Who uses ozone

[johnnyblaze313]

While my water is prollay the clearist ive ever had i would like to get it clearer. I skim agressiviely , run carbon 24/7, run gfo 24/7, run uv 24/7 witch just broke the other day, have 60x flow , and grow cheato. So the only thing i can think to get that next step of clarity would be to ditch the uv since its broke anyway and go ozone anyt thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Also got some questions for ozone users.

1. Since i only want to acheive clearer water can i get away with a smaller unit like the red sea 50mg/hr ozoneizer on a total of 250gal?

2. From what i read it doesnt take much ozone to get the water clearer is this mostly true? If so then if i run a under sized unit for say a couple of days a week or even a couple hours a day do i really need to get all the bells and whistles (orp controller, probe ect...)?

3.Anyone ever use ozone and not notice a improvement in water clarity?

Well thats all i can think of for now thanks in advance for any help

[JustinReef]

1. Yeah but Im not sure how much of a difference it will make. I think it would be a little clearer but for 250G, you may want to go much bigger. I run 200mg/hr on my 130G. Its on a monitor so it comes on and off as needed and usually comes on around 150 mg/hr to keep my ORP at 380-400.

2. I would. At least the probe. I have found that if I don't run the ozone for a few days, I can really notice it. Algae growth is crazy without my ozone on the glass. I would run it all the time. But its up to you.

3. Huge improvement for me. Best thing I have ever added to my tank and would never go without again. I think most people who try it feel this way!

Just make sure you use caution with ozone and run it through carbon. Don't get too worried, there are a lot of myths out there about just how dangerous it can be. Ozone is not great to be breathing in all day long but the hobby units do not really produce close to enough ozone to cause big problems especially if you use carbon.

Good luck!

[johnnyblaze313]

hey justin thanks for the suggestions and by the way ive spent the last half hour checking out ur tank, GREAT JOB!! Thats one of the nicest done tanks ive seen and the water is so clear

[spamin76]

Since ozone is such a strongly reacting chemical and a vicious oxidizer, I would say erring on the side of under-dosing is much better than risking overdosing.

Even underdoing it would likely be a nice boost, but I would still recommend a controller.

If you get too much ozone in the tank it will cause serious tissue iritation, but you would really need a strong generator running on full blast.

The trick is using just enough - you probably don't want any free ozone in the actual tank - keep it at equilibrium where you are putting new ozone in and getting it to react and get out right away. Since ozone is so reactive, it doesn't last long, so provided it can find something to react with quickly, it will not live long enough to make it out of the sump.

If it does actually make it back into the tank in more than minimal quantities, it would likely cause low level of oxidative damage of oxidative damage to a fishes gills and mucus coating on their skin. This would not cause immediate damage, but slight overexposure can add up over time and may shorten your fish's life span(provided that the the cleaner water benefits didn't offset the long term oxidative damage). But again, careful dosing should not cause any problems. So just make sure you use it safely.

I have always wanted to run it, but never had the spare cash to get one. The above is not based on experience, but it is based on my education as a chemist and on understanding how ozone reacts with other molecules. I will say first hand, ozone reacts rapidly with mucus in your eyes, throat, and nose... don't ask me how I know this :eek2:

[JustinReef]

Great info above.

I actually LOVE the smell of ozone and once in a while will remove the top of my reactor (the carbon chamber) just to have the smell fill the room for a few minutes...I actually mentioned this in another thread once and was surprised at how many people do the same thing! LOL. Its such a nice fresh smell.

I actually spoke to my brother and he is using only a 200 mg/hr unit on his 600G tank plus 200G sump and says its more than enough for his purpose, so I would assume a 50 mg/hr on a 200G tank would do enough to notice the benefits.

How do you plan on setting it up? One thing I learned right away was that through the skimmer was less than ideal. It really screwed up my skimmers production. As soon as I used a separate reactor, the skimmer went back to normal.

[JustinReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12432910#post12432910 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by johnnyblaze313
hey justin thanks for the suggestions and by the way ive spent the last half hour checking out ur tank, GREAT JOB!! Thats one of the nicest done tanks ive seen and the water is so clear

Thanks! Unfortunately that tank is in pieces in my new condo. I had to take it down for the move and Im not sure it will ever be the same :(

The water was quite clear in that tank even without ozone and I was hesitant to add it thinking it would not make much difference but it really did. Like I said before, I won't set up a tank without ozone again.

[spamin76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12437253#post12437253 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinpsmith

I actually LOVE the smell of ozone and once in a while will remove the top of my reactor (the carbon chamber) just to have the smell fill the room for a few minutes...I actually mentioned this in another thread once and was surprised at how many people do the same thing! LOL. Its such a nice fresh smell.


I like it too actually, (I also like the smell of pipe smoke with good tobacco - I don't smoke mind you) but both aren't particularly good for you :lol:

Just so long as you don't get too much, god knows, there are worse things for you out there :lol:

When I finally move out of an appartment and set up a large tank again, an ozonator is on the top of my list of things to buy though, I came really close to buying one several times but in each case I decided to spend more of my limited budget on lights. Oh well

[johnnyblaze313]

How do you plan on setting it up? One thing I learned right away was that through the skimmer was less than ideal. It really screwed up my skimmers production. As soon as I used a separate reactor, the skimmer went back to normal. [/B][/QUOTE]

Im really not sure how im going to set it up i was thinking about grabbing a cheap used skimmer to run it threw. Hows yours setup what type of rector, got a pic?

[9toes]

I built my own ozone reactor and reverse flow carbon reactor,it's been up and running for alittle less than a month on my 125 FO,so far,so good.
<a href="http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/fishman50/?action=view&current=apr08003.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/fishman50/apr08003.jpg" border="0" alt="ozone system"></a>
<a href="http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/fishman50/?action=view&current=apr08001.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/fishman50/apr08001.jpg" border="0" alt="DIY ozone/carbon reactor"></a>

[johnnyblaze313]

Nice job on that reactor toes. Did you just start using ozone? What are your thoughts on it, worth the $$ , did you notice a big diffrence in water clarity?

[9toes]

I just started using it for the first time,the water clarity is improved,I can't say yet if it was worth the money,this endeavor cost me around $800 for everything.The system is only been up around 3 weeks,alot of people swear by it,alot of people are afraid of it.I think the most important factor is the carbon reactor to remove any residual ozone.

[stdreb27]

I don't think the dangers of ozone are overstated. http://www.khou.com/news/local/galveston/stories/khou080415_jj_sharksdiemoodygardens.675ad4bf.html
But that being said. I would run ozone on my next large tank.

[billsreef]

Ozone is quite useful as part of the filtration scheme. It doesn't need to be feared, but it does need to be respected ;)