Topic- OZONE do you need it?

I believe that Bioreef will be carrying the Red Sea units shortly. I will let you know if they get them in stock. I am leaning toward the 50 mg/hr unit which will be injected into my skimmer
 
Pelagic,

It's only necessary to make the equipment that has direct contact with the ozone safe. Theoretically, there should not be a large amount of ozone within the display tank. This is the reason for the skimmer. Just make sure your skimmer is ozone compatible or the plastics/ acrylic will become brittle over time.
 
I know that the tubing can become brittle over time but how long would it take for the acrylic to become brittle to the point that it becomes a concern? The tubing is in direct contact where as the skimmer is not in what i would call dirent contact like the tubing.

I ask this as I was told that it takes a long time. My current skimmer is a home built acrylic unit by someone else and it has been running ozone in it for about 4 years now. Just wondering if I need to start on building another one.
 
I think the whole ozone safe issue has been blown out of proportion a bit. We aren't dosing huge amounts of this stuff. I plan to only run a 50 mg/hr unit on my tank. Also, it won't be on 24/7, just when the orp levels decrease. I wouldn't worry about making a new unit and you are right about the tubing. I would take a while if ever to become brittle enough to break.
 
Yea, some of the tubing I have is hard but hasn't become brittle yet. I run mine with a controller but it's on alomst all the time. I think mines like a 250 Mg/Hr unit. But I have a large system, 550G total. My ORP reading stays around 325 but I have my meter set to go off at 400.
 
I think I'm going to have my ozone generator turn off at 400 as well. That's if I can get it up there. I have mostly sps and want the advantage of as much light penetration as possible.

Looks like the other thread we were on got nasty. All it takes is one :)
 
I also LOVE my ozone....
I see big differences in the way my Rose Anenome acts with vs. without.... Without it my rose anenome's arms are long and skinny... with it they look more like nipples :D

I have mine set at 375 and it's a 200-250Mg/hr unit I got on ebay for really cheap... I use it in conjunction with my milwaukee orp controller.

I'd never go back... like I said... I love it! You also see a lot less of certain types of algae...

Here's a really good article that'll give you a little background about ozone and ORP-
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/index.php
 
FishyRen,

Can you describe how you have your ozone hooked up? Do you use an air dryer? Do you use a air pump or check valve? Are you using a Red Sea unit?

Thanks
 
I'm using this unit:
ozone.jpg

I've got it T'd right into the air intake to my skimmer.
It's got a built in air pump (I don't use a dryer).
 
Thanks for the pic.

I saw some folks crack open the Enaly units to retrofit an air dryer. Evidently, conditioning the air prior to the ozone unit can increase its efficiency by 70%. With the humid air in Florida, I'm concerned about this issue.

I plan to use a small air pump attached to a air dryer with the air entering the ozone unit and then plumbed into my red sea unit through MRC's ozone port. I think I'm going to put a check valve just before the air dryer.

Do you use carbon in your skimmer? Have you gotten any bad smells since its use? Where do your ORP levels range?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6628551#post6628551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Grayout
Thanks for the pic.

I saw some folks crack open the Enaly units to retrofit an air dryer. Evidently, conditioning the air prior to the ozone unit can increase its efficiency by 70%. With the humid air in Florida, I'm concerned about this issue.

I plan to use a small air pump attached to a air dryer with the air entering the ozone unit and then plumbed into my red sea unit through MRC's ozone port. I think I'm going to put a check valve just before the air dryer.

Do you use carbon in your skimmer? Have you gotten any bad smells since its use? Where do your ORP levels range?
Click to expand...

I'll have to look at those Enaly mods... I haven't really worried about it since most aquarium ozone units are ~50Mg/Hr...

I didn't bother w/the check valve as I figured it just get brittle... I have mine looped up and over so it'd take quite a bit of water to go up it, and the other part of the T is lower so it's not likely.

I don't use carbon on it (and didn't on my other tank either) I will sometimes notice a little smell of ozone or of the gunk... but not too often and only with the door open.

