ZEOvit?

[NYPDFrogman]

someone asked me about Zeovit. I have no knowledge so I did a Goggle search and did some reading on it at Captive Oceans.

anyone try this or use it?
making a reactor to use the Zeovit media
it doesnt seem expensive I'd like to hear some opinions

 

[gegema]

Here's the zeovit forum

http://www.zeovit.com/modules.php?name=Jig

george

 

[ShaunW]

I have no doubt that it works, many good reefers swear by it as a means to limit nutrients.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

been reading alot today if it's a matter of building a reactor which doesnt look too complicated and some dosing I might try it.
I have a nice fish population in my tank 12 to be exact 6 of which are 4" +
fish are fed daily

I really should do more frequent water changes but I dont.
I have zero nitrates and no PO4
undecided if it's worth it

 

[herman]

My dad has been using it for a while now. He lives in Germany and even there it is not the chapest thing around. He has several tanks all using different methods but one thing I can say about his Zeo tank is that it is by far the brightest looking tank in his place. The corals are so colorful its unbelievable!! Growth is significant also. On the captive oceans website they have a gallery of photos and videos and they are all spectacular.

One thing to say about the Zeo system is that there is no room for error. You can not mix and match methods or you can end up with some detrimental effects.

He is in the process of converting all of his tanks. Many reefers in the US will say that it is a pile of crap but I do believe that they speak from LACK of experiance just to make their voice known.

If I had the resources and time, I would definitely give it a try.

 

[maxpower2112]

Do some searches on RC, there have been countless zeovit threads since it started. I personally wouldnt do it. there have been alot of people whos tank crashed after using it, but people only remember the tanks that look good and use it.

i know bomber is against it on RC. Rich started a thread once on the sps forum, i think, and it ended up being around 100 pages or so in two or three days!!! lol

what do you think about it Rich, im sure you have something interesting to say about it!
Don

 

[gforce6]

You can PM to Mshur, he is running Zeovit on his 120.

 

[herman]

Thats is what I mean by people on RC. There are countless people out there that went into it too eager and tried things to quick. The fact is when you first start to emply the zeolite reactor, it changes the parameters drastically. It literaly starves the tank of its nutrients. Most corals & fish can not handle that kind of change therefore they die and people complain that the whole system sucks because their stuff crashed. As with most systems in our hobby they are great. Whether you have a plenum, use the mud etc etc. The problem is always that people are overzealous and absolutely lack patience. Bomber on RC definitely has his stuff down straight. He has one of the most beautiful tanks around. He likes the BB with a strong skimmer and that is good. But the one thing I dont like about him that he criticizes everyone elses style and that is just not cool!!

 

[maxpower2112]

lol, thats a pretty good point herman! I just feel its not necessary, you can get great results from good skimming, good water quality, lotta flow and lighting for an SPS system.

Bomber just hates how everyone goes with whats popular instead of thinking about whats happening and why... but he really does rip on people! for example everyone went nuts for DSB's a while back and now people give sand away like its dirt. while good skimming and etc. has been proven successful many times over for many years now. still he usually ends up saying "theres more then one way to skin a cat". smart guy though!

mshur has zeovit and his tank is incredibly nice, but Jackson has a big skimmer and has some great results too so go figure
Don

 

[herman]

Youre right Don. I have not seen either tank in Person, just pictures. As for me I go by observation on what other people are doing. And me being a lazy ass person, I will go BB with a gigantic skimmer because its easy and I was successfull with it in the past, so yeah I am one of bombers minions. HE HE HE.

But I do have an additional tank sitting empty and lonely just waiting for me. This will be an experimental tank for me. I will try the Zeo system. Im lucky cause my dad has been using it for quite sometime and he is successfull with it so I can bug him for whatever I need, whether it be info or equipment. But that will be early next year. At that time I will judge for myself if its good for me or if it will be to much work. There are so many parameters that you have to watch out for you know....

 

[maxpower2112]

Bomber's minions

very nice, post pics and tell us your results with the zeo system once you get it set up! id love to hear your results and possibly see them in person!

Im still waiting for Rich to say what his opinion is on this stuff, meant to ask him for a while now
Don

 

[jackson6745]

I guess I'm one of Bomber's minions as well

As for the zeovit....Most of my experiences is from seeing Mshur's tank all the time. It definitely does something to change the color of the corals. When dosages are at just the right level the colors are pretty incredible but it just seems like a lot stress trying to get to the right levels for optimal color. As Herman said, a big skimmer has always worked for him and it works just fine fo me as well. I really don't have the time or patience to start tinkering with more additives for the tank.

 

[nyfireman3097]

I use it and I also sell it I started it w/ my 125 after not being happy with the way my corals looked and the aftermath was amazing Ill never have a reef tank again without it
Nick

 

[jackson6745]

The main reason why I don't use it is because my colors are the same if not better than most guys using zeo. That is the thinking of many non zeo users and i have yet to see a top notch reef before and after zeo with improved colors. JBNY for example.....could his colors be improved with zeo? or my favorite tank Jamie Cross (ACRO) I can't see zeo improving his colors. Such great colors can be achieved without zeo (using all the same equipment) why should it be used?

Nick as a seller these are the type of questions you should answer to sell guys like me.

 

[House of Laughter]

In my readings zeo is a substitute for good reefkeeping practices, meaning, if you don't have the time to dial your reef in "just right" you canuse their system to manage your nutrients.

As a bottom line, that's what I get from it.

House

 

[NYPDFrogman]

In my readings zeo is a substitute for good reefkeeping practices, meaning, if you don't have the time to dial your reef in "just right" you canuse their system to manage your nutrients.

As a bottom line, that's what I get from it.

House

I kind of got that too..
It is interesting to see different methods and I try to be objective, I'm by no means an expert.
I have a rather large fish population and feed daily so I was curious to see if possibly using soem of the zeovit media would help keep nutrients down,

there is no substitute for good husbandry


thanks for the input guys

 

[nyfireman3097]

Well Rich Ask away

 

[herman]

Well I would not exactly call it a substitute of good husbandry. As nutrient poor as we can possibly get in our systems it staill has 10x more nutrients than reefs around the world.

The zeo system was developed as an attempt to get closer to the natural levels. The problem that most people have when first employ the zeolits is that the tank nutrients levels drop so drastically that the system enters a shock state and sometimes crashes. All of the additives serves as a the "only" nutrients the corals require. Because of this princeple I would not say that it is the lazy mans way of reefkeeping.

BTW - if you keep a lot of fish and feed frequently I would not recommend this system at all.

 

[spykes]

well i like to ask how much does zeo run you like yearly? like supplies etc...

 

[herman]

spykes, for the pricing you can go to captive oceans . You need the reactor and of course all of the aditives. Just look at their price list. Its not a crazy amount but like anything in our hobby, its not cheap either. It also does not help that US distributors mark it up so much more.