Can you run ozone without a skimmer?
- Thread starter lubeck
- Start date
- Tagged users None
vetteguy53081
Well known Member and monster tank lover
Partner Member 2024
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
RGB
Article Contributor
Tampa Bay Reef Keepers
West Palm Beach Reefer
Hospitality Award
Ocala Reef Club Member
305 Reef Club
Wisco Reefers
Midwest Reefer
Fish Medic
MAC of SW Florida
Rock Pool Reef Keepers
R2R Secret Santa 2023
My Tank Thread
My Aquarium Showcase
Yes you can run an ozonizer unit. Skimmers however assist with waste removal and ph
gbroadbridge
2500 Club Member
The output of your ozone generator is attached to the skimmer air input. This allows the ozone to interract with the water in the skimmer chamber.
As an alternative you can use a custom built ozone reactor which mixes the water and ozone for as long as possible.
After the ozone reactor you need to remove the ozone and any resulting waste products from the water and for that the water is run through an activated carbon bed.
There are a series of articles you can read.
Randy Holmes-Farley
Reef Chemist
Staff member
Super Moderator
Excellence Award
Expert Contributor
Article Contributor
R2R Research
My Tank Thread
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2014
- Messages
- 67,128
- Reaction score
- 63,470
Of course you can. I don't consider a skimmer the best option anyway. In the articles linked above I show using both a commercial reactor (probably no longer available) and a DIY reactor.
Ozone and the Reef Aquarium, Part 1: Chemistry and Biochemistry by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Ozone and the Reef Aquarium, Part 2: Equipment and Safety by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Ozone and the Reef Aquarium, Part 3: Changes in a Reef Aquarium upon Initiating Ozone by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
I have been running ozone a few years now. After you finish doing your research you will be missing a critical piece of the puzzle.
Ozone changes the surface tension of the contents inside the reactor. I inject ozone into a large Lifereef skimmer. At times the thing looks like its got freshwater inside it. It rarely skims.
So you can inject ozone into system water with a skimmer. If you run the ozone more than a few hours a day you will need another skimmer to skim.
So after taking my SRO-5000 out thinking I was doing an upgrade, I put it back in.
This is why I run 2 skimmers you see in the pics of my sump.
If you don't I suppose you will get some of the doom scenarios that appear because you are not removing the products of the reaction of the ozone with the tank junk. Your tank will get very dirty with nasty grey stuff.
Ozone changes the surface tension of the contents inside the reactor. I inject ozone into a large Lifereef skimmer. At times the thing looks like its got freshwater inside it. It rarely skims.
So you can inject ozone into system water with a skimmer. If you run the ozone more than a few hours a day you will need another skimmer to skim.
So after taking my SRO-5000 out thinking I was doing an upgrade, I put it back in.
This is why I run 2 skimmers you see in the pics of my sump.
If you don't I suppose you will get some of the doom scenarios that appear because you are not removing the products of the reaction of the ozone with the tank junk. Your tank will get very dirty with nasty grey stuff.
Last edited:
vetteguy53081
Well known Member and monster tank lover
Partner Member 2024
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
RGB
Article Contributor
Tampa Bay Reef Keepers
West Palm Beach Reefer
Hospitality Award
Ocala Reef Club Member
305 Reef Club
Wisco Reefers
Midwest Reefer
Fish Medic
MAC of SW Florida
Rock Pool Reef Keepers
R2R Secret Santa 2023
My Tank Thread
My Aquarium Showcase
When I ran an ozonizer, the brand was zoo Med but corallife was another one on the market
gbroadbridge
2500 Club Member
I think that would depend how often you are running the Ozone Generator.
Mine is controlled based on an ORP reading, and is only enabled to run at night between 11pm and 6am.
It only runs for about 60 minutes a day, so the rest of the time the skimmer is skimming
The tank just really doesn't ask for more than that.
I have been mucking around in the tank stirring up dirt this morning. My ORP has gone down and the controller is adding ozone
My Reef Octo skimmer is pulling the dirt out.
The skimmer with ozone isn't foaming at all.
My Reef Octo skimmer is pulling the dirt out.
The skimmer with ozone isn't foaming at all.
OP
OP
lubeck
Valuable Member
I think I will have a problem with export if I run ozone without a skimmerI have been mucking around in the tank stirring up dirt this morning. My ORP has gone down and the controller is adding ozone
My Reef Octo skimmer is pulling the dirt out.
The skimmer with ozone isn't foaming at all.
im assuming filter floss will not be adequate to remove the waste. Also not sure if I can afford to have my ph lowered. It’s already on the low end 7.9 at night.
Similar threads
