Do you even Ozone bro? Should you?

[KimG]

So we had a member who wanted us to talk about Ozone Generators in our QOTD and I think it will make an excellent discussion! What is an Ozone Generator? Well I'm glad you asked and here is a nice brief description from Bulk Reef Supply.

Using Ozone will have many benefits in the aquarium:

• Healthier corals and increased polyp extension due to the oxidation and breakdown of corals defensive toxins
• Consistently clear water and proper light penetration due to the oxidation and breakdown of color pigments
• Increased skimmer efficiency due to ozone causing waste particle to attract each other creating larger easier to filter particles
• Oxidation and breakdown of fish waste and uneaten food

So the questions are as follows:

1. Are you using an Ozone Generator on your aquarium and if so have you experienced the benefits?

2. What is your general overall thoughts on Ozone Generators?

Nice question today.

I would be careful about it doe. Looking at the post above it looks like roses and reasons to use it, and no warnings on safety.....

And it surely will do most of that.
We use it in aquaculture research and in the industry.
If well applied it is fantastic.

Miss the dose and it could wipe out your tank. It's probably one of the strongest disinfectants we can use in reef tanks.
Ozone WILL break down materials that are not resistant to it. So if you are going to install it, make sure you use it with ozone resistant materials. Also, it can produced plenty of toxic byproducts in sea water.

Also, make sure you don't have leaks. If you have it in a small room with vary bad ventilation and a you develop a leak, it will build up. Most hobby ozonatores will probably not be big enough to cause serious damage (unless serious neglect happens) but still.

It can definitely provide benefits (plenty of scientific research on it) if well implement (ORP probes, small enough units and so forth).

However, I would not install one in a home aquarium, under any circumstances.
In my opinion the benefits of ozone do not justified the risks. Plus you can achieve most of it with other methods if you absolutely need to.

 

[fishbulb]

It’s not swimming pool, it’s a reef tank. How much are those gadgets?

About as much as a cadillac skimmer or light fixture. Expensive but on par for this hobby.

Ballpark, for around 1K you could get an ozonizer, an automatic air dryer, and the simplest ORP controller. If you have an Apex, you just need the probe.

Or for around the same, you could get the ozonizer, a dedicated ozone reactor, and maybe the controller.

Expensive for sure, but again on par with a lot of other high equipment in this hobby (what a set of MP40's or MP60's cost)? It's an appreciable investment for a large set up and total overkill for my 75g tank.

FB

 

[Brew12]

I'm another one that finds an Oxidator easier and safer to use which, along with GAC, offers many of the same benefits.

 

[Vette67]

About as much as a cadillac skimmer or light fixture. Expensive but on par for this hobby.

Ballpark, for around 1K you could get an ozonizer, an automatic air dryer, and the simplest ORP controller. If you have an Apex, you just need the probe.

Or for around the same, you could get the ozonizer, a dedicated ozone reactor, and maybe the controller.

BRS has the whole kit. Air dryer, ozone generator and controller for about $400. So it’s not outrageous compared to some equipment in this hobby. (BRS, I can let you know where to send the commission checks!)

 

[Conor_K]

I'm another one that finds an Oxidator easier and safer to use which, along with GAC, offers many of the same benefits.

Brew, can you point me where to find details/purchase one of these? Google is not my friend on this thing for some reason. I am pretty interesting in learning about it.

Also, what is everyone targeting for ORP levels with ozone? Curious how my tank compares to the goal numbers as it sits now with no ozone.

Cheers,
C

 

[Brew12]

Brew, can you point me where to find details/purchase one of these? Google is not my friend on this thing for some reason. I am pretty interesting in learning about it.

Also, what is everyone targeting for ORP levels with ozone? Curious how my tank compares to the goal numbers as it sits now with no ozone.

Cheers,
C

You can find them on Amazon by looking for a Sochting Oxydator. Just need to find the right size for your tank.
I don't have a target ORP anymore... I should recalibrate my ORP sensor

 

[Conor_K]

You can find them on Amazon by looking for a Sochting Oxydator. Just need to find the right size for your tank.
I don't have a target ORP anymore... I should recalibrate my ORP sensor

Haha, I like that. Is there such a thing as "too much" ORP? According to my recently calibrated sensor I hover around 400. Just wondering if there is a downside to adding one. I had planned on ozone once upon a time, but I like this thing considerably more. Always a big of fan adding things that can't hurt...

