ZEOvit, "ULN", and Wonder Tonics
From my blog, I wrote this article to help people looking at using a heterotrophic-driven method of filtration.
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For a little while now, there's been really two core elemental fraternities when it comes to reefkeeping - the oldschoolers who've been around long enough to have had success with some gamut of "traditional" methodologies and who tend to be fairly skeptical of "snake oil" the modern reef can use - and the more experimental newschoolers who like to push the boundaries to somewhere different. In case it's not already abundantly clear, I personally tend to straddle the latter fence quite well (of course, that's not to say I'm sold on 100% of modern methodologies - I still hold a healthy skepticism on most everything - in no small part due to what are very easily "wonder tonics"), and as such some of these more modern concepts really intrigue me. Of particular note are the so-called "ULN", or "Ultra-Low Nutrient" environments becoming much more common, and, in this case, the ZEOvit method.
There seems to be a lot of misinformation going around about the latter group's choices and the methods they employ which in turn brings a lot of backlash and anger unduly. This isn't just limited to ZEOvit, there's many other methods which employ a very similar basis (carbon-driven bacterially-active filtration aids, ie. VSV, Fauna-Marin Ultralith, Prodibio, NP Biopellet, et al) which all cop a similar backlash, albeit typically at a much smaller rate than the good ol' "Blue Bottle" method. Why? It seems as with anything new or niche in this hobby, backlash has come from widespread misinformation, assumption, or people who've been burned by employing a method improperly (OH GOD, SAY IT ISN'T SO!?) and as a result, the clear channels for knowledge become deeply clouded. I'm hoping to clear some of that up here, even just a little bit. Being that ZEOvit is my primary focus as a reefer (and being that I employ it) that'll be the focus of this, however it applies just as well to the rest of the gamut of carbon-dosed systems for the most part.
I guess the first element of misinformation is that these methods are "snake oil", or, at the very least, don't work any better than any "normal" method. I guess in essence there is an element of truth to this, however it doesn't paint the full picture. One of the most important aspects of ULN systems is the need for incredibly good husbandry practices and careful observation of livestock. In reality just observing that could drastically improve a tank. While I'm not prepared to sit here and say that it's the only way to success, because frankly it would be bullshit which is not something I'm about, I will say that the success it can yield is a truly beautiful thing to behold. Because the coral are spending less time trying to process their own food from the photosynthetic action of zooxanthellae, and because under these conditions the aim is to control the addition of highly-available nutrients to the tank so they may be metabolised by the inhabitants, the coral have more opportunity to show their true colouration and show increased growth rates. This is the primary reason the majority of people seek to employ a carbon-driven bacterioplanktonic system, to enhance colouration and growth, particularly in Acroporidae (something these methods all achieve with varying levels of success). They do work, the science behind them does make sense, but unless they're employed properly and monitored closely it can lead to disaster. I guess the biggest thing here is, to make sure you know just what you're doing before you jump in and go for it because when it does go wrong, it does go wrong catastrophically for the ill-prepared or the underinformed.
The second element I've found increasingly, is people who consider these methods a "silver bullet", something that will magically cure their tank of woes which have come about various means of failing husbandry - feeding too heavily/improper choices for food, insufficient nutrient export capacity, too infrequent waterchanges, too many fish... whatever the reasons, a lot seem to figure that these will make up for such pitfalls. It's true to an extent, granted, but it will never supplant proper management in the first place which are of vital importance to these systems having the success as described on the tin. The truth of the matter is, if there was a true "silver bullet" cure-all to make lax reefkeeping practices have measurable success it wouldn't be an experimental niche of the hobby - it would simply be "the way". So no, it won't obsolete water changes or make your tank suddenly a million times better without you, the aquarist, putting in the legwork to get it there. This is especially true of the current swathe of "biopellet" products coming to market - it seems to be an increasing trend to rely on these as a shortfall to pick up the slack on a system incapable of fully cycling its nutrients from import to export without actually understanding the caveats of such a system. My personal feelings on biopellet products are for another day however. Irrespective - NO, ZEOvit/VSV/NP/UltraLith/etc is not going to spontaneously make your system look like what you see adorning the pages of all the top magazines and sites and winning accolades like the ZEOvit Dream Tank of The Quarter if you, the guy in front of the tank, can't give back what you're taking.
