OZONE - my observations

quack · #1 02/01/2006, 01:21 PM

for the past 6months:

ist im very pleased - water quality has improved dramatically!

ORP initially climbed to 450 (my limit) over a week. Then fell to the mic 200 to 300 for the next 2 months, despite by best efforts to get it to go up. Now for the last month it has settled down to max'ing out out nite and falling to about 300 during the day . . . and me and the tank couldn't be happier!

I do the usual stuff, clean the probe about every 2 weeks. I dont use thge air drier because it became a pain in the ***. My air pump in in an airconditioned equip room and the humidity stays low. . . so that helps.

Another trick . . . loop the 03 tubing going into the skimmer (venturi) pump a foot higher than the water level in the skimmer . . . this will prevent siphoning of salt water into your ozonatoir in the event of power interruptions!!

I have a large tank . . . but feedings will rapidly decrease ORP . . . really interesting for us left brain types!!!! No, hands in the tank do not affect it lol.

Adding colalvite, bioionic etc seems to lower it a little for a while. I dont see much effect with water changes, though it only do them about 2x a month

thats about it for now

thanks

eckrynock · #2 02/01/2006, 01:28 PM

Thanks for posting. I am really interested in getting an ozonizer and it seems everyone who gets one falls in love with it. Do you mind me asking what brand you got?

Randy Holmes-Farley · #3 02/01/2006, 01:31 PM

Thanks for the info, quack.

I'll be posting a series of 3 articles in reefkeeping magazine (March, April, and May, probably) covering many aspects of ozone, from what it does chemically to the safety risks to the equipment used to actual measurements of changes in my tank.

I've not completed most of the post ozone measurements, but I've been using it for 2 weeks now, and I'm not sure the tank is visibly different in any way.

quack · #4 02/01/2006, 01:47 PM

i use the readsea biggest unit. It runs most of the day! Everyone comments on the clarity of the water . . . and have done so since day one . . . i dont know . . . maybe im just lucky though i do have a very large tank and porobably some water flow issues.

I do not see how anyone could use ozone without a controller with probe . . and here is u get what u pay for!!!! Still it seems to me in this hobby, 03 is like bringin up nuclear energy, even when (we now) know are addicted to 'ferign' oil!

so far i havent noticed any deleterious effects on equipment like hases pumps, acrylic etc . . i do use some 03 safe tubing, but whah the heck . . . the reg tubing is cheap!

I run carbon as i did before . . . nothing different. I dont worry about the skimmer effluent . . . but i gotta big skimmer!

and skimmer output is no different in any way with the use of 03

I suspect my tank and fish are healthier . . . and imma gonna run little unscientific test soon . . . gonna add a couple of ich prone fish and see what happens!!!!

quack · #5 02/01/2006, 01:48 PM

ps look forward to ur articles!!

steve the plumb · #6 02/02/2006, 12:04 AM

I have heard if ozone leaks or goes to high it will kill everything.Is this a high risk factor meaning does it happen often.Maybe more so with cheap equipment or is it lack of knowledge by the user.

quack · #7 02/02/2006, 01:09 AM

u must have a contrlooler with a ORP probe. It is very unlikely u will have problems this way

Boomer · #8 02/02/2006, 02:06 AM

quack

despite by best efforts to get it to go up

Are you using an air dryer ? Have you cleaned the ozone unit ? Have you cleaned the ORP probe ?

DaveBrader · #9 02/02/2006, 03:01 AM

I bought one of those little cheap blue and white boxed Ozone Generators used for 35 bucks... starts with an E ends with a Y...

At first I thought it was not working right because my initial ORP reading was like 220 and after a week of running the Ozone, it barely climbed...

To make a long story short, it took well over a month for my ORP readings to get over 400... Now, I have my ORP controller set to 415 and it stays there almost all the time.. ORP drops to 340 after feeding, and two hours later it is right back up to 420.

I do use an air dryer, home made and huge, holds four bags of the blue pellets. I bought 8 bags, so when I have to change them out once a month only, I have a month to dry out the desicant, and then just swap it out again.

The little Enaly unit I bought for so cheap, has a built in air pump, but I added an airpump before the airdryer and now the Ozone generator performs much better. It used to run twice as many hours per day before I added the airpump. Watching it go on and off as the ORP drops, I have estimated the unit only runs now about 4 hours per day to maintain the ORP at 420.

Now besides being very inexpensive, I believe adding the Ozone was the best thing I have done. My water is so clear now, that when I turn off my pumps for feeding, it looks like the fish are just floating in the air............

Skimmer production went up at first, but now actually has gone down, only really producing much skimate after feeding.

I would not hesitate reccomending Ozone to anyone now..

Dave

quack · #10 02/02/2006, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Boomer
quack

despite by best efforts to get it to go up

Are you using an air dryer ? Have you cleaned the ozone unit ? Have you cleaned the ORP probe ?

no (about worthless)
yes, weekly
yes. weekly

your unit may be undersized. see my thread 'observation on OZONE'

quack · #11 02/02/2006, 08:26 AM

and DAVE, i agree with your post dude!!! And nice trick with the dessicant. My o3 unit is in an airconditioned equip room with low humidity . . . and is s/w oversized for my tank. If sized correctly and other factors are correct, one should get orp int the 450 range at night with lights off as i do

Billybeau1 · #12 02/02/2006, 10:17 AM

Well as I said in the other thread, I have no idea why I cant get my ORP over 300. It was 288 this morning. The unit is not undersized, I use an air drier, clean my probe once a week, use an air pump to push the ozone to the skimmer. I can smell ozone being produced when I take the carbon cup off the top of the skimmer. I am running the 100mg unit wide open in my 72 gal. I just dont know.

