H2O2 dosing vs Ozone

[Cory]

My tank has 0 yellow tint. I change my carbon a lot.

I read a thread that ozone was superior to uv in achieving the cristal clear, no water effect. That’s why I posted here.

I don’t believe my tank needs yellow reduction, but rather removing/killing the free floating bacteria is what gives me the 0 water effect IMO.

Yes ozone is superior imo. That pic i posted was ozone not activated carbon sorry. If you want to kill bacteria safely a uv sterilizer is the best option at a slow flow.

Ive dosed h202 in my 120 bare bottom when I had dinos. I dosed 10ml of 35% food grade. This stuff left a white spot on your skin if you get it on it. Very dangerous. However i watched green algae on the glass dissappear in 5 minutes without cleaning it. Also my fish had bubbles coming off their skin. I could watch a reduction in dinos hourly. But they always came back! No fish died but are huge fish, not little ones. Imo h202 is best left outside on the rocks spot treating.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My tank has 0 yellow tint. I change my carbon a lot.

I read a thread that ozone was superior to uv in achieving the cristal clear, no water effect. That’s why I posted here.

I don’t believe my tank needs yellow reduction, but rather removing/killing the free floating bacteria is what gives me the 0 water effect IMO.

A number of folks said the same, then used ozone and saw a change. IIRC, someone's wife even noticed the change without the aquarist mentioning anything. You may not, but I don't think it is easy to say it isn't at all yellow.

 

[Miami Reef]

Hmm. Ozone is definitely something I will consider getting in the future. My display tank is a show piece, and getting the water quality superior is my goal.

Is using Ozone + UV overkill? Should ozone users remove the UV sterilizer?

 

[Cory]

Hmm. Ozone is definitely something I will consider getting in the future. My display tank is a show piece, and getting the water quality superior is my goal.

Is using Ozone + UV overkill? Should ozone users remove the UV sterilizer?

I use both a 90watt lifegard pro max and just recently again ozone. The two really keeps the water clear. But i feel the uv is killing too much phytoplankton.

20 years ago i had a 125 gallon in my apartment. I bought 100 pounds of Bali live rock from my lfs. Everything was gorgeous for a month. However after a few weeks the water turned pea soup green! I couldn't even see my fish it was that thick. Phytoplankton had bloomed to huge proportions. I went to my lfs and he told me i could borrow his uv sterilizer and it would get rid of it in days. I was skeptical but hooked it up and within 3 days the phyto was gone and the water clear. Uv works for microorganisms floating ime. But now i have a feather duster and im worried hes not getting any phytoplankton.

 

[Miami Reef]

A number of folks said the same, then used ozone and saw a change. IIRC, someone's wife even noticed the change without the aquarist mentioning anything. You may not, but I don't think it is easy to say it isn't at all yellow.

Question, does putting hydrogen peroxide on a dosing timer while running a UV sterilizer and running activated carbon have a similar effect as using ozone?

 

[cdnco2004]

Running Ozone and Dosing H2O2 are not always done for the same reasons at all and the effects on ORP are not the reason most people dose H2O2, it is to either treat or prevent parasites/illness. Most people who run Ozone are for either water clarity (yellow water issues) or to enhance the operation of their skimmer.

I saw OP talking about running UV less with H2O2 you should actually run UV while you are actively dosing. The UV light enhances the oxidization effect from the H2O2.

 

[cdnco2004]

Question, does putting hydrogen peroxide on a dosing timer while running a UV sterilizer and running activated carbon have a similar effect as using ozone?

For water clarity purposes yes.

 

[Miami Reef]

For water clarity purposes yes.

My goal is to make my fish look like They’re floating in the tank. I just have a slight haziness, and I do use UV, filter socks, activated carbon, and skimmer.

I would totally get ozone, but my sense of smell doesn’t work…do I need a sense of smell to use ozone?

I do have a robust dosing pump and a lot of 3% peroxide.

Not sure if that will help get that effect. I would like to hear @Randy Holmes-Farley ’s opinion on it peroxide would produce similar results if used with a UV.

 

[cdnco2004]

If you use Ozone you need to get an ORP meter and controller to make sure it only applies the ozone as its needed. If you got a DOS pump and you already have UV and activated charcoal then yeah just start dosing H2O2 and you will get the same water clarity and helping prevent parasites with out the worry about a very dangerous substance.