Thirdly, and this one is one which just baffles me, is an increasing trend of people assuming these systems are easy and for everyone - even aquarists who've never kept a marine tank before. They're not hard per-se, but they are incredibly intricate and do rely a lot on scientific comprehension. Sure, it's possible to have success with them as an incoming reefkeeper, but at the end of the day, these are an exception to a rule which should stand firmly. There is a lot of things which happen in a bacterioplanktonically-driven system. There is a lot of things which change from a traditional system, and a lot of things which must be observed incredibly closely. It's a very fine line between happy and healthy corals with vibrant colours, and not so happy corals which are exhibiting distinctly more white than they used to be. This can be sudden and confounding if you don't know what is going on and don't know how to respond. Even if you do it can still be a frustrating thing, the difference is in knowing you know how to fix these problems as they arise and hopefully can avoid a total wipeout before it occurs.
Next on the list is the lack of understanding about what happens once you get to these nutrient states. I guess the biggest factor of importance here is to explain one thing very clearly: a tank under a ULN condition needs to be fed, hard, or else the invertebrate inhabitants will perish from malnutrition. The entire concept of it is that you are driving off excess nutrients to allow for the watershed to have almost undetectable traces of organic matter dissolved - this in turn reduces the ability of things like algaes to grow. Yes, you may have just made a startling observation after that last sentence - I said algaes and not just something like "nuisance microalgaes" - and yes, this does include the algaes present as symbiont in all photosynthetic corals (zooxanthellae). In other words, if you don't put some form of nutrient back into the system in a controlled fashion, all algae will suffer dieback. This, to me, is ZEOvit's single biggest drawfactor and probably the biggest point where many systems of this nature can and should overlap - the controlled nutrients which are supplemental to the system proper. Once you're at this properly low nutrient state, the use of these "blue bottles" can have astoundingly large effects on a system and the vitality of the Scleractinians contained. The use of varied coral foods, the use of ionic enhancers, the use of selective zooxanthellae reducers (caveat emptor on this type of enhancer...) can all play a huge role in bringing out brighter and more vibrant colours. Simply making the right food available can take a system from good to OMG WTF GREAT!!! with a bit of careful management and the right enhancers.
After this, we get the common complaint that the dosage rates and work involved is too great. Bullshit. I've ran many of these systems now, and as one of the laziest people around I must comment... if you can't input the seconds necessary to satiate the dosing requirements for this kind of system then you have problems bigger than dull corals or high nutrients. When I say seconds, I mean literally that - seconds - being necessary to dose the things you need. The real time comes in in observing the inhabitants closely for the vital signs I mentioned earlier. Starting to come together a bit clearer? Even with something like ZEOvit, the necessary input is pretty small and well within the limitations of even the most slobbish aquarist, providing they are willing to meet the demands of the systems. If you can't dedicate time to allow for inspection, these systems are not for you because it does run a thin line between success and catastrophe which will be governed by how closely you can observe. It must be said, of the systems I've ran, the ZEOvit was the most unforgiving in this regard. To an extent things like VSV will give you some leeway, at least a lot more than the "big boy" methods. As for the amounts to be dosed being too high... ever hear of "less is more"? That applies astoundingly importantly to these things. I personally found the real rates to be dosed on ZEOvit especially to be close to about 1/6th of the recommended dosages for just about everything. Overcook it and you in effect work against yourself.
Another fun one is the way in which parameters interact with these systems. Alkalinity is probably the biggest here. There are examples of exceptions to this, but as a general guideline - if you venture above 8.5dKH or below 6.5dKH, you will encounter problems. Depending on the system and the corals involved will influence these reactions, but you can virtually lay money that there will be some reaction which is negative. Bacterioplanktonically-driven systems are incredibly stressful on corals as you're in effect malnourishing them, for this reason your parameters really need to be somewhere in the middle of that window. Also of note is the all-too-common complaint that PO4 concentrations won't reduce under these systems despite "undetectable Nitrates". Dose as hard as you like, without Nitrogen there, the bacteria can't do much with the Phosphorous you're trying to eliminate. The two solutions here would be, either remove it manually with a scrubber like ROWAphos, or, counter-intuitively, feed more Nitrogen-based foods. Thank Alfred C. Redfield for that very fact! Oxygenation is another important aspect... if you are not observant, it's possible to overdose a tank and "choke" inhabitants as bacteria consumes all available dissolved Oxygen. For this reason, your skimmer will need to be well serviced and even better speced.
