Zeo

Stoneyman · Mar 16, 2015

Anyone use or used to use any zeo products. Would like to hear any thoughts

sharkboy99999 · Mar 17, 2015

Following along . I am thinking of trying some out

declanisadog · Mar 17, 2015

Hard to justify spending the money for me, but considering trying a few. I've heard great things about Pohl's Xtra, and plan on buying a bottle soon.

wangspeed · Mar 17, 2015

I used to. I quite because I got tired of dealing with the shaker and stones. I converted to biopellets and my maintenance has totally dropped. So much easier. I still use Xtra Special, and AA, since I had bought them already, and I'm pretty low on nutrients.

jerl77 · Mar 17, 2015

i am running full zee and i am very impressed with the whole system right now. it has to be taken slow and steady but i i am doing this 20 years and hands down the best system i have ran yet

mike007 · Mar 17, 2015

I have tried some of their products but I feel that you have to do the whole zeovit program to reap the benefits.

Paintguru · Mar 17, 2015

mike007 said:
I have tried some of their products but I feel that you have to do the whole zeovit program to reap the benefits.

This is my worry. While the system sounds impressive, I can't deal with a regiment that has to be dosed daily without fail. Plus, the maintenance of the rocks sounds like a pain too. If I had unlimited money and time, I'd do it, but I have neither of those

.

Funbags · Mar 17, 2015

You question is kinda vague, but ill give it my best.

I ran zeo for almost five years, It is a amazing thing and so fun to play with. You must be a tinkerer though, if taking apart something to see how it works does not excite you, zeo is not for you. If you don't want to spend a couple hundred dollars every now and then for new chemicals, zeo is not for you. With zeo you can get a general dosing guide, but every tank is different and there is like 25+ chemicals which gives you endless combinations. So you can constantly add and take away some products, I do get the suspicion that some products are a wast and just a ploy to take money out of your pocket, but some work amazing. Now the chemicals them selfs, I have supplemented without the use of Zeo rocks with success, sponge, food, bacteria and Amino acids and in my current 250g BioPellet system I use those four products. I might be forgetting one too.

Stoneyman · Mar 17, 2015

Thanks for taking the time to join the discussion everybody! Yeah ive come across a couple high end tank people that use some of the products but do not run the full system. Pohls extra, the sponge food, and coral vitalizer. I am a tinkerer

. I like to try different things to try to achieve different results. I have a low nutrient 180 gal reef with some happy colonies and some not so happy frags. Gonna give these products a 3 month trial and see what happens. I will pop in every now and then with updates. I will post some baseline pics soon.

erk · Mar 18, 2015

I've been running my poorman's zeo style for a couple months now and I'm very happy with the results. I took the basic concepts, zeolites in a slow flow reactor, carbon dosing, bacteria dosing, and running activated carbon, and found cheap alternatives. So, I built a DIY zeolite reactor, its not bad but I wish I had spent a bit more money to make it easier to shake up the zeolites. I use Kent nitrate sponge for my zeolite source. I dose vinegar because its harder to overdose than vodka. And I dose MB7 as a bacteria source. When I started about 2 months ago, my nitrates were at 10ppm. Right now I am at 4ppm. I feed pretty heavily, 3 times per day. Still my nitrates are coming down and everything looks outstanding. PO4 was always low for me. I tested with Red Sea PO4 test and I'm somewhere in the .02-.04 neighborhood. It's been a week since I last tested, so my nutrient levels might be lower now. It is a very slow process. Your nutrient levels inch down slowly. But for the first time I can successfully keep SPS. Water is super clear too and no need for filter socks. I agree with Funbags though. You have to be very attentive to the system and constantly working to keep things in order.

danangelo · Mar 19, 2015

Paintguru said:
This is my worry. While the system sounds impressive, I can't deal with a regiment that has to be dosed daily without fail. Plus, the maintenance of the rocks sounds like a pain too. If I had unlimited money and time, I'd do it, but I have neither of those .

Best results i had is with zeovit full or partial some additives can be used with other methods ived done it and i know some of our guys in our reef club done it also without Zeolite. .the initial cost is a little bit higher but alot of the additives are concentrated and they last ..replacing stone its actually not as bad as you would think. And when the tank matures stone replacement is at longer intervals. I liked using it due to the fact that there was a lot of help and a guide to do it. Just like anything else you have to learn how to use it..i know tanks that has been using it for 7 years now and they look great. And if you're concerned with pastel colors there's ways to adjust it accordingly to your liking. And you can feed your tank alot is what i really like about it and i was able to keep sps with nps together thriving.

Paintguru · Mar 19, 2015

erk said:
I've been running my poorman's zeo style for a couple months now and I'm very happy with the results.

Good to know you can do it in a limited form. I'm really trying to avoid the reactor, just because I don't want another piece of equipment. My impressions was that the zeolites were bacterial generators and my thought was that vinegar dosing could replace it. However, it appears that you do both? Perhaps I'm wrong then.

erk · Mar 19, 2015

Paintguru said:
Good to know you can do it in a limited form. I'm really trying to avoid the reactor, just because I don't want another piece of equipment. My impressions was that the zeolites were bacterial generators and my thought was that vinegar dosing could replace it. However, it appears that you do both? Perhaps I'm wrong then.

So, you are right in that the zeolites are bacteria generators. They are used to adsorb ammonia and feed the bacteria directly. But you have to provide the bacteria with a carbon source. In the zeovit system, that's Zeostart or whatever its called. Zeobak is their bacteria supplement. Just think of it as carbon dosing, but giving the bacteria a place to live other than in your DT, though in my case there is plenty growing in my DT as well. The zeolites also serve as a place for anaerobic bacteria to colonize, specifically within the zeolites. If I could find the article I read about this, I'd link it. Granted, I don't know how true this is without a bacterial culture and testing to see if it is, but it sounds plausible. In the end, zeolites just help bring the nutrients the bacteria needs to one place and they do the rest.