Ozone in tank? Ozonizers? Your thought!

[gqlmao]

Hello, I want to get an ozonizer for my tank, I dont know if its worth the time, effort and money in researching in extreme depth and getting one. It would be really helpful if fellow canreefers whom had experience or knowledge about ozone to come forth and enlighten me I know that it does make water clearer and destorys pathogens, however at the same time if used recklessly can destroy tanks and lessen skimmate amounts?. How about some opinions?

Thank you
Stanley,

[Parker]

Tagging along..I'm curious about ozone also.

[fencer]

Yes definitely worth it. Can be helpful on startup of new tanks. I run ozone in seasoned tanks and it doesn't hurt anything. My skim is less. LPS and SPS's seem to like it. You must use a controller.

[christyf5]

I used ozone for about a year or so in my 90 gallon tank. I bought a 50mg unit which is pretty undersized for my tank (I believe 250 or something is "more appropriate". At the time I wasn't using it to max out the bioload in my tank nor was I using it against disease. I was looking for something that would make the water crystal clear. At approximately 27mg it got the job done. Even at full dose for the unit I couldn't do any damage to my tank. I did have it hooked up to an ozone monitor (which to be honest I never fully understood, it had a low alarm but no high one). My tank hovered around 430 or so for ORP and I had to clean the probe weekly or it would give faulty readings.

Ozone will reduce your skimmate regardless of the amount you use. Ozone breaks down organic particles in the water, increasing clarity, however those organic particles are no longer removed by the skimmer because a good portion of them simply aren't there anymore, they've been oxidized. With the use of ozone, my skimmate was reduced to about 50% of the normal production rate. The clarity of the water was unbelieveable.

Some reading:

Ozone and the Reef Aquarium Part I by Randy Holmes-Farley
Ozone and the Reef Aquarium Part II: Equipment and Safety by Randy Holmes-Farley
Ozone and the Reef Aquarium Part III: Changes in a Reef Aquarium Upon Initiating Ozone by Randy Holmes-Farley

I've been using an ozonizer for about a month with an ORP controller. I have a 135 gallon reef with a 70 gallon sump. I am using a 100 mg unit. In two days, I had the clearest water I have ever had by far.

It definitely dropped my skimmer production - it's about 1/2 of what it used to be, but the tank is definitely cleaner and clearer. I had always run carbon in a fluidized reactor, but always had that slight yellow tinge that I could not seem to get rid of. It's all gone now.

I have seen no negatives so far, and it's relatively maintenance free (except for the air dryer). I would definitely recommend it.

[gqlmao]

I quickly glimsped through most of the readings by Randy farely Homes, they are very intresting read. I was planning on aiming for water clarity above all and I was looking at the 50 mg for my 100+ cube. Don't the ozonizers already have controllers built in?

[fencer]

My unit is a 200mg / hr unit in a 72g with a 33g sump...It hangs around the 380 mark. Christy is right you do have to clean the electrode once in a while.

[christyf5]

Originally Posted by gqlmao

Don't the ozonizers already have controllers built in?

Some do, some don't. I think most/some of the Red Sea models do. Mine is a Sander brand and didn't have one built in.