Ozone and Carbon

[Bent17]

Good day everyone. My Ozone Generator arrived this morning. I currently have carbon (inside reactor) running. With Ozone, do I still need to have carbon or can I remove the reactor?

Also I have UV running 24/7 should I turn it off or maybe shift it to 12hr daily?

 

[X-37B]

I ran the Avast Marine ozone reactor and ran the effluent through 1 liter of carbon. It's the way they have it set up.
Carbon should not be mixed or put in with the ozone material.
You want the effluent to flow through the carbon.

With that I took mine offline and just run it through a skimmer with similar results.

 

[Bent17]

Thanks I will remove the reactor to gain back some space! What about UV? its currently at 24/7 - should I change schedule?

 

[JeremyKnight]

Ozone and carbon have two different uses for your reef. Ozone destroys, carbon cleans. I use both, Ozone monitoring with orp. Carbon I run occasionally to clear any toxins or coral warfare out of the water.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Thanks I will remove the reactor to gain back some space! What about UV? its currently at 24/7 - should I change schedule?

You should be controlling Ozone by measuring ORP and switching based on that value.

The output of the ozone reaction chamber should pass over a carbon bed to remove ozone from the water before return to the tank.

Some more info on safe use of ozone in this 3 part article.

https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/rhf/index.php

 

[Miami Reef]

Ozone can produce OPO (Ozone produced oxidants) which can be toxic. While it isn’t clear how much of these OPO are produced in our applications, it’s still recommended to have carbon on the effluent.

You won’t need nearly as much carbon as it’s only used as a catalyst to break the toxic byproducts down.

 

[X-37B]

Thanks I will remove the reactor to gain back some space! What about UV? its currently at 24/7 - should I change schedule?

Uv is fine, imo. I ran it for years but not anymore.
I agree the best way is to use an orp Meter to control on/off.
Also skimmer needs to be ozone safe.
If you do not use an orp controller you can put it on a timer and have it come on for a couple hours a day.
I run mine at 3 on the Posiedon, no carbon and the skimmer is in the return section of my sump.
Keep in mind I am an experienced reefer and have ran ozone over the years with success.
Best thing it does for my 150 is it keep the water crystal clear. With ozone, finding the least amount needed is your best bet.
An example: I ran 6 on the Posiedon ozone unit with the reactor. With ozone into my skimmer I run 3 with no noticeable difference. So start low on the dial and consider a controller for control.

 

[backbayreef]

Uv is fine, imo. I ran it for years but not anymore.
I agree the best way is to use an orp Meter to control on/off.
Also skimmer needs to be ozone safe.
If you do not use an orp controller you can put it on a timer and have it come on for a couple hours a day.
I run mine at 3 on the Posiedon, no carbon and the skimmer is in the return section of my sump.
Keep in mind I am an experienced reefer and have ran ozone over the years with success.
Best thing it does for my 150 is it keep the water crystal clear. With ozone, finding the least amount needed is your best bet.
An example: I ran 6 on the Posiedon ozone unit with the reactor. With ozone into my skimmer I run 3 with no noticeable difference. So start low on the dial and consider a controller for control.

I have the Avast Marine Mutiny 2 unit as well, along with its carbon cartridge. Additionally, I run another separate carbon canister and 2 57W UVs on the 450gal tank.

Ozone & Carbon: I run ozone for 3 hours every night at 50% and the water is crystal clear. You supposed to change out the carbon every 3 weeks but I've been lazy. I'm not sure about the efficacy of carbon past 3 weeks. For starters, I might just run ozone and plumb straight into the skimmer (my BK skimmer supports ozone). This will save a lot of room but honestly, I have plenty of space in the sump so... If anything, removing the carbon since I should be doing this regularly to be effective!

UV: I run 2 x 57w Aquaviolet UVs 24x7. I do this for parasite control and not for water clarity. At some point, I want to turn them off but worried that I'll have an outbreak! They are insurance policy than anything...

 

[X-37B]

I forgot to mention that I run ozone 24/7. It sits around 400 and once at that level it does not move much except when I feed. It recovers quickly.
The old Mutiny and current 9430dc that replaced it.

 

[backbayreef]

I forgot to mention that I run ozone 24/7. It sits around 400 and once at that level it does not move much except when I feed. It recovers quickly.
The old Mutiny and current 9430dc that replaced it.

Very nice - looks like you & I share a similar setup, including a sulfur-based reactor! ;)

Curious why did you replace the Mutiny reactor with a separate skimmer? Also, where is the carbon now? I don’t see it in the second picture.

 

[backbayreef]

Also, instead of running for 3hrs at 50%, I’m planning to switch to 24/7 at 10% and slowly increase before ORP hit the ceiling.

 

[X-37B]

Very nice - looks like you & I share a similar setup, including a sulfur-based reactor! ;)

Curious why did you replace the Mutiny reactor with a separate skimmer? Also, where is the carbon now? I don’t see it in the second picture.

Yea I run no carbon on the skimmer.
I ran the Mutiny for a year and really saw no difference running it through a good skimmer. Plus the liter of carbon replacement.
Second skimmer because I had it.

 

[backbayreef]

Yea I run no carbon on the skimmer.
I ran the Mutiny for a year and really saw no difference running it through a good skimmer. Plus the liter of carbon replacement.
Second skimmer because I had it.

I would love to get rid of the carbon since it’s a pain to replace every 2-3 weeks! Do you smell ozone without carbon if running 24/7? I thought that it’s an absolute requirement…

 

[X-37B]

I would love to get rid of the carbon since it’s a pain to replace every 2-3 weeks! Do you smell ozone without carbon if running 24/7? I thought that it’s an absolute requirement…

With my skimmer I know if I go above a setting of 3 I smell it.
At a setting of 4 I smell it and would need carbon.

 

[gbroadbridge]

With my skimmer I know if I go above a setting of 3 I smell it.
At a setting of 4 I smell it and would need carbon.

Carbon is there primarily to remove toxic byproducts created by the ozone oxidation process, a handy side effect is odour reduction.

 

[Privateye]

I can say from experience that UV works wonders for knocking down your ozone/ORP. I've seen ORP graphs go from bouncing up and down (from the generator cycling on and off between the upper and lower limits, 350 and 300 respectively) to completely flat from adding a good UV. In this case it was DIY.

Carbon works too.

 

[C_AWOL]

I run carbon on the output of a diy ozone reactor. Helps ensure theres no unknowns accumulate that could be harmful and stops the ozone smell from the effluent.

I would continue to run the uv all the time unless you have a good reason not to.

 

[Bent17]

Ozone can produce OPO (Ozone produced oxidants) which can be toxic. While it isn’t clear how much of these OPO are produced in our applications, it’s still recommended to have carbon on the effluent.

You won’t need nearly as much carbon as it’s only used as a catalyst to break the toxic byproducts down.

That however would be placed on the skimmer not in the water. My query was for the carbon in my reactor for water to pass through

 

[Bent17]

I can say from experience that UV works wonders for knocking down your ozone/ORP. I've seen ORP graphs go from bouncing up and down (from the generator cycling on and off between the upper and lower limits, 350 and 300 respectively) to completely flat from adding a good UV. In this case it was DIY.

Carbon works too.

so you are saying that a UV messes up your ORP reading?

 

[X-37B]

That however would be placed on the skimmer not in the water. My query was for the carbon in my reactor for water to pass through

I don't know anyone that puts carbon in the no3 reactor, if that's what you mean.
All the output from the reactor should flow over/through carbon.
This is how the Mutiny reactor is set up. There is a separate chamber that all the no3 reactors effluent flow through.
Do you have a pic of your setup?