SPS dying Zeovit

[SuperSaiyanTang]

Hello everyone!

I have been trying to grow SPS in my tank for months now. I switched to Zeovit back in August to get my nutrients under control (They were at Nitrate 50 phosphate.3) my nutrients have lowered so I decided to try adding a forest fire digi. After a few days the tips of the coral have some brown strings on the them. This happened the previous time I tried adding coral and they died.

I am really frustrated as growing SPS is one of the most interesting things to me in the hobby. Some days I want to throw in the towel but I really want to figure this out.

@ycnibrc

 

[SuperSaiyanTang]

 

[CCauthers]

Just so you know, it's usually not as easy as "switching to zeovit," there are many things that method does differently than most. It can work very well, but it is not for the faint of heart. Can you include how the tank is set up, as well as current parameters and test kits?

 

[SuperSaiyanTang]

I totally agree. Here is some more back story.

The tank was filled in December of 2019. I used live rock from my LFS that was from a previous hobbyist that tore their tank down. The sand was tropic eden live sand.

After a few months I added a few pieces of SPS and they grew well. They actually were a little pale because my nitrate and phosphate were 0. During this time I mistakenly dosed some amino acids and had a Dino bloom. To combat this I added a UV 54w, and dosed hydrogen peroxide.After a few months I decided to switch out my sand for some larger grain since it was blowing everywhere. Sometime after this my SPS started dying and my nutrient levels spiked. I realized I needed some way of exporting nutrients.

I had done a lot of research with Zeovit so I purchased a reactor and it’s been running well now. My nitrate is currently at about 10 from 50 and phosphate .04 from .3. The UV was taken offline for Zeovit

The tank is 60x25x21
ReeFi Led, set using a par meter
Alk:7
Ca:455
Mg:1270
4 MP40s in Reef Crest for flow
Weekly 10 gallon water changes

I test using Trident, Hanna for phosphate, and salifert for nitrate.

 

[ScottB]

I totally agree. Here is some more back story.

The tank was filled in December of 2019. I used live rock from my LFS that was from a previous hobbyist that tore their tank down. The sand was tropic eden live sand.

After a few months I added a few pieces of SPS and they grew well. They actually were a little pale because my nitrate and phosphate were 0. During this time I mistakenly dosed some amino acids and had a Dino bloom. To combat this I added a UV 54w, and dosed hydrogen peroxide.After a few months I decided to switch out my sand for some larger grain since it was blowing everywhere. Sometime after this my SPS started dying and my nutrient levels spiked. I realized I needed some way of exporting nutrients.

I had done a lot of research with Zeovit so I purchased a reactor and it’s been running well now. My nitrate is currently at about 10 from 50 and phosphate .04 from .3. The UV was taken offline for Zeovit

The tank is 60x25x21
ReeFi Led, set using a par meter
Alk:7
Ca:455
Mg:1270
4 MP40s in Reef Crest for flow
Weekly 10 gallon water changes

I test using Trident, Hanna for phosphate, and salifert for nitrate.

I hear you on SPS being the most desirable animals to raise. You will get there.

So if the tips of the digi got algae attached it means the tissue there died. I would trim that off back to live flesh. Hopefully it will be strong enough to re-grow the tissue before algae re-grows. As to why the tissue died, your parameters don't look bad. What kind of PAR is hitting it? Maybe that is higher than the grow out it came from?

More likely, your biome is still just a tad "immature".
While the extreme swings of nutrient may have set your biome development back a bit, you should be getting really close to enough maturity for SPS health. Starting with live rock is a solid jumpstart IMO, so you gotta be really close.

I am not a user of the Zeo system, but I believe it is a bacteria system. If you can dial up the PO4 just a little I would do so. Your nitrates are fine at 10, but if you could keep a little more PO4 (like.08) you can walk that fine line between too much and too little. As your biome ages, this gets a lot easier to keep smooth.

The green on the sand. Do you think that is green cyano? I see that a lot within systems where the two nutrients are swinging or the ratio is off. If instead that is algae, then I would dial down the nitrates instead.

Don't let your head explode; you have to be very close. Grab some more hardy, common SPS like slimer and stick with it.

 

[jda]

Are you feeding the fish a ton? Zeo relies on heavy import as well as heavy export. It won't work if you are not feeding a bunch and/or adding all of their additives to the tank.

 

[ckalupa]

UV is not recommended with Zeovit. Agree with JDA that Zeo is heavy in / heavy out. I feed coral vitalizer or accro power daily along with coral booster. Other Zeo items daily in rotation also (K balance, B Balance, Pohls Xtra, JOD, etc). You did not say where your phos and nitrates are running after your change to Zeo? I monitor mine and adjust with additions as needed.

 

[Mike1970]

Make sure you have the proper amount of zeolite with the proper flow also. You can also head over to https://forum.zeovit.com/ and post your problem there G.Alexander is very helpful

 

[SuperSaiyanTang]

I hear you on SPS being the most desirable animals to raise. You will get there.

So if the tips of the digi got algae attached it means the tissue there died. I would trim that off back to live flesh. Hopefully it will be strong enough to re-grow the tissue before algae re-grows. As to why the tissue died, your parameters don't look bad. What kind of PAR is hitting it? Maybe that is higher than the grow out it came from?

More likely, your biome is still just a tad "immature".
While the extreme swings of nutrient may have set your biome development back a bit, you should be getting really close to enough maturity for SPS health. Starting with live rock is a solid jumpstart IMO, so you gotta be really close.

I am not a user of the Zeo system, but I believe it is a bacteria system. If you can dial up the PO4 just a little I would do so. Your nitrates are fine at 10, but if you could keep a little more PO4 (like.08) you can walk that fine line between too much and too little. As your biome ages, this gets a lot easier to keep smooth.

The green on the sand. Do you think that is green cyano? I see that a lot within systems where the two nutrients are swinging or the ratio is off. If instead that is algae, then I would dial down the nitrates instead.

Don't let your head explode; you have to be very close. Grab some more hardy, common SPS like slimer and stick with it.

Thanks for the advice and encourgaement! I think it may be alage, not really sure if its green cyano. It doesn't really look all that slimy.

Are you feeding the fish a ton? Zeo relies on heavy import as well as heavy export. It won't work if you are not feeding a bunch and/or adding all of their additives to the tank.

I feed 4 cubes a day and one small sheet of nori.

UV is not recommended with Zeovit. Agree with JDA that Zeo is heavy in / heavy out. I feed coral vitalizer or accro power daily along with coral booster. Other Zeo items daily in rotation also (K balance, B Balance, Pohls Xtra, JOD, etc). You did not say where your phos and nitrates are running after your change to Zeo? I monitor mine and adjust with additions as needed.

I stopped running my UV when I started Zeo. I started using CV, A Balance (once a week), B Balance (once a week), should I add something else? I have Phols Xtra, just havent dosed it yet.

I just retested everything. Phosphates: 0.00 Nitrates: 2.5

Make sure you have the proper amount of zeolite with the proper flow also. You can also head over to https://forum.zeovit.com/ and post your problem there G.Alexander is very helpful

Will do thank you!

Thank you everyone for the advice. I did lose the digi. Im going to keep dosing Zeo and feeding heavy and will update as time goes on.

 

[ckalupa]

@SuperSaiyanTang I keep bottles of nitrates and phos mixed on hand and will dose a little as needed to keep them detectable. Especially if there is one but not the other present in tests. But feed daily too.

I like to see 3-7 phosphorus on the ulr phosphorus Hanna and 3-5 nitrate on the new Hanna nitrate meter.