Ultralith Questions

[Social D]

Ok my current system is 100 gallons mainly filled with sps/lps
Atm i have 0 phos and 0.2 nitrate ,I have a refugium with cheato, i dont use a UV and will be running ozone for 2 hours per day.
I dont have a dsd, My current dosing is iodine daily strontium weekly and amino acids weekly, i dose tropic marin A and K additives daily with weekly doses of pro coral.
I feed 3 times a week with coral vibrance and coral frenzy.

Now when i start the Ultralith System will my current additives be ok?
Or can i cut any of the above out.
On the stm website the complete package is £90 how long will this last in my tank it wont cost this much every month will it?
also is that complete package all i need to run the ultralith system, Im right in thinking i dont need a zeolite reactor, i just dose from bottles.

Skimmer wise i have a tmc 600 is this big enough to cope, i am upgrading to a schuran skimmer soon is it best to wait?

sorry for all the questions.

[Stevielad]

In no particular order....

There is a thread about comparative costs futher down this forum. It does have significant ongoing costs.

The ultralith can be used in a bag in the sump but is more effective in a reactor.

It is generally advised to stop UV/ozone as it kills off the good bacteria you are adding.

Good skimming capacity is recommended - I cant comment on the TMC.

Why are you wanting to go down the Zeolith route? Is it for improving SPS colours or ??

You will likely see your chaeto stop growing and die back as the Ultralith system becomes effective. At that time its prob best to remove it.

[Social D]

Mainly to give some extra colour to my sps, also i have annoying algae on my rocks some byopsis and macro algae this will all die wont it.
Maybe its not for me but just how good will the colours go?

[jez]

Hi

Ok my current system is 100 gallons mainly filled with sps/lps
Atm i have 0 phos and 0.2 nitrate ,I have a refugium with cheato, i dont use a UV and will be running ozone for 2 hours per day.

At this point leave out the ozone there is little point in nuking the bacteria you are trying to develop. Switch to a little carbon used lightly to remove yellowing.


I dont have a dsd, My current dosing is iodine daily strontium weekly and amino acids weekly, i dose tropic marin A and K additives daily with weekly doses of pro coral.

At this point I would stop dosing strontium and iodine also amino acids also tropic marin A-K trace. Just use the MIN-S and Bac at the lower dosing levels increase slowly over the first month.

I feed 3 times a week with coral vibrance and coral frenzy.

Continue to offer the foods I personally would soak these in a few drops of min-s to boost there nutritional value, at present I see little benefit from coral frenzy, I have used coral vibrance to good effect and it seems to work pretty well.

Now when i start the Ultralith System will my current additives be ok?

See above

On the stm website the complete package is £90 how long will this last in my tank it wont cost this much every month will it?
also is that complete package all i need to run the ultralith system, Im right in thinking i dont need a zeolite reactor, i just dose from bottles.

Hi the pack STM offers for Ultra lith is based on the larger size 250 ml bottles. Based on a mid range dose of 2 ml per day of each the 250ml bottle should last 125 days. You will obviously start at 0.5 or one 1ml on your size tank. I would be happy to run .5 for a week although your currentl levels are all really low. Over time say three months you will probably fine tune the dosing to what suits your aquarium some people find they need a little more bak and a little less min-s it all depends on many variables but once you have a low nutrient base to start from say 12 weeks you can fine tune.

I would skip the probiotixc ULtra bio at this point and see how it goes, often this is not needed. If your system does not respond well in the first 3-4 weeks then a dose of good bacteria will help but quite often things will go well without.

Put the Lith in to a food safe container in the sump where it will get flow of 200-400 litres per hour also have it so you can shake it and release the mulm.


Skimmer wise i have a tmc 600 is this big enough to cope, i am upgrading to a schuran skimmer soon is it best to wait?

A V600 is a bit small for that size of tank depending on the fish load but it will be fine to get you started.

Having owned a Schuran skimmer I have to say lovely build quality only average performance. Unless I was being given one for free or very little money I would have a good look around there are lots of really good skimmers about these days that will make a difference.

regards Jez

[Social D]

Thanks thats cleared some issues up, Do MIN-S and Bac contain iodine do you know?

Regarding the food container i take it i will have to punch some holes it for circulation, or do they sit in a container then shake every so often.

Can you reccomend a decent skimmer for £280 as this is what the schuran costs, It also has to sit in a sump.

Thanks

[jobr]

Sigster pop to the local tescos, they have some peg baskets that are ideal for placing the lith in.

[Stevielad]

Regarding the food container i take it i will have to punch some holes it for circulation, or do they sit in a container then shake every so often.

If you get a plastic basket type container with holes in this should do the job - there is a pic a few threads down - 79p from Tescos IIRC

Can you reccomend a decent skimmer for £280 as this is what the schuran costs, It also has to sit in a sump.

You should be able to pick up a used Deltec AP851 for about £280 - cracking skimmer.

:)

[Social D]

Cheers im thinking of getting the complete package from http://www.reef-encounters.net/70160/info.php?p=2&pno=0&pid=758082&cat=29659&ack=9&search=& Does anybody use this reactor and can it just simply sit in a sump, How tall is it.

Couple more questions iv'e read that Zeolite users keep KH at 8 does the same apply to Ultralith as i keep my KH at 10.6.
My current readings are Nitrate 0.2 and 0 phos with salifert test kits what levels of nitrate will i potentially be looking at? Tbh i already have good colours in my acros but i'm always up for better and brighter:cool:
Whether this will happen is of course down to experimenting.

Again thanks for any info it's much appreciated.

[Stevielad]

It should be able to reduce nitrate to zero/undetectable, all being well.

Yes that reactor sits in a sump - there are several users on here - see my thread lower down - maybe PM one of them or start a new thread for dimensions?

[ckrhone]

Got mine delivered yesterday. I am modding it though as my reactor is going into an adjascent cupboard as it won't fit in my sump. it can be done if you get the right bits andbobs which I requested from Darren at Reef-Encounters. Give him a call and he will go through it with you. They are very helpful.