Reef Tank: Zeovit Notes

After a month of running zeovit filtration and supplements in my tank, I can finally remove myself from their exceptional marketing photos and take a look at what benefit it had provided for my tank. Given that my system and corals are still very young, its hard to draw any conclusive evidence. Further complicating the matter is that my tank has been quite healthy and algae-free since inception, and maintains a very low bioload (still only one fish). That said, I've noticed some nice coloration from all SPS species, especially my birdsnest which has taken a very bright pink coloration. Good polyp extension all around.



One thing the good people selling zeovit systems will impress upon you is that a special reactor is useful for running the filtration media. Giving the rocks a shake every day loosens the mulm that collects within the media, letting it drift into the system and feed the corals. I've found that for smaller tanks, running this media within a simple hang on filter, the Hagen Aquaclear, works just as well. This filter has a nice media basket with convenient handles at the top above the water surface. You can easily remove the top and give these a good shake to release a great cloud of organic filth for your corals to feast upon.

I've found the Aquaclear to be a great all-purpose filter. Currently I have a bag of activated carbon and a bag of liverock rubble running, with the rest of the space filled with approximately 1/3 liter of zeovit medium.

Links: Making Waves with Vortech Pumps

I've started reading yet another (RSS is a wonderful technology) online aquarium magazine, www.advancedaquarist.com. Informative and well researched articles from smart people is a great counterpoint to some of the things you read on internet forums.

Being a gadget lover, I'm always drawn to posts about reef keeping technology. The controllable Vortech pump should be a familiar item to anyone involved in keeping coral, but unless you've seen one in person its hard to understand just how powerful the pump is, and how minutely the controller allows you to tinker with water flow. Check out this article about defining waves in general, and making them with the Vortech.

Or better yet, just start up this amazing video:

Links: Moving a Reef Tank

Moving a tank is no different than moving the rest of your household: success requires careful planning, execution, and having the necessary materials on hand before begining. In July we will be facing this challenge when moving to a (fantastic) new apartment. Fortunately we have a month of overlap between leases, so a full day can be devoted directly to moving the tank without distraction.

I found an excellent link today while browsing the Reef Central forums, a write up on moving reef tanks. Take a look: http://www.melevsreef.com/moving_a_tank.html

Some key takeaways from the read:

Have freshly mixed saltwater on hand, both at the packing point and the destination.
You'll want clean water to bag up your livestock in, and clean water to fill the new tank. Moving liverock and disturbing a sand bed will put a lot of detritus in the water, and you don't want things to sit in bags while your RO unit slowly makes new water.

Stock up on supplies.
Trash cans for moving water. Big tubs for your liverock, submerged. Bags for livestock, and coolers for them to be placed in. Towels, filling supplies, and everything else you might imagine you need. Making a trip to the store for extra containers while your reef is half packed will not be helpful, so get more than you'll need at the start.

Reef Tank: Updates

I wanted to provide a quick update on my reef aquarium. For the most part things are doing well, and I feel like the tank has established a good rhythm. Water quality has been great, the firefish has been quite healthy, and a plethora of small invertebrates has been emerging from the live rock.



Coral Growth
Of the ten coral specimens I've introduced to date, eight are doing great and showing good signs of growth. The Acropora millepora and tabling Acropora in particular have shown exceptional encrusting growth lately. The pink birds nest, Stylophora pistillata, has also been growing very fast.

Two species not doing well. The Pavona maldivensis has been pale and showing no sign of growth since within a few weeks of being introduced. I keep hoping it will come back, but it is seeming less likely with each passing week. More concerning is the recent demise of the Pocillopora damicornis. For the first month, this was my healthiest looking coral. Great color and polyp extension, and very obvious growth. One day it just started going down hill for no apparent reason, showing bleaching around the base which has since spread up into the branches. Some of the polyps still look healthy and extend to feed, but I fear there isn't much time left for this colony.

Flow Adjustments
I decided that running two Koralia 3 pumps, 850 gallons per house each, was too much for this tank. Corals demonstrated stressed behavior in the powerful current. I have since cut back to running just one, with a Koralia Nano on the opposite side to keep detritus off the bottom of the aquarium. This seems to be working out well so far.

Zeovit
Possibly suckered in by the great marketing photos on Zeovit USA, I've started to implement their system on my tank. Zeovit is a mineral that has been commonly used for filtration in commercial aquatic systems prior to becoming a trendy brand in the reef hobby. The pore density of zeovit makes it exceptionally good at filtering out ammonia, preempting the nitrogen cycle before it can occur. By removing the ammonia early in the cycle, bacteria never get a chance to convert it into nitrite, which eventually becomes nitrate.

Because of the sheer effectiveness of its ammonia removal, it is suggested that the reef keeper dose colonies of bacteria and bacteria food to keep the tank in a natural state. Conveniently, the provider of zeovit also makes these products. You can read more from the source in this PDF guide to the Zeovit filtration system.

To start, I've begun with ZEOBak bacteria solution, and the ZEOFood7 bacteria and coral food. I will slowly introduce the zeovite filtration material this coming week. There are a number of other supplements and foods in this product line that I have read good things about. Although too early to make any sort of useful evaluation, I've noticed the tank water appearing quite a bit clearer since the dosing start. Algae formation on the glass also appears to have been reduced quite noticeably. I like to pretend that the corals are beginning to color up and appear healthier as well, but that could just as easily be attributed to their finally becoming acclimated to the tank.