Why use ozone It is the last thing along with UV sterilises we should be using on our reef aquariums.
A balanced reef aquarium is what we strive for with live sand beds live rock lighting water movement water parameters a selection of creatures that are interconnected in the balance etc.
Have I got it wrong, Ozone kills bacteria etc has a better kill rate than a UV steriliser.
I have loads of algae's as yet I have not had a problem with yellowing of my water and if I had ozone IMO would not be the way to go.
Martyn
A bit from one of Eric Bornemans article.
http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog...an_051098.html
It troubles me knowing the lengths to which we go to eliminate bacteria in our tanks. Through much rumour, misinformation, and misunderstanding, we have allowed ourselves to be somehow mesmerised by deception. As a group, we tend to think that somehow we are able to maintain some vague populations of good nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria, but can then concentrate on eliminating the rest.... which certainly must be up to no good! Yet, we have learned that some of our good guys are potentially bad guys. And most of the bad guys are good guys.
When bacterial problems do arise, in fish or on corals, the attributable cause is normally an environmental parameter gone awry...a new specimen, poor water conditions, sediment disruption, and other stressors. Ordinarily, pathogenic action is under normal biologic control. Still, we purchase ozonators and UV sterilizers and turbo charged foam fractionators to rip all those bacteria out of the water column. Who needs ‘em, right? Corals, that’s who! All the lovely bacteria...for the enriched “marine snow,†and the antibiotics they produce, and their importance in the growth of other food sources......can we really afford to do this? And if we can, is it wise? What about our “sterilization techniques†prior to introducing corals. If these corals depend so heavily on normal bacterial populations in their mucus, why are we trying so hard to kill them? Perhaps we can hypothesize that things are “abnormal†prior to us obtaining them. To be honest, they probably are. But, water flow effectively reduces the thickness of the coral mucus and the coral surface microlayer....and is not stressful. Furthermore, we are not then eliminating, by bacteriocide, naturally occurring populations which may very well have been beneficial and normal to the animal. By applying a percentage of the previously mentioned probiotic study to the Platygyra study, we could potentially eliminate 26 species of bacteria which could have supplied natural antibiotic protection.
Lots and lots of diverse bacteria in our water, in our sand, on our rocks, and even on our corals is something desirable. This is how it should be. These microbes play an absolutely essential role, in all their biodiversity, in the function of both corals and the reef itself. Their importance in reef aquaria is likely even more important. We concern ourselves with the relative paranoia of a little voice that says “But what if they overpopulate, or what if I get a ‘bad’ one? Isn’t it better to be sure? Sterile is safe, right?â€
I got some news for you, little voice!
They are already there!!!
If we can maintain a healthy tank, in balance, bacteria are our friends. If not, they can then become a problem. But the natural levels of any population, in contrast to artifically maintained sterility, will likely provide a better buffer than systems which are already running against what corals and coral reefs consider “normal.†If we fail to maintain healthy conditions, or a balanced group of life, bacteria are only one of the many potential problems we face...no more, no less. If we affect certain species of bacteria, we potentially effect or alter a vast network of trophic webs, biochemically mediated events, and natural population control. These are likely of greater potential risk than pathogenic bacteria which, we must admit, are already present. Even when disaster strikes, it will ultimately be the bacteria who restore order to the chaos.
With that, I leave you all with the following quote:
“Reef scientists have flirted with the intricate feeding specializations and relatively simple dynamics of grazing food webs for long enough. It is time to deal with the less attractive and tractable questions of the sources, fates, and fluxes of dead and dying plant material and excrement...Whole coral reef ecosystems rather than covenient components must be considered, and natural or man-made gradients in forcing functions used to elucidate system function.†Hatcher, 1983
Thanks everyone
Eric Borneman.
[This message has been edited by Martyn (edited 09-21-2000).]