Series on Ozone - GAS for Skimmer Exhaust and Ozone Produced Oxidants

mcgullen · Oct 27, 2023

I watched the BRS series on ozone with great interest. One thing that stood out from the recent interview with Elliot is his comment on how ozone solved his tank's diatom problem within 12 hours. The only way that could be true is that ozone produced oxidants (as discussed in @Randy Holmes-Farley 's article ) got into the main tank. But BRS clearly advised capping skimmer exhaust with GAC to prevent ozone produced oxidants from escaping the ozone reaction area.

Does that mean Elliot did not follow BRS's ozone guidelines and did not use GAC at his exhaust?

Bulk Reef Supply · Oct 27, 2023

Great question! We wanted to touch base with Eliot on how they are running it at there shop. They run it a bit differently that your standard in-home installation. Here is the set up:

"The application I have is run with the ozotech Poseidon 100 and air dryer. The ozone unit is plumbed into the dedicated ozone intake port of an RK2 down draft skimmer.(the skimmer is designed to be run with ozone) The ventilation port on the top of the skimmer cup is plumbed with a line that goes directly outside the building to vent any ozone gas out and away from breathing spaces in the shop.

I run the ozone unit on a timer like a light, unlike most application. The use of ozone for me is primarily water clarity and nothing else. It's not for any of the other uses like sanitation, parasite control, or odor, so it takes exceedingly less ozone to achieve that result.

I have the Poseidon unit at the #3 setting on the dial. And it comes on for an hour every night. It's been running at this level and duration for almost a year. For water clarity results, it is able to keep up with a pound of frozen food and (6) 12x12 sheets of nori every day on a 1100 gallon system. "

mcgullen · Oct 28, 2023

Bulk Reef Supply said:
Great question! We wanted to touch base with Eliot on how they are running it at there shop. They run it a bit differently that your standard in-home installation. Here is the set up:

"The application I have is run with the ozotech Poseidon 100 and air dryer. The ozone unit is plumbed into the dedicated ozone intake port of an RK2 down draft skimmer.(the skimmer is designed to be run with ozone) The ventilation port on the top of the skimmer cup is plumbed with a line that goes directly outside the building to vent any ozone gas out and away from breathing spaces in the shop.

I run the ozone unit on a timer like a light, unlike most application. The use of ozone for me is primarily water clarity and nothing else. It's not for any of the other uses like sanitation, parasite control, or odor, so it takes exceedingly less ozone to achieve that result.

I have the Poseidon unit at the #3 setting on the dial. And it comes on for an hour every night. It's been running at this level and duration for almost a year. For water clarity results, it is able to keep up with a pound of frozen food and (6) 12x12 sheets of nori every day on a 1100 gallon system. "

This sounds like ozone processed seawater containing OPOs is indeed pumped back without dedicated GAC. Given that Elliot is using it as such a low level, OPOs won't irritate animals but are sufficient to break diatoms. Fascinating. I will experiment with our tridacna breeding systems (which has a diatom problem) and report results.