Ozone generator (for house air) and reef tank?

[Kris 2020]

So funny story (really not funny at all)- on Monday night a skunk sprayed outside our house, right near where the furnace manifold intake is. We all woke up gagging and sputtering at 2 am. Every floor and every room in the house has been infiltrated with skunk stink. You could like, taste it if you went in the basement where it was strongest. Left windows open all day yesterday, got home from work and it still stinks. Got out of bed this morning, took the dogs out, walked back in the house, still stinks. Its really strong in the basement still. Our neighbor offered for us to use his ozone generator to try and get the stink out of the house air. I'm assuming altering the indoor air would have a negative effect on my tank? Both tank (on the main floor) and sump (in the basement) are open top.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is there a way to use an ozone generator safely? If I cover the tank and sump securely? The ozone treatment could take anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours, and I imagine I would need to do it on each floor.

 

[George81]

My dog got sprayed by a skunk and ran inside....the house smelled for a couple weeks and the dog still smells like skunk when he gets wet a year later. I have an ozone generator but I wouldn’t ever use it inside. it stinks.....and it produces a mist. I used it to try to get the smoke smell out of the house I bought...the garage was the worst. No luck. before I moved in I ozoned The house.
I guess what I am saying is don’t use ozone with people in the house If you are going to use it.
for dealing with the skunk smell I used plug in air fresheners and spray. on every floor. I think I became nose blind to the skunk smell. but it does go away..it just sucks while your dealing with it. I feel your pain. Good luck

 

[Kris 2020]

My dog got sprayed by a skunk and ran inside....the house smelled for a couple weeks and the dog still smells like skunk when he gets wet a year later. I have an ozone generator but I wouldn’t ever use it inside. it stinks.....and it produces a mist. I used it to try to get the smoke smell out of the house I bought...the garage was the worst. No luck. before I moved in I ozoned The house.
I guess what I am saying is don’t use ozone with people in the house If you are going to use it.
for dealing with the skunk smell I used plug in air fresheners and spray. on every floor. I think I became nose blind to the skunk smell. but it does go away..it just sucks while your dealing with it. I feel your pain. Good luck

Thank you @George81, good to know there’s an end in sight. We have sprayed everything and lit ALL the candles. Ugh I just want it to go away. Thanks for your input on the ozone!

 

[AdamD76]

You can try some of this:

https://wildlife.unl.edu/pdfs/removing-skunk-odor.pdf

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ozone will readily react with and reduce the smell of skunk, but I am not a fan of indoor ozone due to toxicity.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

You may have another possibility, but it must be done by professionals with the house empty of people and pets. That's vapor phase hydrogen peroxide treatment. While very little hydrogen peroxide will make it into your tank, it would still be advisable to shut off the skimmer (or much better, run the skimmer air intake outside of a window temporarily), cover the open top of the tank and wrap the cabinet base with plastic.

There's a couple of advantages to vapor-phase hydrogen peroxide over ozone - the first is considerably less damage to anything plastic that you might have in the house, the second is (probably) much more effective removal of the skunk smell. There are, however, a couple of downsides. The first is that to be effective, the company will have to humidify your house to near 100% R.H., which may affect books and other paper articles that you wish to keep. The second is that this could be quite expensive, as the process is rather involved and must be done by professionals. But it might be covered by home owner's insurance.

 

[Kris 2020]

You may have another possibility, but it must be done by professionals with the house empty of people and pets. That's vapor phase hydrogen peroxide treatment. While very little hydrogen peroxide will make it into your tank, it would still be advisable to shut off the skimmer (or much better, run the skimmer air intake outside of a window temporarily), cover the open top of the tank and wrap the cabinet base with plastic.

There's a couple of advantages to vapor-phase hydrogen peroxide over ozone - the first is considerably less damage to anything plastic that you might have in the house, the second is (probably) much more effective removal of the skunk smell. There are, however, a couple of downsides. The first is that to be effective, the company will have to humidify your house to near 100% R.H., which may affect books and other paper articles that you wish to keep. The second is that this could be quite expensive, as the process is rather involved and must be done by professionals. But it might be covered by home owner's insurance.

Wow thanks, I have not heard of this treatment before. Something to consider.

 

[Kris 2020]

Ozone will readily react with and reduce the smell of skunk, but I am not a fan of indoor ozone due to toxicity.

I am having concerns about this as well, especially since the worst area is the basement, and there is no opening windows or outside ventilation aside for the furnace intake. I’m worried it will be difficult to air this area out after treatment, among other things.

Picked up some febreeze plug ins and ordered an air purifier and am trying to be patient. Entirely against my nature.

 

[John08007]

I am a real estate agent. I've used ozone to rid a condo of cigarette smell and another to kill mold from a leaky pipe.

After you need to open all the windows to let it air out. You don't want to be in there while it is full of ozone. You also need to remove any furry friends. I can't see it harming your tank since many run ozone on their skimmers to clean the water.