Ozone Reactor

[BCOrchidGuy]

Just out of curiosity, if there was a problem with the carbon scrubber and ozone did make it into the aquarium, wouldn't it burn the fishes gills and probably kill them as well. Ozone is an oxydizer, it breaks down rubber etc, and it will burn mucous membranes.

Doug

[MitchM]

Originally Posted by BCOrchidGuy

Just out of curiosity, if there was a problem..... wouldn't it burn the fishes gills and probably kill them as well.

Doug

Yes, that's right.

Pleasant, isn't it?

Mitch

[Buccaneer]

So I ended up building a new house and did not bother with the Ozone reactor project as I sold my tank with the old house ( could not get it out of the basement anyway ) and ended up selling the temp tank too that I took to the new house

So whats the current state for ozone use ?

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by BCOrchidGuy

Just out of curiosity, if there was a problem with the carbon scrubber and ozone did make it into the aquarium, wouldn't it burn the fishes gills and probably kill them as well. Ozone is an oxydizer, it breaks down rubber etc, and it will burn mucous membranes.

Doug

Hobby units are not even close to strong enough to kill much in our tanks. I know people who use them without carbon at all. Even larger parasites running through ozone reactors can often survive. The exposure would have to be VERY long at high levels and ozone just doesn't last long enough in saltwater for this to be a real concern with the small units we use.

For ozone to be effective you need a contact time of at least 45 seconds (not likely with most reactors), much bigger ozonizer than most companies carry and a much bigger industrial air pump that get really expensive. Otherwise all your doing is making the water clear and not much else.

I used ozone for years and would never bother again. It really is a waste of money IMO....unless you can spend thousands to set it up properly and even then, its benefits in a reef aquarium really are not much.

In a North Sea system may years ago studies where done on ozonated seawater vs non-ozonated seawater. There is no doubt from this study that the use of Ozone did cause a decrease in bacteria population density but had no effect what so ever on parasites or other protozoans. They also gave no ozone concentrations in this study. In general there will be or can be a 10 % decrease in bacteria form 300-400 mV. But nothing really happens until you get to 600mV. And it takes 800 mV to cause complete sterilization. And contact times in all of these need to be somewhere between 30 - 60 sec. and we get nowhere near that in most reactors.

[phreezee]

I've got a Aquazone 200 Plus and only have an ORP in the 300s and have never hit 400.
Besides the clear water, I found it was the best Ich treatment out there. It also helped with algae. I just run it through my skimmer and I don't use carbon, and inverts, SPS, LPS, and fish are fine.

[Pescador]

Monitoring ORP in my tank gives me an immediate indication if something is wrong with my tank i.e. a fish or coral dying.

Here's my ozone setup, it should be easy to DIY the reactor.
I replaced the MTC carbon reactor with a smaller one that sits in the sump. I also found no need for the separate carbon air filter as excess air in the ozone reactor is carried out with the water.
I use a controller but the ORP has never been high enough to shut it off. Every ones tank is different some have naturally higher ORP levels where ozone would not benefit as much.

What I notice the most besides crystal clear water is darker skim mate (like vodka dosing) and hardly ever have to clean the front glass anymore.








Reefkeeping.com articles on Ozone
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/rhf/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/rhf/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-05/rhf/index.php

[BlueAbyss]

I would combine protein skimming, ozone, and vodka dosing (and carbon). A 3 pronged approach to getting 1. the clearest water possible, and 2. reducing nutrient levels across the board.

I agree that hobbyist units that are commonly available will probably not overall reduce bacteria populations, but you could combine ozone and UV, one after the other to get the maximum benefit out of it. And a slower flow rate on the ozone reactor would help there too.

[BlueAbyss]

Note also that anything that kills algae spores will reduce or stop the growth of coralline algae as well as the bad stuff.

[phreezee]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

Note also that anything that kills algae spores will reduce or stop the growth of coralline algae as well as the bad stuff.

I haven't had that problem, in fact coraline is just another nuissance algae to me (well at least on my glass).

[Buccaneer]

So far 3 yay and 1 nay

anymore takers ? ... there were lots of naysayers when I brought this up the first time ... have there been lots of converts since then ?