marvelousone
Well-Known Member
Nice
Andre’s Full blown 300Gallon SPS Reeftank up within a week ;-)
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marvelousone
Well-Known Member
man I would like a frag pack. I come to Houston all the time. I like to come home with coral.
OP
OP
PM me next time you plan to come over to H-Town ;-)
You would have loved this pack ;-)
Some nice old school pieces in there.
marvelousone
Well-Known Member
I sure will. I was just there. I will be back in a month or so.
OP
OP
Everything turns out a bit more challenging.... ugh
Playing around now with a different dosing setup.
The zeostart does flake out in the line, not sure if it’s coming from the fact that saltwater gets to far into the line or simple an issue of the Neptune tubing material which seems to react as well. The tubing in use turns permanently white which may likely a bacterial result on the softener in the plastic.
So will experiment a bit with DOS above the reactor inlet as well a different tubing.
Playing around now with a different dosing setup.
The zeostart does flake out in the line, not sure if it’s coming from the fact that saltwater gets to far into the line or simple an issue of the Neptune tubing material which seems to react as well. The tubing in use turns permanently white which may likely a bacterial result on the softener in the plastic.
So will experiment a bit with DOS above the reactor inlet as well a different tubing.
marvelousone
Well-Known Member
On zeovit forum it talks about diliuting zeostart3 .
Diluting ZeoStart3 for Automated Dosers by NanoTopia
By diluting ZeoStart3 solution you can more accurately dose smaller amounts of Zeostart3 in an automated way via peristaltic doser. This prevents possible missed doses and improves consistency and delivery of the carbon source to sustain balanced amounts in the system.
I have been using this method for a year with good results.
Consider the following mixing ratios first.
1:19, ZeoStart3/RODI water. 1 part ZeoStart3 (say 100mL) to 19 parts RODI water (say 1900mL) will yield you 2000mL of solution. Each 1mL of solution will contain 0.05mL of ZeoStart3.
e.g.
If you wanted to dose a total of 0.5mL per day of ZeoStart3 divided into 2 doses (0.25mL x 2), you would set your doser to deliver 5mL twice a day (5mL x 2 = 10mL of solution) = 0.5mL of ZeoStart3.
1:9, ZeoStart3/RODI water. 1 part ZeoStart3 (say 100mL) to 9 parts RODI water (say 900mL) will yield you 1000mL of solution. Each 1mL of solution will contain 0.1mL of ZeoStart3.
e.g.
If you wanted to dose a total of 0.5mL per day of ZeoStart3 divided into 2 doses (0.25mL x 2), you would would not be able to do it because most dosers deliver only 1mL minimum and 1 mL of solution contains 0.1mL of ZeoStart3. So this Ratio only works if you are dosing even numbers daily (like 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8 mL and so on), get it? The 1:9 ratio is better when dosing larger amounts of ZeoStart3 with even numbers. You could dose more than 2 times daily to try and equal the total amount dosed per day but that just makes thing more difficult.
As long as you stick to the ratio, any amount of solution can be created. I recommend only making the amount that will fit in your dosing container at a time. Prolonged storage of the solution only increases the risk of contamination over time.
To dilute ZeoStart3 properly, follow this:
Depending on the accuracy of your doser (most are not that accurate) I recommend 1:19 ratio for dilution. A 1:9 ratio can also be used but I would only consider this ratio if your dose amounts will be over 5mL per dose.
It is also a good idea to calibrate your doser before beginning with RODI water. This will avoid wasting ZeoStart3 solution and risking overdosing the tank.
Maybe this will help you out.
By diluting ZeoStart3 solution you can more accurately dose smaller amounts of Zeostart3 in an automated way via peristaltic doser. This prevents possible missed doses and improves consistency and delivery of the carbon source to sustain balanced amounts in the system.
I have been using this method for a year with good results.
Consider the following mixing ratios first.