 

[Cory]

Uv and h202 didn't make the water less yellow at all in my experience. However ozone did.

 

[Miami Reef]

I ordered a Poseidon 200 Ozone Generator - Ozotech.

I will update with my results. I do plan to use my current UV sterilizer with ozone. I plan to keep everything the same so I can see the effects before and after ozone with little to no changes.

It will arrive this Thursday (2-3 days)

 

[Miami Reef]

This is my tank with no ozone.

It looks pretty clear, but in real life there is a very slight haze. This next picture kind of shows what I see in real life. The haze kind of ebbs and flows throughout the day, or so I’ve noticed.

 

[Cory]

This is my tank with no ozone.

It looks pretty clear, but in real life there is a very slight haze. This next picture kind of shows what I see in real life. The haze kind of ebbs and flows throughout the day, or so I’ve noticed.

Syphon some water in a white bucket and take a pic before and after.

 

[Miami Reef]

Syphon some water in a white bucket and take a pic before and after.

Good afternoon @Cory and @Randy Holmes-Farley

I just purchased 2 white 5 gallon buckets. One will be pure RO/DI and the other is be siphoned tank water.

My expectations is that the RO/DI and the tank water will look exactly the same, colorless.

I added a large amount of ROX 0.8 activated carbon in a reactor 2 days ago. I usually don’t add that much and I never used it in a reactor.

I am so curious to see what the results are. I will post pictures very soon because I am currently filling up the bucket with the freshwater. As soon as it fills I will siphon tank water.

 

[Miami Reef]

Results are in. I even switched the tank and RO/DI buckets to see if maybe the lighting influenced one of the buckets to be more yellow than the other, but they showed the same result as this photo.

The tank water was with a reactor full of ROX 0.8 carbon that ran for 2 days.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The GAC likely had a big effect, but the bucket on the left is more yellow.

 

[Miami Reef]

The GAC likely had a big effect, but the bucket on the left is more yellow.

Yes. I meant to imply that the tank water was more yellow and the sunlight was not making it seem yellow, the tank water was genuinely more yellow than the RO/DI.

I also do believe that the carbon had a big effect, and I do see a relatively decent difference after 2 days of adding the carbon to the tank, but I had to use a lot of it.

I think using Ozone will be more cost effective long term. And I won’t need to keep replacing a lot of carbon over and over to achieve similar results.

 

[Miami Reef]

The GAC likely had a big effect, but the bucket on the left is more yellow.

So quick questions,

I read your article and 2 things popped up that seemed like kind of negative with ozone.

1. Produces halogens like bromite that may be toxic at certain levels.

I do plan on using activated carbon on the output. Also planning to use as little as possible of ozone. I currently use UV, will that reduce that effect of bromite?

2. reduction in ammonia. I did hear that most of the corals and inverts we keep prefer ammonia over nitrate, and reducing their preferred N source seems undesirable to me.

What are some ways I can mitigate some of the negative effects? I’m still contemplating if using ozone is something I plan to do long term. The unit I purchased can be returned with a small restocking fee.

I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts.

 

[Big E]

Results are in. I even switched the tank and RO/DI buckets to see if maybe the lighting influenced one of the buckets to be more yellow than the other, but they showed the same result as this photo.

The tank water was with a reactor full of ROX 0.8 carbon that ran for 2 days.

You may want to try this comparison again with fresh mixed saltwater vs tank water. Depending what brand you use make sure it's fully mixed per manufacturer instructions.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So quick questions,

I read your article and 2 things popped up that seemed like kind of negative with ozone.

1. Produces halogens like bromite that may be toxic at certain levels.

I do plan on using activated carbon on the output. Also planning to use as little as possible of ozone. I currently use UV, will that reduce that effect of bromite?

2. reduction in ammonia. I did hear that most of the corals and inverts we keep prefer ammonia over nitrate, and reducing their preferred N source seems undesirable to me.

What are some ways I can mitigate some of the negative effects? I’m still contemplating if using ozone is something I plan to do long term. The unit I purchased can be returned with a small restocking fee.

I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Sufficient GAC eliminates concerns about most toxic compounds produced by ozone.

I do not know if the ammonia that corals experience actually decreases substantially. I would not worry about this one too much.