And then there's the kicker... it's too expensive! HA. I hear this one for ZEOvit a lot and it really makes me chuckle. Sure, to buy into it it's expensive. But based on the minuscule dosage rates by comparison to their suggested, it's fairly economical over a progressed timescale. It's not something you can buy into, run for a few weeks and remain it as a fiscally sensible purchase. Over a period of time, say twelve months though, I actually found it to be mathematically quite a large amount cheaper than alternatives (for example, ROWAphos and activated carbon as well as large waterchanges). With these systems, because they are not serving the major function of nutrient removal, waterchanges can afford to be smaller per interval. Also, because the core of these systems only requires a carbon source, they can be done incredibly cheaply while still yielding excellent results. The trick is in picking the right one for you - and knowing how to manipulate these to suitability. This is why things like VSV arose, carbon sources have different properties based on their origin which will influence their effect on corals (some deepen colours, some lighten, some influence pastels, some induce extra metallic shimmer, some add depth...). These can all be manipulated to achieve the desired results by simply changing the type of carbon dosed - the majority of which can be had for a small outlay per unit of reduction (especially things like common household carbons - sugar, Vodka, and vinegar). It's only as expensive as you wish it to be. I know which results I prefer!
All in all, these systems will all work... pending the guy at the helm knows what is going on and how to influence certain factors. All have benefits, all have drawbacks, all have caveats to observe to ensure success. There's a very real level of risk involved, make no mistake of it. These systems are inherently not for everyone and definitely not for those who're uncomfortable with the scientific aspects of it all, but, while that is the reality... they are for those who want to control their systems at a fine level and really optimise their tanks to be all they can be. I wouldn't recommend it for every tank - the most profound effect will be on tanks primarily composed to Acroporidae and their counterparts (Small-Polyped Scleractinians, "SPS"), employing them fully on systems primarily composed of "LPS" (Large-Polyped Scleractinians) and soft corals can cause more issues than it will cause positive results. Additional to this, these systems will all vary in their suitability. Personally my next system will be commended as a modification of the VSV methodology and eventually transitioned to ZEOvit, these are the systems I've found most in line with what I want to achieve and how I wish to maintain a tank. No matter what process you choose, as long as you are observant and adept you will surely find success.
Happy reefing!
---------
For a little while now, there's been really two core elemental fraternities when it comes to reefkeeping - the oldschoolers who've been around long enough to have had success with some gamut of "traditional" methodologies and who tend to be fairly skeptical of "snake oil" the modern reef can use - and the more experimental newschoolers who like to push the boundaries to somewhere different. In case it's not already abundantly clear, I personally tend to straddle the latter fence quite well (of course, that's not to say I'm sold on 100% of modern methodologies - I still hold a healthy skepticism on most everything - in no small part due to what are very easily "wonder tonics"), and as such some of these more modern concepts really intrigue me. Of particular note are the so-called "ULN", or "Ultra-Low Nutrient" environments becoming much more common, and, in this case, the ZEOvit method.
There seems to be a lot of misinformation going around about the latter group's choices and the methods they employ which in turn brings a lot of backlash and anger unduly. This isn't just limited to ZEOvit, there's many other methods which employ a very similar basis (carbon-driven bacterially-active filtration aids, ie. VSV, Fauna-Marin Ultralith, Prodibio, NP Biopellet, et al) which all cop a similar backlash, albeit typically at a much smaller rate than the good ol' "Blue Bottle" method. Why? It seems as with anything new or niche in this hobby, backlash has come from widespread misinformation, assumption, or people who've been burned by employing a method improperly (OH GOD, SAY IT ISN'T SO!?) and as a result, the clear channels for knowledge become deeply clouded. I'm hoping to clear some of that up here, even just a little bit. Being that ZEOvit is my primary focus as a reefer (and being that I employ it) that'll be the focus of this, however it applies just as well to the rest of the gamut of carbon-dosed systems for the most part.