1:19, ZeoStart3/RODI water. 1 part ZeoStart3 (say 100mL) to 19 parts RODI water (say 1900mL) will yield you 2000mL of solution. Each 1mL of solution will contain 0.05mL of ZeoStart3.
e.g.
If you wanted to dose a total of 0.5mL per day of ZeoStart3 divided into 2 doses (0.25mL x 2), you would set your doser to deliver 5mL twice a day (5mL x 2 = 10mL of solution) = 0.5mL of ZeoStart3.
1:9, ZeoStart3/RODI water. 1 part ZeoStart3 (say 100mL) to 9 parts RODI water (say 900mL) will yield you 1000mL of solution. Each 1mL of solution will contain 0.1mL of ZeoStart3.
e.g.
If you wanted to dose a total of 0.5mL per day of ZeoStart3 divided into 2 doses (0.25mL x 2), you would would not be able to do it because most dosers deliver only 1mL minimum and 1 mL of solution contains 0.1mL of ZeoStart3. So this Ratio only works if you are dosing even numbers daily (like 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8 mL and so on), get it? The 1:9 ratio is better when dosing larger amounts of ZeoStart3 with even numbers. You could dose more than 2 times daily to try and equal the total amount dosed per day but that just makes thing more difficult.
As long as you stick to the ratio, any amount of solution can be created. I recommend only making the amount that will fit in your dosing container at a time. Prolonged storage of the solution only increases the risk of contamination over time.
To dilute ZeoStart3 properly, follow this:
Depending on the accuracy of your doser (most are not that accurate) I recommend 1:19 ratio for dilution. A 1:9 ratio can also be used but I would only consider this ratio if your dose amounts will be over 5mL per dose.
It is also a good idea to calibrate your doser before beginning with RODI water. This will avoid wasting ZeoStart3 solution and risking overdosing the tank.
Maybe this will help you out.
OP
OP
Flushed and primed and put the system back in operation......
I’ll give it a shot this way for sure ;-)
OP
OP
On zeovit forum it talks about diliuting zeostart3 .
Diluting ZeoStart3 for Automated Dosers by NanoTopia
By diluting ZeoStart3 solution you can more accurately dose smaller amounts of Zeostart3 in an automated way via peristaltic doser. This prevents possible missed doses and improves consistency and delivery of the carbon source to sustain balanced amounts in the system.
I have been using this method for a year with good results.
Consider the following mixing ratios first.
1:19, ZeoStart3/RODI water. 1 part ZeoStart3 (say 100mL) to 19 parts RODI water (say 1900mL) will yield you 2000mL of solution. Each 1mL of solution will contain 0.05mL of ZeoStart3.
e.g.
If you wanted to dose a total of 0.5mL per day of ZeoStart3 divided into 2 doses (0.25mL x 2), you would set your doser to deliver 5mL twice a day (5mL x 2 = 10mL of solution) = 0.5mL of ZeoStart3.
1:9, ZeoStart3/RODI water. 1 part ZeoStart3 (say 100mL) to 9 parts RODI water (say 900mL) will yield you 1000mL of solution. Each 1mL of solution will contain 0.1mL of ZeoStart3.
e.g.
If you wanted to dose a total of 0.5mL per day of ZeoStart3 divided into 2 doses (0.25mL x 2), you would would not be able to do it because most dosers deliver only 1mL minimum and 1 mL of solution contains 0.1mL of ZeoStart3. So this Ratio only works if you are dosing even numbers daily (like 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8 mL and so on), get it? The 1:9 ratio is better when dosing larger amounts of ZeoStart3 with even numbers. You could dose more than 2 times daily to try and equal the total amount dosed per day but that just makes thing more difficult.
As long as you stick to the ratio, any amount of solution can be created. I recommend only making the amount that will fit in your dosing container at a time. Prolonged storage of the solution only increases the risk of contamination over time.
To dilute ZeoStart3 properly, follow this:
Depending on the accuracy of your doser (most are not that accurate) I recommend 1:19 ratio for dilution. A 1:9 ratio can also be used but I would only consider this ratio if your dose amounts will be over 5mL per dose.
