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Ozonizer Experince wanted

Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
Anthony Calfo and Steven Pro were at my house the other night and recommended an Ozonizer to improve water clarity. Anyone ever use this thing and have experiences.

Not looking for opinions, I want experience.
 
S

smcooler

FRAG SWAP VENDOR
Ed next time call me up, for a meeting like that......


you can call me i have used ozone, long time... ;D
 
Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
Thanks Stan and Mike. We were talking about both of your guys that night. Calfo loved the basement you did Mike and Stan your tank is the best in the state I suggested Calfo come see it.
 
D

DaveK

I have used ozone for many years, in the past. I do not use it today. I must respectively disagree with Anthony Calfo and Steven Pro.

I feel that ozone does have some advantages. It can go a long way to keep the tank free of algae in the water (but not the system) and it will help keep water clear.

On the down side it will also kill most of the plankton and other things you might want in the water, especially when you keep corals or other filter feeders.

Used improperly, it is also possible to wipe out your reef. Ozone should always be used with a skimmer, and the air and water coming out of the skimmer should be filtered through carbon. You filter the water treated with ozone so you don't hurt the livestock. You filter the air coming out so the ozone doesn't hurt you. Ozone even in very small concentrations can be extremely bad for you. EPA regulations about ozone are strict, for this reason. In effect, if you can smell the ozone when you enter the room or around the tank, you have too much in the air.

Remember that I said you should use ozone with a skimmer. Contact time with ozone is everything. With the old air driver skimmers, a long contact time was easily done, and the water movement through them was comparatively slow. Today, we tend to use skimmers with powerful pumps, and some form of advanced air injection system. Since we move a lot of water through the skimmer, contact time is usually greatly reduced. This limits the effect of ozone. To make up for it, you need to use a recirculating skimmer, and/or a lot more ozone.

The use of ozone is something that seems to go in and out of style every few years in the hobby. I can think of at least two major waves of ozone use. First in the late 1960s, when Sanders started shipping ozoneizers and air driven skimmers to the USA. The second, when Albert Theil was very active in the hobby and pushing ozone in the mid 1980's. It's been in and out of favor a couple of times since then.

Personally, I feel that you'd be much better off finding out why your your water is not as clear as you'd like, and resolving the source, rather than using a band aid fix like ozone. You should be able to get crystal clear water in any typical sized reef system, without too much trouble.

If you still feel you need ozone, carefully consider the cost verses benefits. Also consider alternatives. For example, if your problem with cloudy water is due to particulate matter, you may find that something like a Diatom Filter will remove the particulate matter at far less cost, and risk compared to ozone. If you decide to go with ozone, start the dosage off very low, and increase it slowly.
 
C

calaxa

Ed,

I'm not even sure that would do much for your system in all honesty. Your water didn't really look cloudy. It was more like some particulate in the water column. I would think filter sock or diatom filter would solve that more than ozonizer would.
 
Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
We will see I'll take the lead of one of the guru's of our hobby and find out. Mr. Calfo has seen thousands of tanks all over the world I think he knows a thing or two about reef tanks.
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Tazmaniancowboy said:
Could it be used occasionally? Just to "polish"water?

Tazmaniancowboy
Click to expand...

I switch mine to my softie tank for 2 days out of the month to polish the water.
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Dave is right about the skimmer. You might want to hook it up to the other recirculating skimmer.
 
sgarron

sgarron

NJRC Member
I took the ozone off my tank because of 2 reasons. 1. I have small kids in the house and didn't want to take any chances and 2. I didn't like the effect it had on my skimmer. I was running it through the Deltec 851 and it turned my skimate almost white, just too strange for me.

If I were to use ozone again I would go with an ozone reactor like this:

http://www.marinetechnical.com/page6.html
 
sgarron

sgarron

NJRC Member
I believe all the components come to about $750. It's big and expensive...just the way I like it. I won't be doing that on my current build but, it is part of my dream tank.
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Thanks for the link. It's something I'll look into for my next build.
 
D

DaveK

mikem said:
sgarron said:
If I were to use ozone again I would go with an ozone reactor like this:

http://www.marinetechnical.com/page6.html
Click to expand...

Looks interesting. Whats something like that go for?
Click to expand...


Such ozone reactors, AKA oxygen (over pressure) reactors when used with just air, have been around for years. If you notice, almost no one today has one on their reef. There is a good reason for this. They are at best marginal, with or with out ozone.

In addition to work, some of the air or air/ozone mix must escape. You got to let some out to put some more in. It is extremely difficult to run the air released through carbon to remove ozone.

I have used such reactors before, and IMHO they are not the way to use ozone.
 
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