Avast Marine Ozone Reactor?

[demariners]

Well my tank is only 60 gallons. I can smell it. I have Luft at max and I am using a 300 gph pump. Mine is the small mutiny unit. Also I have an air dryer and set the ozonizer to 1,2,3 and still the orp does not go up. Stays the same or drops. Maybe I need to increase more? Not sure what could be wrong and the water isn't "ozone" clear like I see at the LFS that has ozone at 380 orp. My ORP barel reaches 240 ORP with the ozone on 24/7 at the settings mentioned above.

 

[demariners]

I still seem to be having issues. I have it set up at 100% output of my Posedion and almost 100% of my luft pump. I removed the air dryer just to see what would happen and ran it for a few days. My ORP still have not got above 290. In fact there are days where it drops a little. The water doesn't appear to be OZONE clear as I would have thought. Not sure what else to attempt.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You mentioned ORP of 240 mV on 5/1 and 290 mV today. IMO, if the ORP has risen at least some, and 50 mV is plenty, then I wouldn't keep trying to push it higher. There is no evidence that anytthing in the tank prefer higher ORP or even is capable of sensing it.

I discuss it here:

Ozone and the Reef Aquarium, Part 1: Chemistry and Biochemistry
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/rhf/index.php

Ozone and the Reef Aquarium, Part 2: Equipment and Safety
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/rhf/index.php

Ozone and the Reef Aquarium, Part 3: Changes in a Reef Aquarium upon Initiating Ozone
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-05/rhf/index.php

from the second one:

So with all that background discussion behind us, here are my recommendations for ORP monitoring and ozone control in reef aquaria using a properly sized ozone generator that appears to be working, and a properly calibrated ORP meter:

1. If the ORP never seems to rise above 375 mV after initiating ozone, do not worry about controlling the ozone or the ORP. Just let it run full out. Also, do not worry about needing a larger generator, assuming it has driven up the ORP by at least 25 mV above where it was before adding ozone. It is likely accomplishing the necessary tasks (such as making the water clearer). Only if some other aspect of ozone use is unsatisfying (e.g., lack of water clarity) would I look for other options such as a larger ozone generator or a better contact chamber.

2. If the ORP starts above 375 mV, or rises there during ozone use, using an ORP controller would be valuable to prevent the ORP from rising too high. Use the controller to shut off the ozone when the ORP rises too high. Another option would be to shut off the air flow to save the dryer's media, but be sure that water cannot flow back into the ozone generator if the air stops. I would set the ORP target somewhat above the baseline ORP in the absence of ozone - at least 350 mV, maybe 400 mV, but never above 450 mV.

 

[demariners]

I appreciate the information. I have read all of your articles and they have helped a lot. I think I found the culprit. I opened up the reactor and the outlet was clogged with sand and macro algae. Once I removed it it seems the ORP is now rising. I think that was the issue the whole time. i will keep you posed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sounds good.

Happy Reefing.

 

[psykobowler]

FYI, try not to focus on the ORP numbers. They are meaningless. What does the 400mv tell you to do? Just look at the tank. If it is crystal clear then it is working. If you run an orp controller then it would come on/off 24hrs a day. I'ld rather have it run when we are asleep away from the tank rather than during the day when we are standing in front of the tank. Less exposure to ozone is good. It doesn't take much ozone to have crystal clear water. It is not dependent on ORP.

 

[LouH]

I also notice on Avast website that the unit has bubbles near the top on the video. I see no such bubbles.

I run the small Mutiny reactor. I've driven it both with an Eheim 1250 and a 1260. The 1260 made many bubbles due to creating greater airflow through the venturi, and I assume due to the impingement of the influent on the bubble plate. The 1250 makes some bubbles, but it certainly doesn't fill the top chamber with bubbles like the 1260 does or like you see in Avast's video. I emailed them once to ask if bubbles made a difference but never got a response. I don't want anyone to take that as poor customer service on their end. I've called them before and got great service and an unsolicited email as follow-up to the problem that they helped me with.

Anyway, both pumps can get the tank's ORP up to 420 as measured by my Red Sea 50 mg/hr unit (the one with the digital display and probe). My tank is a 120 gallon reef with about 15 fish (damsels, a tang,wrasse, gobies).