 

[Brew12]

Haha, I like that. Is there such a thing as "too much" ORP? According to my recently calibrated sensor I hover around 400. Just wondering if there is a downside to adding one. I had planned on ozone once upon a time, but I like this thing considerably more. Always a big of fan adding things that can't hurt...

An ORP of 400 seems very high to me. I'm not sure I would add any additional oxidizers with an ORP that high. Mine was in the low 300's last time I calibrated it.

 

[WVNed]

In recent months I have seen an ORP reading of from 88 to 510. ORP is truly a magical mystery number.

I have come to understand it is like TDS. It only means something in context. I can dose iron into my system and it will go down 100-200 points in 10 minutes. Did the water change much. Nope.

I have not and would not use ozone on a small system. Mine is 400 gallons now. Ozone does some things you can do other ways with consumable chemicals. It is just easier at some point to ride herd on a device you plug in instead of adding and replacing media.

I am currently using an Ultrazone 360. It is a light bulb inside an iron pipe inside a plastic pipe. I pump air through it into my skimmer air intake. Someone said ozone doesn't degrade plastic. When you can grab your skimmer air feed line and crumble it up into pieces you learn this isn't true. I used the kit from BRS to start with but wasn't happy with it after a while. I am not sure of the actual longevity of the corona discharge cells. Mine seemed to last 3 months or so.

There is more to it than just running it into your skimmer but I made my system out of a 5 gallon bucket, some PVC, ozone resistant tubing from BRS and some charcoal from Petco.

It works. It does what I expected it to. Is it a magical fix. Nope. You can still screw up your water.

Is it dangerous. Possibly, but I have a big vat of saltwater with 20 cords running electricity going into it. So
Danger is my middle name or something silly like that. If you smell it. Turn it off while holding your breath, come back later after it has dissipated and fix it. I have only had to do this twice. It will give you one heck of a headache.

The long white PVC tube on the wall Is the Ultrazone 360. It runs all the time unless the ORP controller turns it off.
I have it set at 385 as the control point.

I don't think I would bother with it if I didn't keep a lot of fish. But I do.

 

[robbyg]

I run an Ozontech unit from time to time. It’s not for the inexperienced but if you know what your doing you can get Gin clear water and eliminate just about every pest. It makes UV look like it’s not trying when results are compared! I cannot stress enough that you need to know how to set it up and use it or bad things can happen

 

[robbyg]

Dupe post

 

[ElussssvReefSD]

Has anyone here ever tried using a UV/Ozone Combo unit like this one?

Ozone/UV Units - Ozone Water Filtration System | Aqua Ultraviolet

An ozone water filtration system is the ideal choice for water features. Shop Aqua Ultraviolet's Ozone/UV units for the UV Sterilizer that's right for you.

aquaultraviolet.com

Since it injects the ozone directly into the line post-UV exposure, I'm assuming you'd need some way to ensure that the ozone dissipated before it got back into the tank...

 

[Murica]

I do, as of three months ago. I honestly don’t know why people don’t use these more... the thing is awesome. I have an orp controller with it and it keeps it right in my target area.

 

[brandon429]

Can someone "dumb" down ORP for me?

Right now I have a Clearwater Tech but it is about 8 years old and the output is declining. I want to upgrade to an Ultralife. Which version will you need? The mega? I was also thinking that uv generated ozone is more reliable. Why do you use ozone? For me was water clarity and destruction of...

www.reef2reef.com

Updates to truths in ORP

 

[blasterman]

I've been using one on my 20L that has a heavy SPS load and love it, but they arent plug and play.

I found through experimentation that the best level should be turned up so that you can barely smell it if you put your nose to the tank surface water and no higher. I messed with some Chinese units and some cranked so much ozone you could smell them in the room. This caused corals to respond badly and pull their polyps. Obviously some people in this thread have theirs turned up to sterilize a locker room.

I also only run mine a few hours at night. Just long enough to clear DOCs. There is some anti algae action as my glass is a bit cleaner but ozone does not really affect nuisance algaes. Some reefers run them longer and at lower settings as an anti parasitic.

Ozone also reduces skimmer efficiency while they are running. BRS showed this when they discussed them. However, they work great with turf scrubbers and cheato and in my opinion make organic nutrient reduction more efficient as a combi.