I'm not sure what Boomer ment by cleaning the ozone unit. I'll have to pull out the directions tonight and read up on any recommendations for maintenance.

The quest continues.

quack · #13 02/02/2006, 10:27 AM

is the volume of water thru the skimmer enuf? Maybe take the carbon cup off for a few day and watch carefully. what brad 03 do u have. with the readsea u can flush 93 ozone ports wi a dilute methanol/water solution when needed. If u have ever lost power u may have salt in the unit or tubing. are u feeding 03 to a skimmer pump venturi?

Billybeau1 · #14 02/02/2006, 11:18 AM

I have the Red Sea Aquazone Deluxe 100mg unit. I have a Berlin Turbo skimmer. The outlet hose attached to the skimmers pump and is drawn through the skimmer chamber. I have good bubbles and decent skimmate. If I leave off the carbon cup, I smell ozone in the room so I prefer to leave it on. If flow wasnt decent in the skimmer I wouldnt be producing skimmate I wouldnt think. I have experamented with adjusting the air pump from not running it at all to medium to full blast. This does not seem to affect performance.

quack · #15 02/02/2006, 12:13 PM

IMHO, i just dont understand why u smell 03 with the carbon cup off . . . it (03) ought to be going into solution in the skimmer chamber.

Billybeau1 · #16 02/02/2006, 12:37 PM

Well someone said that ozone only lasts about 20 to 30 seconds after its produced. Dont know whether this is true or not. If that is the case I'm sure it take less time then that to get from the unit to the skimmer chamber so I assume what I am smelling is the ozone released by the bubbles at the top of the chamber. I also forgot to note that when I separate the air line from the skimmer I get an extremely strong ozone odor, so I know the unit is producing. So at this point it has to have something to do with the way the ozone is reacting in my skimmer. FWIW when I shut the unit down for a couple of days, the ORP only drops about 10 to 15 mv. Maybe, just maybe the skimmer just isn't big enough not allowing enough contact time before the ozone dissipates

Boomer · #17 02/02/2006, 12:41 PM

Quack

Do search on me here on ozone. Part of your problem is no air dryer. An RH of a meer 30 % will reduce output by 25- 30 %. Ruffly what ever the RH is = reduction of output on the ozone units. It is also dangerous to run ozone without an air dryer, as ozone and most air combine to produce nitric acid. Ozone units should be sized according to tank net vol and running between .3- .5 mg / hr/gal, corrected for RH. Most ozone units will loose half their output without an air dryer. You also should not try to exceed 450 mV.

your unit may be undersized. see my thread 'observation on OZONE'

I do not have a clue what you mean by the above. This is that thread. I ran ozone for 30 years. And it is quite easy to run ORP of 300-400 mV without ozone.

All the ozone does not go into the water and stay there, it is a gas and easily escapes, the reason for a carbon cup.

I myself do not run a carbon 'guard' at the skimmer effluent.

That is also dangerous, due to the production of bromine

of350/375 are 'better' (water quality) than tanks of averages of 225/250 . .

Usually not always fresh made seawater at aeration for 24 hrs is about that.

Boomer · #18 02/02/2006, 12:56 PM

Billy

High tension transformer units , such as yours, use a glass electrode, set inside a metal tube. The "ozone gap" ( the space between the electrode and tube) is very small and needs to be cleaned once a month. The tube is usaully scrubbed with a metal wire brush ( just like you clean a shotgun) and the electrode hand cleaned in a dilute acid ( just like you clean a pH probe). Then rinsed, dried and put back together.

Well someone said that ozone only lasts about 20 to 30 seconds after its produced. Dont know whether this is true or not. If that is the case I'm sure it take less time then that to get from the unit to the skimmer chamber so I assume what I am smelling is the ozone released by the bubbles at the top of the chamber

100 % correct

steve the plumb · #19 02/03/2006, 03:22 AM

do you need an ozone unit if you are running a UV unit.I know some people have both.

Randy Holmes-Farley · #20 02/03/2006, 08:26 AM

I do not think they do similar things. UV's mostly kill bacteria and other suspended organisms. Ozone mostly oxidizes dissolved organics.

Billybeau1 · #21 02/03/2006, 09:59 AM

Yes, I run both for that very reason.

steve the plumb · #22 02/03/2006, 11:38 PM

I am a little nervous about getting a unit.Would I have to run it threw my skimmer since I have a pacific coast skimmer and a remora pro I am not sure if those skimmers are ozone friendly.I don't know alot about ozone units.I have seen another brand that works without a dryer.Marine depot site

quack · #23 02/04/2006, 12:06 AM

the dryers are recommended, but my unit is in a low humidity equip. room so i sont use it most of the time. It is rec to run into the skimmer. I havent noticed any bad effects but i guess it depends on the skimmer container and time. The benifits to me are worth it.

quack · #24 02/04/2006, 12:07 AM

today i saw my orp go from 280 to 440 in just a couple of hours. Another reason to run 03 with a controller!!

fancyfish · #25 02/04/2006, 12:08 AM

I run both uv and ozone. I do not use a dryer but should for unit efficiency. I have run my ozone for about a month now. It took a few weeks to see a difference in my tank. I will say however that my water and tank are much more clear/clean now than they were. my skimmer is much more efficient. I am pleased with this addition. Increase orp slowly as your corals will bleach.