Question of the Day… ORP OZONE Generator or Dos

[victorcan]

So just like the question states.. Looking for the utmost in water clarity and environment for my SPS system… Currently running Reef octopus 500 and Reef Octopus Classic 202-S 8" Internal Protein Skimmer in my 370 gallon system w/ a avast spyglass running 2liters of bio-pellets (thus why 2nd skimmer) Geo 6/24 caRx with coarse ARM media and ZeoMag .. I change my socks daily (2) 7" because of the high load of 20+ fish which include 14 large 4"-7" Tangs (alotta poop) additionally i have a BRS 2 chamber GFO reactor , running Carbon and 4 bags of chemi pure elite (just sitting in sump)..
So 2 choices Im debating on is adding an Ozone Generator as Ive read about the countless benefits of controlling ORP (via my apex neptune) and the only negative I see is the potential for polluting my home with this dangerous air as I have little ones.. or going with a continuous water change system via a DOS pump, I already have a 120 gallon mixing tank constantly brewing fresh saltwater of which i usually do a 60-70 gallon wc 1x p/week, which is work even though I have plumbed my system that i basically turn a valve and drain from my display and click an icon in my apex fusion to start the mixer pump which is hard plumbed back into my basement sump..

I have around 20 colonies of sps a few LPS and as stated the big fish and count..
What do you guys think?
OZONE or Continuous DOS WC?

 

[victorcan]

no one wants to even take a shot in the wind ? LOL well looks like the more I read on Ozone generation the more complex it sounds, so at this time I am leaning towards the DOS but would really love to hear your experience or thoughts on this for water quality mainly for spa and clarity as well ?

 

[Pife]

If you're looking for water clarity you should figure out how to get some filter floss in front of your return pump or section in your sump. You could fold it over a baffle and use some type of clip to hold it on. Maybe you have to much flow in your sump so stuff isn't settling out? How is the flow in your tank? Do you have a same bed? What size sand?

 

[victorcan]

I have a 2 stage sump set up..220 overflows to a 75 gal fuge with 3 chambers (i originally made it as a sump w/ baffles) that fills to the top which I drilled 2 -2" drains that drop down to my 150 gallon tank/sump (6' long) in that I have 2 large skimmers, the spyglass biopellet reactor, and the GFO reactor, then back out the other end via a 1.5" drilled hole to an iwaki md70-rlt which if my calculations are right is pushing roughly 1400 g/p/m.. in the tank I have 3 vortech mp40's usually running around 50% they do ramp to 90% for about 1.5 hours a day and drop as low as 20% overnight and ramp up and down evenly throughout the day.
I just vacuumed my sump and fuge out about 2 weeks ago of all the sitting dietrus and it did improve the water clarity dramatically. But I do roughly a 50 gallon water change weekly, and vacuum the crap outta my sanded (at least anything not obstructed by rock or coral. The sandbed was also changed about 4 weeks ago, I had a solid 4" across the entire bottom of the tank of coarse car rib sea live sand (which was for a little over a year), Ive reduced that to roughly 1/2" - 1" across, and am slowly pulling it all out with each water change. I was planning on going bare bottom over the course of the next few water changes.. All my water parameters are perfect and solid. 1.026 SG or 30ppm. Nh3 0 ,No3 20ppm , po4 .13 alk 8.25dkh mg 1440, ca 490..

I may be chasing a dragon looking for that pristine water clarity all the time (and don't get me wrong Ive got it that it looks damn good to just about anyone else's eyes lol). I am a perfectionist and maybe just nuts, but none the less if it can be improved thats what Im looking to do ?

 

[victorcan]

If you're looking for water clarity you should figure out how to get some filter floss in front of your return pump or section in your sump. You could fold it over a baffle and use some type of clip to hold it on. Maybe you have to much flow in your sump so stuff isn't settling out? How is the flow in your tank? Do you have a same bed? What size sand?

P.S. Have you ever used an Ozone generator ?

 

[Pife]

P.S. Have you ever used an Ozone generator ?

No but I've been around them on other systems.

 

[Piper27]

I don't see how continueus waterchanges would do anything for water clarity so I would go with ozone. Waterchanges really help with keeping nutrients down or ridding the tank of impurities, well large ones do but not continued. They don't help solve the problem of what is in the system that's causing the water to be unclear. You already run filter socks which helps. Running a lot of carbon will help a lot. Some of the cleanest water I have seen was on a tank with a really good ozone system. A friend ran biopellets and ozone, which I have been told is not good, but his tank was amazingly crystal clear. What exactly is not clear about the water? Is there debree floating in it or is it cloudy or greenish?

 

[2una]

You have the Apex there - When i ran carbon in a reactor(not tumbling of course) & added or changed it weekly my orp would sit above 400...Now i'm running it passive again & it stays under 400.
600L/160G tank & i'd add 125g carbon 3 times then dump it & start again.
I always find with water changes my orp drops so i dunno about the water change plan working.

