Just about ready to throw in the towel grrr

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by digital-audiophile

With sump minus displacement of rock my system is only about 100G total water and I am only lightly stocked so the ER should be sufficient

That's exactly what Euro Reef was counting on when they came up with that rating, plus they didn't make that rating for a zeo tank. I'm not trying to cut you down, nor am I telling you to break your bank, I'm just being straight forward. If it was sufficient you probably wouldn't have the cyano outbreak. Your best bet would be to cut back on the zeo until you get things cleaned up.

[Delphinus]

So how much of a ratings-upping should you look for, maybe about twice? Ie., look for 200g if you have 100g? I realize skimmer ratings have gotten better in recent years but I still take a skeptical view towards manufacturer ratings.. something of a black art methinks..

[marie]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

So how much of a ratings-upping should you look for, maybe about twice? Ie., look for 200g if you have 100g? I realize skimmer ratings have gotten better in recent years but I still take a skeptical view towards manufacturer ratings.. something of a black art methinks..

Even Bubblekings ratings are suspect. I have the supermarin 200 which is rated up to 400g and I find it is a little small for my system of around 200g total. I now wish I had gone with the supermarin 250

[i have crabs]

i would try dripping kalkwasser at night for a week wich will pricipitate out any extra phosphate in your water. also if you dont use carbon i would use that for a while too.

[digital-audiophile]

Originally Posted by sphelps

That's exactly what Euro Reef was counting on when they came up with that rating, plus they didn't make that rating for a zeo tank. I'm not trying to cut you down, nor am I telling you to break your bank, I'm just being straight forward. If it was sufficient you probably wouldn't have the cyano outbreak. Your best bet would be to cut back on the zeo until you get things cleaned up.

You might very well be right, it's just there is nothing I can do to change the skimmer situation so I am stuck in a rut it might seem. I've already reduced my zeo addivitves to a very minimal dose, any lower and I might as well stop all together.

I am running carbon fluidized in a phosban reactor, I know the zeo guide says to run it passive in the sump but I found before my issues that the carbon had a better effect in the reactor.

[sphelps]

Usually skimmers like EuroReef have fairly accurate ratings. But every tank is different, you may have a light bio-load or so you might think as you only have a few fish. However some feed more than others and have more corals which could either lower or increase the bio-load. Another concern is over skimming which is just as bad as under skimming but has different effects so it's also important not to go too big as well.

With zeovit the idea is to over skim and replace the elements more often than usual. So a large skimmer is very important for this method to work. Zeovit is not for everyone and I wouldn't recommend anyone just jump into it because they see some really nice tanks that use it. The bottom line is it's not a miracle cure or tool for reef keeping and there are just as many, if not more, beautiful tanks without zeovit out there.

My recommendation to anyone thinking about zeovit is not to start with the full system (basic 4). First try everything else in the guide except the actual reactor and basic 4 additives: efficient skimming, good lighting, good alternating flow, weekly water changes, stable parameters and so on. Then try a few of the other additives which do not require the reactor. Such additives include:
Amino Acids (both lps and reg)
Coral Snow (coral food, and helps remove slime)
Zeospur2 (when used properly will control zooxanthellae concentration for better color)
K- Balance (Potassium)
and so on, there are so many now, all worth trying.

If that doesn't give you the results you're looking for then you can consider the full system.

When I used zeovit I did a lot of reading on the zeovit forum and found many people jumping into the system and had bad results, similar to the one in this thread. I had good results with zeovit but after a year I found that I can get better and more consistent results without the full system.