I guess the first element of misinformation is that these methods are "snake oil", or, at the very least, don't work any better than any "normal" method. I guess in essence there is an element of truth to this, however it doesn't paint the full picture. One of the most important aspects of ULN systems is the need for incredibly good husbandry practices and careful observation of livestock. In reality just observing that could drastically improve a tank. While I'm not prepared to sit here and say that it's the only way to success, because frankly it would be bullshit which is not something I'm about, I will say that the success it can yield is a truly beautiful thing to behold. Because the coral are spending less time trying to process their own food from the photosynthetic action of zooxanthellae, and because under these conditions the aim is to control the addition of highly-available nutrients to the tank so they may be metabolised by the inhabitants, the coral have more opportunity to show their true colouration and show increased growth rates. This is the primary reason the majority of people seek to employ a carbon-driven bacterioplanktonic system, to enhance colouration and growth, particularly in Acroporidae (something these methods all achieve with varying levels of success). They do work, the science behind them does make sense, but unless they're employed properly and monitored closely it can lead to disaster. I guess the biggest thing here is, to make sure you know just what you're doing before you jump in and go for it because when it does go wrong, it does go wrong catastrophically for the ill-prepared or the underinformed.
The second element I've found increasingly, is people who consider these methods a "silver bullet", something that will magically cure their tank of woes which have come about various means of failing husbandry - feeding too heavily/improper choices for food, insufficient nutrient export capacity, too infrequent waterchanges, too many fish... whatever the reasons, a lot seem to figure that these will make up for such pitfalls. It's true to an extent, granted, but it will never supplant proper management in the first place which are of vital importance to these systems having the success as described on the tin. The truth of the matter is, if there was a true "silver bullet" cure-all to make lax reefkeeping practices have measurable success it wouldn't be an experimental niche of the hobby - it would simply be "the way". So no, it won't obsolete water changes or make your tank suddenly a million times better without you, the aquarist, putting in the legwork to get it there. This is especially true of the current swathe of "biopellet" products coming to market - it seems to be an increasing trend to rely on these as a shortfall to pick up the slack on a system incapable of fully cycling its nutrients from import to export without actually understanding the caveats of such a system. My personal feelings on biopellet products are for another day however. Irrespective - NO, ZEOvit/VSV/NP/UltraLith/etc is not going to spontaneously make your system look like what you see adorning the pages of all the top magazines and sites and winning accolades like the ZEOvit Dream Tank of The Quarter if you, the guy in front of the tank, can't give back what you're taking.
Thirdly, and this one is one which just baffles me, is an increasing trend of people assuming these systems are easy and for everyone - even aquarists who've never kept a marine tank before. They're not hard per-se, but they are incredibly intricate and do rely a lot on scientific comprehension. Sure, it's possible to have success with them as an incoming reefkeeper, but at the end of the day, these are an exception to a rule which should stand firmly. There is a lot of things which happen in a bacterioplanktonically-driven system. There is a lot of things which change from a traditional system, and a lot of things which must be observed incredibly closely. It's a very fine line between happy and healthy corals with vibrant colours, and not so happy corals which are exhibiting distinctly more white than they used to be. This can be sudden and confounding if you don't know what is going on and don't know how to respond. Even if you do it can still be a frustrating thing, the difference is in knowing you know how to fix these problems as they arise and hopefully can avoid a total wipeout before it occurs.
Next on the list is the lack of understanding about what happens once you get to these nutrient states. I guess the biggest factor of importance here is to explain one thing very clearly: a tank under a ULN condition needs to be fed, hard, or else the invertebrate inhabitants will perish from malnutrition. The entire concept of it is that you are driving off excess nutrients to allow for the watershed to have almost undetectable traces of organic matter dissolved - this in turn reduces the ability of things like algaes to grow. Yes, you may have just made a startling observation after that last sentence - I said algaes and not just something like "nuisance microalgaes" - and yes, this does include the algaes present as symbiont in all photosynthetic corals (zooxanthellae). In other words, if you don't put some form of nutrient back into the system in a controlled fashion, all algae will suffer dieback. This, to me, is ZEOvit's single biggest drawfactor and probably the biggest point where many systems of this nature can and should overlap - the controlled nutrients which are supplemental to the system proper. Once you're at this properly low nutrient state, the use of these "blue bottles" can have astoundingly large effects on a system and the vitality of the Scleractinians contained. The use of varied coral foods, the use of ionic enhancers, the use of selective zooxanthellae reducers (caveat emptor on this type of enhancer...) can all play a huge role in bringing out brighter and more vibrant colours. Simply making the right food available can take a system from good to OMG WTF GREAT!!! with a bit of careful management and the right enhancers.