I also run an Apex controller and measure ORP with a probe on that unit as well. What is interesting is that the Apex will tell me that ORP is 340 mV while the Red Sea unit is measuring 420 mV. When I put either probe in a 400 mV calibration solution, both read 400 mV. Both probes are in the main display and the ozone effluent goes to the sump. I set my Red Sea unit to shut off at 420 mV, and the Apex is programmed to cut power to the Red Sea unit if ORP exceeds 450 mV.

These days my ozone unit is set to produce 15 mg of O3/hr, and the unit does not have to run continuously to mantain ORP.

Lou

 

[LouH]

I had a typo in my post. The Apex cuts power to the ozone generator when it measures ORP at 350 mV.

 

[demariners]

Well I must be doing something wrong then. I have a MAG 3 pump like they say on their website with the luft pump. I have everything at FULL blast. Meaning I have the luft at 100% and the poseidon ozone generator at 100%. I also removed the air drier. I have a post filter with carbon in it. My ORP usually is stable at 280. Some days it drops and some days it gets to about 285 but no more then that. I notice the water isn't OZONE clear. I have had ozone before on my other tanks and I notice the difference with 375 ORP and 280 ORP. Either I am doing something wrong or my ozone generator is not outputting what it says. I have given up and purchased a new ozone generator just to see if it makes a difference.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Can you measure ORP inside the reactor?

 

[LouH]

My Red Sea unit quit putting out ozone a while back. I ended up disassembling the unit and cleaned out the corona discharge chamber with DI water. The amount of dirt that came out was really surprising. The unit had been in service for only one year. Before turning the unit back on I ran air through it for 36 hours. Once cleaned it ran just fine and now produced ozone as if it were new. Perhaps your unit simply needs cleaning. To test it out you can simply pull the outley hose off of your unit and give it the smell test. It should be obvious if it is working or not.

FWIW, I run the recommended Luft pump and could never achieve the 2 lpm (or was it cfm?) that Avast recommends. In the end it doesn't seem to matter. I can maintain any ORP level that I choose with a 50 mg/hr unit.

Lou

 

[demariners]

I will have to check the ORP in the chamber. I am able to achieve 1.5 sph on the meter but then again that is with everything at full strength.

 

[demariners]

Well there must be something wrong. My ORP now dropped from 280 to 220 overnight. I noticed in my reactor the ribbon media is a brownish/yellow color. Is this normal? I think there maybe something wrong with my generator. I am going to open it up and make sure I can smell the ozone and it is functioning properly.

 

[Rploaded]

My media turned brown also... Trying increasing the water glow until your moving .5cfm

That's what I did to raise my orp.....

 

[demariners]

I have it set at 1.5 sph or whatever on the meter. Not sure if thats what you mean?

 

[LouH]

I tossed the Dwyer rotometer. You don't need it.

 

[demariners]

Well I can not exactly increase my water flow unless I get a new pump. I am using a MAG 3 I think it is called. I have the luft at 100% and the Ozotech at 100%. I recalibated the probe yesterday to make sure. Still my ORP doesn't go above 300. I removed the air dryer I was using so now the pump goes straight to the ozotech and then to the reactor. What is the brown caused by? Is it safe? It looks like a chocolate milkshake in there.

 

[LouH]

My reactor got crud in it two times:

- I was overdosing 2-part

- when my unit wasn't producing ozone.

 

[LouH]

If your unit is producing ozone, you'll smell it. When I set my generator at 15 mg/hr, I can pull the hose from the reactor's venturi and I can clearly smell ozone. A 100 mg/hr unit should burn your eyes if you get too close to it.

 

[demariners]

Well I opened up the unit and also turned it on and I can SMELL it most definitely. It must be working. So what am I doing wrong? I have set the dial on the stupid thing all the way to 220 mg/hr. My ORP currently reads 210. My tank is small at 55 gallons and I figured I could run it at 30%. It goes into my reactor with the 300 gph mag3 pump (as recommended on their site) and the luft pump is at 100%. I then run the output into a carbon filter in a media reactor then that goes to the water? Any ideas? There must be something wrong here. I have a buddy with ozone and his water looks insanely clear and his ORP is at 350.