 

[Greg 45]

What are you trying to make better. I run ozone to polish water not 24 /7 . My system is 1200 gal . I don't run carbon or pellets . Redox stays around 350 . Only time socks are run is to clean detritus off bottom of tank. When I run filter socks the orp actually drops.

 

[victorcan]

I don't see how continueus waterchanges would do anything for water clarity so I would go with ozone. Waterchanges really help with keeping nutrients down or ridding the tank of impurities, well large ones do but not continued. They don't help solve the problem of what is in the system that's causing the water to be unclear. You already run filter socks which helps. Running a lot of carbon will help a lot. Some of the cleanest water I have seen was on a tank with a really good ozone system. A friend ran biopellets and ozone, which I have been told is not good, but his tank was amazingly crystal clear. What exactly is not clear about the water? Is there debree floating in it or is it cloudy or greenish?

I think I am having flashbacks from the days when I ran 3 20K Halides.. I don't know if my water was actually clearer or just the way the water shimmered.. I have 2 radian g2 1 g3, 4 actinic t5's and a blue tuna kessell on this system now. Maybe I should try different lights? The G4 Pro's have been another item on my radar?

You have the Apex there - When i ran carbon in a reactor(not tumbling of course) & added or changed it weekly my orp would sit above 400...Now i'm running it passive again & it stays under 400.
600L/160G tank & i'd add 125g carbon 3 times then dump it & start again.
I always find with water changes my orp drops so i dunno about the water change plan working.

Im running a ton of carbon which defiantly helps. 200grams of ROX from BRS as well as 5 bags of chemipure elite? the chemipure I change every 2-3 months and the ROX every other week?

What are you trying to make better. I run ozone to polish water not 24 /7 . My system is 1200 gal . I don't run carbon or pellets . Redox stays around 350 . Only time socks are run is to clean detritus off bottom of tank. When I run filter socks the orp actually drops.

Do you see a big difference in the crispness of the water? as stated in my 1st reply My water looked so much clearer under halides? maybe it is the lighting? I don't have anything floating in my water thats visible to the naked eye anyways, and no micro bubbles whatsoever..Ill try and post some videos in a bit..

 

[btb72]

Test it in a white bucket. If it isn't clear you can tell if it has any color in the water.

 

[Greg 45]

victorcan my tanks are 8 feet long by 4 feet wide 16 inches of water . Different color temp of bulbs will make water hard to see through. A 20k I might see 1/2 way a 10k I can see clear through. You can put a yellow sticky tab on one side and look through to see if the tank water is dirty. Do I notice a difference when using ozone only if water is dirty. At a orp of 350 it's pretty darn clean. I run GF-Signet controllers built by Aquarium Engineering as I don't trust hobby grade controllers for orp. They have a one step calibration and aren't very reliable. Hope this helps.

 

[ca1ore]

Odd question ....

I'd not view ozone and continuous water change as accomplishing the same thing. If your water clarity is particulate then you'd want to use some kind of mechanical filtration, if its general cloudiness then either ozone or even UV would be appropriate. Personally, I prefer UV. I think continuous water change with something like the DoS is a good idea, just don't see how it addresses water clarity necessarily.

 

[victorcan]

Test it in a white bucket. If it isn't clear you can tell if it has any color in the water.

Its White

Odd question ....

I'd not view ozone and continuous water change as accomplishing the same thing. If your water clarity is particulate then you'd want to use some kind of mechanical filtration, if its general cloudiness then either ozone or even UV would be appropriate. Personally, I prefer UV. I think continuous water change with something like the DoS is a good idea, just don't see how it addresses water clarity necessarily.

I am Running a UV sterilizer It defiantly helps..

victorcan my tanks are 8 feet long by 4 feet wide 16 inches of water . Different color temp of bulbs will make water hard to see through. A 20k I might see 1/2 way a 10k I can see clear through. You can put a yellow sticky tab on one side and look through to see if the tank water is dirty. Do I notice a difference when using ozone only if water is dirty. At a orp of 350 it's pretty darn clean. I run GF-Signet controllers built by Aquarium Engineering as I don't trust hobby grade controllers for orp. They have a one step calibration and aren't very reliable. Hope this helps.

Think you nailed it.. I ordered 4 Radion G4 Pros and got 2 of them installed and I already see a huge difference! I had 2 G2's along with a G3 a kessell Tuna Blue and 4 T5 Red Sea actinic I stripped everything and just have the 2 G4 Pros and my old G3 running and loaded up the same program I made 4 years ago and I gotta say I think the Water pops now the G2's just weren't pushing enough to get down 24-36" and made it look hazy as they lost spectrum ?But it defiantly brought a level of clarity and shimmer I haven't seen in quite a while.