-water?

2 days in RO !!!!! NO I DID NOT SHOULD I HAVE ?????? Spent too much time reading the dosing bit over and over to make sure i got that right ...have i made big mistake ?
TF

[Social D]

Not a massive one i forgot last time although i did rinse them first, If its the first day youve wasted no bacs etc maybe restart in 2 days

[ThreeFishes]

Social D, on Oct 8 2009, 08:04 PM, said:

Not a massive one i forgot last time although i did rinse them first, If its the first day youve wasted no bacs etc maybe restart in 2 days

Well i have been on the true zeo for a week now and tested my water...not what i expected !!
Nitrate and phosphate were both up slightly on my regular values
I am now in the process of reducing the vodka additions and gradually swapping over to all zeo as i dont like sudden changes.
Five weeks into zeo/vodka dosing and i have noticed a slight colour change in two of my acros.. .. ..these survive in my tank but i would not say that they thrive so i hope this is the start of somthing good fingers crossed.
TF

[Social D]

If youve turned off the phos remover that might explain it

[ThreeFishes]

Social D, on Oct 12 2009, 10:44 AM, said:

If youve turned off the phos remover that might explain it

I must admit i am still running a very small amout of phosphate remover in my system (about a tea spoon) I have not really made a big decision to leave it in it was more just what i have always done.
I am now down to just a single drop of vodka and 2 drops of the zeo....so another week and i should be fully zeo.
After a little more reading i could do with a bit of a swap round as my stones are pre skimmer and ideally should be post skimmer.
Observations this week ~
There is a reduction in algae on my back wall although the glass still appears to need cleaning at the same rate. ( I dont ever clean the back wall so the growth on there is different to your usual green glass stuff in that it is more varied)
Water still has the more polished look.
Cyno has fully dissapeared
I am seeing slightly more polyp extension but this may be down to a coral goby finding a new home !!
Have not yet tested this week.
My skimmer has returned to the skimmate that i used to get when the system was new (wet and dark tea coloured). Just to clarify this the tank was set up from a running system not from scratch. Not sure if this is good or bad but it's different !
TF

[Social D]

All sounds great, You can always turn off the skimmer whilst you add/dose the elements for 20 minutes.

Keep us posted

[ThreeFishes]

Well at last i am seeing a slight shift in my test results
My phosphate has dropped !!! I know i am still using rowa but only a tiny amount passively in some tight and nothing else has changed in fact i have not been able to do a water change this week as i have been ill.
After two weeks of dosing bac, zeofood and zeostart daily i have changed my dosing routine after some further reading on the zeo forums. The advise is that the zeo food is less than helpfull untill your nitrate reading are sub 10 ppm. So i have cut this out for the time being.
The bac dose has gone from daily to 3 times a week (2 drops) and i have split the zeostart from just morning to morning and evening doses. I have now stopped vodka altogether.
Coral wise the ill looking zoa still looks unwell. My sps colours have not changed further but i am seeing more growth in my yard stick acro. I am not sure if i entioned before that i have a blue tip acro that survives in my system. When things are spot on i get colour and growth and when slightly off it stops growing all together and browns. It is frustrating but provides a great bench mark for how the tank is health wise. At the moment is is blue and growing
TF

[Social D]

Excellant Tf i know where your coming from regarding looking at the tips

[lindsay]

As Tim has said,don't panic if you can not but it would be great if you could add some pictures on this thread for all to follow.If all goes well they could act as a great comparison to how it looks now compared to say 10 months time.