Hey folks. Here's a discovery I've just made. You may already know about this, but I certainly didn't. I'm curious to know whether other people have experienced this.
Preamble: A few months ago I started monitoring redox in my tank (oxygen reduction potential). There's lots written about this, and it can be very technical, but basically the probe provides a number that gives a quick snapshot of the water quality of your tank. "Healthy tanks" have redox numbers of 300 to 450. When I started monitoring, my tank was sitting around 250. So I bought an ozonator to bring this number up. I've been running ozone for the past few weeks to raise my redox and clear water. For a while, I ran it full blast (50mg per hour) to bring it up to 325...it ran constantly to keep it at that level, and high levels of ozone (not too high, as it will harm your tank's fish, etc.) limit how effective skimming can be. In fact, at high levels I didn't skim much at all.
So I gave up and brought the ozone down to 5mg per hour. Skimming is now wonderful. Based on Delbeek and Sprung's writings, a small amount of ozone actually helps skimming by making larger org. molecules respond to skimming.
I resigned myself to a redox level of around 300.
In the meantime -- and not connected at all for me -- I read about "ZEObak," a drop solution you add every other day to your tank. "1 drop per 25 gallons twice a week." The product claims to provide "several bactieral strains that form a chain to reduce unwanted substances" and also says that corals can use the resulting bacterial balance as a food source.
Anyway, I ordered a bottel and it arrived today and I put 4 drops in my tank. Later -- a few hours later -- I noticed that my redox had started climbing dramatically. After a week or so at 300, with occassional dips to 250, it's at 350 and still climbing. It's never been that high -- even with full ozone.
I can't explain it otherwise. It's these bloody drops!
I'll monitor this change and keep you posted, but I'm amazed. Have others experienced this kind of thing? Is it safe?
Note: I'm not selling a thing; I don't know much about the product, have never used it, and don't give a damn who owns it.
It comes from Germany and is available on line from our LFStores. This German company also carries other supplements, which I've also purchased, but this ZEObak stuff seems to be effective, to say the least.
Erik