That Ozone Smell

[Itchy Trigger]

I just started running ozone on my tank. I'm using an Ozotech Poseidon 220mg generator, and injecting it into an Avast Mutiny ozone reactor, with a carbon post-filter... It's just been running for a day now... The sump/filtration for this tank is in a bathroom on the other side of the wall from where the tank is, and there is definitely an ozone smell in there. I don't think there's an air leak anywhere - I have zip ties on all the hose barb connections. The connectors on the Poseidon are not barbed though, but the hose feels tightly connected there. I don't mind the smell and actually find it rather pleasant, but my girlfriend cannot stand it and is giving me a hard time about it... Does anyone know if there is something that can be done to minimize it?

[Itchy Trigger]

Anyone?

[atrain]

I can't say if you have the same problem as I did. I was running too much ozone and a air pump that was to powerful. I turned down the generator and put a valve on the air to put less in the reactor. Worked for me when I was using it, but eventually disconnected it because my orp never really dropped below 420 without running it. I used the same generator and reactor.

[Vinny Kreyling]

Ozone can be dangerous in high doses.
You do not have to run the unit @ max.
Also place carbon where the air exits as it will absorb the odor.
When I ran it I used it overnight for just 4 hours.

[Itchy Trigger]

Thanks guys. I'm not running it at max - only about 2/3. I think perhaps I didn't have enough carbon the post filter, so I just filled it all the way to the top. Also Dan at Avast Marine told me that large particle lignite carbon is best for this, so I ordered some of that and will swap it out when it arrives. There is no place where the air exits, specifically - the reactor and post-filter are sealed with o-rings, so water is the only thing that exits, unless there's an air leak somewhere, but I don't know where that might be - as mentioned, all connections are zip tied.

[jrp1588]

I suggest dosing the girlfriend with gifts and flowers. Should minimize the complaining. Repeat as necessary.

[Itchy Trigger]

I suggest dosing the girlfriend with gifts and flowers. Should minimize the complaining. Repeat as necessary.

Ha!:spin2:

[jrp1588]

Ha!:spin2:

Alternatively, you could get rid of the girlfriend problem before it progresses to a full blown wife situation. I can tell you from experience that wives are one of the biggest problems in the reefing hobby (dinoflagellates, ich, and eunice worms pale in comparison.) They can also be a very difficult and expensive problem to get rid of. You CAN fix it though, just be prepared to throw lots of money at the problem.

I successfully got rid of my wife outbreak almost exactly 2 years ago, and have been wife free ever since. I am starting to see spots of girlfriend cropping up here and there though. So far though, this infestation seems to be much more benign...but don't they all start that way?




Completely not being helpful, I know. lol

[slief]

As mentioned, ozone is dangerous and if you smell it, you have an issue. This is one key reason why I don't like running ozone though a skimmer and much prefer using a dedicated ozone reactor because it's much easier to contain and remove all excess ozone from the water before it makes its way into the tank and air.

As a side note, you should be using lignite carbon for your ozone removal media.

You have two issues. First, ozone that is dissolved in the water and escaping through the skimmers effluent into your sump. Using carbon to filter the effluent is great but to really do it right, all the effluent water and air needs to pass through the carbon which is difficult to do with a skimmer as it can create back pressure inside the skimmer causing the water level in the skimmer to rise and become unstable. The second issue is the ozone that escapes through the skimmer collection cup lid vents. All the vents will need to be filtered through carbon.

Back in the day when I ran ozone into my skimmer, I had an acrylic box up on a wall that was filled with carbon. The collection cup lid had an ozone safe line running from the lid to the acrylic box with the carbon. This insured that any excess ozone that rose up in the bubbles into the skimmer collection cup was also filtered through carbon. You can see that box up on the wall above my old skimmer.
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo347/shleif/Tanks/DSC00439.jpg

[Itchy Trigger]

Thanks, Scott. I am not using a protein skimmer though - as I mentioned, I'm injecting the ozone into an Avast Marine ozone reactor with carbon post-filter. I will be swapping out the Rox .8 carbon for lignite carbon that I ordered yesterday. Hoping that makes a big difference.

And LOL at jrp!

[slief]

Thanks, Scott. I am not using a protein skimmer though - as I mentioned, I'm injecting the ozone into an Avast Marine ozone reactor with carbon post-filter. I will be swapping out the Rox .8 carbon for lignite carbon that I ordered yesterday. Hoping that makes a big difference.

And LOL at jrp!

Duh... I should have been less itchy on my keyboard fingers! I use the same reactor. I also have another reactor down stream that is filled with lignite carbon. All of the reactors effluent is run through the second reactor and the flow goes down through the carbon reactor. If you are using a reactor for your post filter, you likely need to dial the ozone generator way back. The ozone reactor is much more efficient than a skimmer and often requires much less ozone. As such, if after changing to lignite in a reactor you still smell ozone, reduce the ozone down by about half of where you are and start there. if you still smell ozone, reduce it further. If you don't smell ozone, increase it a tiny bit and wait. Repeat until you smell ozone then back it off slightly. That said, it could also be a case of flow though the reactor. It doesn't take much but there isn't a general rule of thumb that I am aware of. The ideal way would be to measure the ORP of the reactors effluent after the carbon reactor. That is something I haven't done though and at present, I am not using my ozone reactor as my ORP & clarity is good enough without it.

[Itchy Trigger]

No worries. Yep, I'm using the Avast MR5 reactor as my carbon post-filter. Will get the Rox .8 out of there and replace it with lignite on Monday. And will dial the Poseidon waaaaaaaay back and increase it gradually as you described.

[d2mini]

Completely not being helpful, I know. lol

No, but extra points for creativity. :thumbsup:

[Itchy Trigger]

OK... Perplexed now... I just reloaded the carbon post-filter with lignite carbon, and started everything up again. Still getting a very strong chlorine-like ozone smell. In order to troubleshoot, I disconnected the generator from the setup, ran the tubing for the input and output out the window, and let it run for awhile. No noticeable ozone smell in the room after doing that, so I believe I can rule the generator out as the source. Could there be a bad o-ring in the ozone reactor or carbon filter? I've got the ozone dialed waaaaay back to a very low setting and still getting the smell.

[kajung2k]

Curious if you resolved this issue or not.

[Itchy Trigger]

I did. And it turned out to have nothing to do with level of ozone or water flow. It was the tubing on the output of the reactor (going to the carbon filter). I replaced that tubing with pvc and the smell went away completely. Either there was a bad connection at a hose barb or perhaps that type of tubing shouldn't be used for ozone. In any case, everything is running smoothly now with no smell at all.

[JB NY]

turn down the amount of ozone you are using. I know you think 2/3 is having it turned down but I know people who have it as low as 1gm and it still produces noticeable results. FWIW I run my ozone at 25mg/hour and only for about 4 hours a day.

[JB NY]

Never mind just saw you had a problem with the hose and was leaking ozone. Glad you figured it out.