I've thought about adding some carbon, just never have...
 
I see what you mean about using a larger ozone unit.

You can find the mods and good pics in the ozone thread located in the sps section.

I plan to buy an ozone safe check valve to eliminate the brittle issue. I also plan to use ozone safe tubing as well.

Does your unit run 24/7 or just when the orp levels dip? Also, have you seen improved skimmer performance while using ozone?

Do you have any side shots of your tank so I can see the improved clarity?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6628670#post6628670 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Grayout
I see what you mean about using a larger ozone unit.

You can find the mods and good pics in the ozone thread located in the sps section.

I plan to buy an ozone safe check valve to eliminate the brittle issue. I also plan to use ozone safe tubing as well.

Does your unit run 24/7 or just when the orp levels dip? Also, have you seen improved skimmer performance while using ozone?

Do you have any side shots of your tank so I can see the improved clarity?
Click to expand...

It runs on the controller, which right now runs about 2 hours on, 1-3 hours off...
I haven't necessarily seen improved skimming... infact maybe a little less skimmate... but the skimmate is darker/nastier...

I don't have any side pics, but i'll take one tomorrow when the lights are on...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6626396#post6626396 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Grayout
Looks like the other thread we were on got nasty. All it takes is one :)
Click to expand...

Yea, we tried to keep it civil. Oh well, back to reefing.

I lost my ozone generator this past weekend. Had shut down my pumps to do some maintaince and water ran back UP the tube and into my ozone unit burning out the ballast. I have a UV type of generator. Got to get a new ballast and plug.

Anyway, I did notice this morning that even without ozone, my ORP was up to 333. :eek: And that was without any ozone. I did find that I had 2 of my three venturi's in backwards so they wern't pulling in as much air. They just push into my pump inputs so it's reall easy to put them in backwards as both ends are the same. That may be one of teh reasons my ozone was running 24/7, not enough air injection.

I don't run a dryer on mine and I only have some carbon in a small fluval canister filter that runs on my sump. I have yet to smell any ozone, other than when I fried my ballast. My tank is currently in my garage so if there was any residule ozone, it probably disappears thru the vents before it has a chance to build up. I also run 2 large UV sterilizers on my sump return and my water is like crystal clear, even when you look down the 7' length from the end.

Right now I'm pulling out about a gallon a week in the collection cup on my skimmer. My total system volume is about 550 G and I have 7 large fish along with 11 smaller ones so I feed a lot. I only have 2 large corals in the tank right now with a bunch of zoo frags in my sump that I'm also using as a grow out system.

In the future when I get this thing moved, it will be come a full reef with some large Monti Cap colonies.
 
clay I am going to get the redsea unit from jack with the controller. what size ozone unit will be ok for a 180 gallon tank?
 
The RedSea comes in three sizes 50,100,200 and two types w or wo a controller. The 100 is plenty big enough for your tank. It is best used with a dryer which improves effienciency. The dryer can require weekly or semi weekly rejunvenation of the dessicant by heating it in the oven.

If I bougth another one I'd get the 200, let run it less efficiently with the humid air and not have to use the air dryer.

i have used the RedSea 100 w/controller for a couple of years. It malfunctioned and I bought a cheap Enally OZX 300 on EBay as shown below. It had a much greater ozone output; 300 compared to the 100 of the RedSea. .It has a built in air pump. It doesn't have a controller and I made the mistake of allowing it to run over night into my skimmer with out a controller the first night. I figured since the ORP was less than 400 it wouldn't be a problem. The ORP was only 415 in the morning, but the residual ozone carry over killed my beauitiful copperband butterfly and a flame angel within a few hours...:( ..I wouldn't run an ozone generator without a controller.

With the flow improvements I have made to my system and the bare bottom I am now able to keep my ORP in the low 400's now without the use of ozone. Although the water isn't as crystal clear as when I used ozone.

Ozone doesn't bother PVC or acrylic, natural rubber and some soft plastic tubing will quickly be oxidized and become brittel.
 
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