It is also a good idea to calibrate your doser before beginning with RODI water. This will avoid wasting ZeoStart3 solution and risking overdosing the tank.
Maybe this will help you out.
Thank you! Thought about dilution previously as well and have mixed opinions on it.
However, I would strongly recommend not to use RODI due to the bacterial contamination in the system.
Better use bottled distilled water from groceries or if you can, get sterilized medical type of Distilled water ;-)
So now I use this costly DOS system as intended to dose precisely highly concentrated carbs ;-)
Will see how it turns out.
-Andre
marvelousone
Well-Known Member
Do you know how much flow your are running threw the reactor. Does that even matter.
OP
OP
That’s an interesting point!
I did run 60 gallon per hour through it with 4-5 Liter Zeolith.
However I do not see any Mulm in the reactor and my PO4 rising.
So I fixed the dosing problem hopefully today but reduced the flow as well to about 30GPH estimated.
I will need to gain more experience first on zeolith reactors to see what the characteristics are between flow, dosing and Mulm levels inside the media.
My usual experience is that media reactors work more effective when they are full of Mulm.
But flow does matter for sure since it has an influence on the reaction time and oxygen levels inside, hence its tricky to figure it out.
I’m so far away from the classic Zeo method that I simply keep tweaking to make it work the way I want it, lol.
If it doesn’t, will ditch it.
OP
OP
@marvelousone just did put my flow back up to full throttle again since my ORP kept rising above 450 and it may have to do that there are certain catalytic reactions are going on inside the reactor. Will see if the Zeolith low flow had such a side effect.
OP
OP
A day after going full flow. ORP dropped back to to around 300. So lower flow through the Zeo reactor definitely has an effect on ORP, unfortunately so much that ORP climbed to risky levels yesterday.
From what I'm reading, the zeolith shall be kept clean from Mulm to avoid reactions in the Zeolith itself from a bacterial mucus layer that can form quickly.
So I do shake/vibe the reactor 1 minute a day for now, hoping that's enough to keep it clean.
marvelousone
Well-Known Member
What is orp
OP
OP
In a nutshell, it is a measurable indication of the balance of oxidizers and reducers in your tank! It is partially....., hate to say it like that, to measure the "cleanliness of your tank system" on a chemical basis.
Means high ORP means a lot of oxidizers in the tank such as Hydrogen peroxide or oxygen etc. There is a upper limit the ORP shall not exceed, since it simply would oxidize a lot of elements pretty quick and kill bacteria, hence a tank crash can be the result. Normally not of huge concern for normal hobbyists, more a indicative parameter to look at, but since Zeolith can be a strong catalyst, I liked to keep an eye on this parameter therefore especially since I'm doing a lot of experimenting with all sort of trace elements/metals.
I also use it to see when Vitamin C dosages have been oxidized, since the ORP curve does show you the drop and how long the tank needed to recover from a chemical perspective, assuming the Vitamin has been oxidized then.
@Randy Holmes-Farley wrote this excellent article about it ;-)
ORP and the Reef Aquarium - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/index.htm
najer
Valuable Member
I love following this and your fine tuning, polar opposite to how I run mine but I run Sochting Oxydators in my tanks, I think a lot of people don't pay enough attention to orp!
OP
OP
Yeah, always watched ORP, kind of telling you if significant changes are going on in the tank you can't see, at least not directly ;-)
That fine tuning with this Zeo reactor I wasn't really planning ugh......
But had to find a better way to keep nutrients low without too much carbs in the tank after they stopped doing the pellets I used.
My backup is Vodka if that doesn't work.
OP
OP
"Many ways to Rome" as we say in Europe, lol.
marvelousone
Well-Known Member
So how do you test for ORP
OP
OP
I personally use an ORP Probe connected to the APEX system.
In the past I used ORP meters that were permanently installed similar to a Handheld PH probe.
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