After this, we get the common complaint that the dosage rates and work involved is too great. Bullshit. I've ran many of these systems now, and as one of the laziest people around I must comment... if you can't input the seconds necessary to satiate the dosing requirements for this kind of system then you have problems bigger than dull corals or high nutrients. When I say seconds, I mean literally that - seconds - being necessary to dose the things you need. The real time comes in in observing the inhabitants closely for the vital signs I mentioned earlier. Starting to come together a bit clearer? Even with something like ZEOvit, the necessary input is pretty small and well within the limitations of even the most slobbish aquarist, providing they are willing to meet the demands of the systems. If you can't dedicate time to allow for inspection, these systems are not for you because it does run a thin line between success and catastrophe which will be governed by how closely you can observe. It must be said, of the systems I've ran, the ZEOvit was the most unforgiving in this regard. To an extent things like VSV will give you some leeway, at least a lot more than the "big boy" methods. As for the amounts to be dosed being too high... ever hear of "less is more"? That applies astoundingly importantly to these things. I personally found the real rates to be dosed on ZEOvit especially to be close to about 1/6th of the recommended dosages for just about everything. Overcook it and you in effect work against yourself.
Another fun one is the way in which parameters interact with these systems. Alkalinity is probably the biggest here. There are examples of exceptions to this, but as a general guideline - if you venture above 8.5dKH or below 6.5dKH, you will encounter problems. Depending on the system and the corals involved will influence these reactions, but you can virtually lay money that there will be some reaction which is negative. Bacterioplanktonically-driven systems are incredibly stressful on corals as you're in effect malnourishing them, for this reason your parameters really need to be somewhere in the middle of that window. Also of note is the all-too-common complaint that PO4 concentrations won't reduce under these systems despite "undetectable Nitrates". Dose as hard as you like, without Nitrogen there, the bacteria can't do much with the Phosphorous you're trying to eliminate. The two solutions here would be, either remove it manually with a scrubber like ROWAphos, or, counter-intuitively, feed more Nitrogen-based foods. Thank Alfred C. Redfield for that very fact! Oxygenation is another important aspect... if you are not observant, it's possible to overdose a tank and "choke" inhabitants as bacteria consumes all available dissolved Oxygen. For this reason, your skimmer will need to be well serviced and even better speced.
And then there's the kicker... it's too expensive! HA. I hear this one for ZEOvit a lot and it really makes me chuckle. Sure, to buy into it it's expensive. But based on the minuscule dosage rates by comparison to their suggested, it's fairly economical over a progressed timescale. It's not something you can buy into, run for a few weeks and remain it as a fiscally sensible purchase. Over a period of time, say twelve months though, I actually found it to be mathematically quite a large amount cheaper than alternatives (for example, ROWAphos and activated carbon as well as large waterchanges). With these systems, because they are not serving the major function of nutrient removal, waterchanges can afford to be smaller per interval. Also, because the core of these systems only requires a carbon source, they can be done incredibly cheaply while still yielding excellent results. The trick is in picking the right one for you - and knowing how to manipulate these to suitability. This is why things like VSV arose, carbon sources have different properties based on their origin which will influence their effect on corals (some deepen colours, some lighten, some influence pastels, some induce extra metallic shimmer, some add depth...). These can all be manipulated to achieve the desired results by simply changing the type of carbon dosed - the majority of which can be had for a small outlay per unit of reduction (especially things like common household carbons - sugar, Vodka, and vinegar). It's only as expensive as you wish it to be. I know which results I prefer!
All in all, these systems will all work... pending the guy at the helm knows what is going on and how to influence certain factors. All have benefits, all have drawbacks, all have caveats to observe to ensure success. There's a very real level of risk involved, make no mistake of it. These systems are inherently not for everyone and definitely not for those who're uncomfortable with the scientific aspects of it all, but, while that is the reality... they are for those who want to control their systems at a fine level and really optimise their tanks to be all they can be. I wouldn't recommend it for every tank - the most profound effect will be on tanks primarily composed to Acroporidae and their counterparts (Small-Polyped Scleractinians, "SPS"), employing them fully on systems primarily composed of "LPS" (Large-Polyped Scleractinians) and soft corals can cause more issues than it will cause positive results. Additional to this, these systems will all vary in their suitability. Personally my next system will be commended as a modification of the VSV methodology and eventually transitioned to ZEOvit, these are the systems I've found most in line with what I want to achieve and how I wish to maintain a tank. No matter what process you choose, as long as you are observant and adept you will surely find success.
Happy reefing!
