BRAND NEW TANK ORP READING 522 HELP

[blazemc]

Hi everyone,

I recently setup a Red Sea reefer 350 g2+ and am running a Reefmat 500, Nyos 160, Ozone Generator, 40w Deltec UV, MP40s, Vectra M2 return, and an axis pump to feed my uv.

I am also running an apex with a orp probe that was just broken in, I dose no pox daily since I cycled with the Red Sea reef mature pro and am following guidelines.

For the the last 2 days my orp has been shooting up like crazy and I don't know what to do, I haven't run ozone yet even though I have an ozone gen (only ran it for the first 2 days for 1 hour a day for water clarity after introducing the fish, 2 clowns, 1 tomini and a hippo) and the UV was on from fish introduction aswell but I have since turned it off. PH has been stable ish and crosschecked with a Hanna PH checker and I only have hanna checkers except salifert for cal & mag.

Yesterday when It shot up above 450 I turned off the UV and have since then turned off the skimmer as well, should I pour a little bit of the skimmer cup back in the tank?? I stopped doing auto water changes as there was a direct correlation between water changes and orp increase...

Attached are all my apex screenshots let me know if anyone knows anything or if my probe died after a month of use.

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Without the ozone, ORP will not get too high, regardless of a reading you may get (which may not be accurate).

I would not pour skimmate back. I’d just monitor for a week or so, and make sure the ORP probe does not have algae growing on it, which can make it read high.

 

[blazemc]

Hi guys,

Update seems to be linked to my deltec 40w uv sterilizer that is somehow producing ozone or the ballast in messing with the orp probe as the orp comes down very quickly once turned off. I moved the ballast and set the uv to turn on when ORP is below 400 and will keep you updated. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.

Update : Would like to add that the orp probe is not even close to the return for the uv which is in a different chamber after the orp probe. Also this only started happening a couple days ago as I was running uv for 2 weeks with no orp issues but then maybe the orp probe was still breaking in....

 

[blazemc]

Without the ozone, ORP will not get too high, regardless of a reading you may get (which may not be accurate).

I would not pour skimmate back. I’d just monitor for a week or so, and make sure the ORP probe does not have algae growing on it, which can make it read high.

Thanks for the reply,

I actually rinsed the probe in rodi water and it went from 520 to 450 and has now stabilized under 400 but it's still being affected by the uv being on. I moved the uv unit around and that removed some air bubbles which could have been creating the ozone. Skimmer is back on as nitrates went up 10 points in 2 days.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Thanks for the reply,

I actually rinsed the probe in rodi water and it went from 520 to 450 and has now stabilized under 400 but it's still being affected by the uv being on. I moved the uv unit around and that removed some air bubbles which could have been creating the ozone. Skimmer is back on as nitrates went up 10 points in 2 days.

The reading is not being directly affected by the UV itself, but rather by electrical fields from the wiring/ballast for the UV.

The output from the ORB probe is very small, and induced electrical voltages on the ORB probe cable can cause measurement issues.

You will probably find that by rerouting the ORB probe and UV wiring further away from each other the reading may stabilise.

I would also suggest that perhaps you are doing too much, too soon. Add one component at a time allowing the tank to stabilise each time and that way it will be simpler to diagnose any issues.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hi guys,

Update seems to be linked to my deltec 40w uv sterilizer that is somehow producing ozone or the ballast in messing with the orp probe as the orp comes down very quickly once turned off. I moved the ballast and set the uv to turn on when ORP is below 400 and will keep you updated. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.

Update : Would like to add that the orp probe is not even close to the return for the uv which is in a different chamber after the orp probe. Also this only started happening a couple days ago as I was running uv for 2 weeks with no orp issues but then maybe the orp probe was still breaking in....

I agree with the above. It is likely electrical interference, not a real ORP boost.

 

[blazemc]

Thank you guys very much for your help. Noted !